Accessibility Resource Center


We offer a variety of services or reasonable accommodations intended to reduce the effects that a disability may have on your performance in a traditional academic setting.

Services do not lower course standards or alter degree requirements but instead give students a better chance to demonstrate their academic abilities.

Essential Functions and Technical Standards Guide (pdf) ARC Forms on MySAU Portal

Photo of Sarah Barker

Here to Help


One month before her 18th birthday, Sarah Barker '19 was in a traffic accident and suffered a traumatic brain injury. Learn how the Accessibility Resource Center worked with Sarah to create a path forward to her degree. 

Watch This Video


ARC Resources and Accommodations

Our Services

Academic Course Selection Advising
ARC staff assist students in selecting courses while taking into consideration the student's disability. Staff can also provide advice regarding the academic and non-academic course requirements.

Advocacy
Students receive support in practicing self-advocacy with faculty and others when identifying and requesting appropriate accommodations.

Alternative Exam Arrangements
Exam modifications, including extended time, large-print tests, separate testing room, or use of a reader, scribe or computer give students the chance to better demonstrate their understanding of the course content and adjust for the limitations caused by their disability when taking certain kinds of exams.

Assistive Technology
Students may take advantage of a number of assistive and adaptive devices and equipment to help compensate for disabling conditions.

Books in Alternative Format
Textbooks or any other printed class material may be obtained in alternative format.

Assistive Listening Devices
Persons who are hard of hearing may use the FM hearing assistance system. If you need to utilize the FM system in Galvin Fine Arts Center or the Chapel, please contact ARC.

Personal transmitters and receivers are available for the classroom.

Disability Service Provider
The disability service provider offers one-on-one support to students, such as skills instruction in strategies to compensate for a student's disability. The frequency of sessions depends on individual needs and staff availability.

Course Substitution
Course substitution options may be available in Kinesiology and Second Language due to limitations imposed by a disability.

Note Takers
If the student's disability interferes with taking notes in class, he or she can obtain a copy of class notes from a note taker.

Referral for Diagnosis of a Disability
The office may refer students suspected of having a disability to area psychologists or other appropriate professionals for diagnostic testing.

Sign Language Interpreters
Interpreters can be provided for classes and other campus activities when requested. The ARC also ensures that all commencement ceremonies has an ASL interpreter present.

Non-Academic Accommodations
Students are encouraged to meet with the ARC Disability Case Coordinator (DCC) to discuss additional resources and other reasonable accommodations. The DCC also assists students through the process of requesting non-academic accommodations such as: accessible parking, food service, housing, and support animals. Supporting documentation must be received by the DCC before any non-academic accommodation requests will be approved.

Documentation Guidelines

Students are required to initiate requests for services and/or reasonable accommodations once they have confirmed their enrollment at St. Ambrose University. To determine eligibility for services, ARC requires current and comprehensive documentation of the student's disability from the diagnosing physician, psychiatrist, psychologist, or other appropriate professional. Submission of documentation is not the same as the request for services.

A student's school plan such as an Individualized Education Plan (IEP) or 504 Plan may not be sufficient documentation because St. Ambrose University, a postsecondary school, is governed by different legal standards. 

St. Ambrose University recognizes that currently enrolled students may have a record of a disability, be regarded as having a disability, or have a desire to be screened for a disability. Professional staff with ARC will interview students and temporary services and reasonable accommodations may be offered to the student based on the limited information available.

Students without appropriate documentation may receive services and accommodations for the remainder of the semester they identify with ARC. A list of local diagnosticians is available for each student without proper documentation with the expectation that proper documentation will be obtained prior to the beginning of the following semester if services are to be continued. If St. Ambrose provides provisional accommodations, academic modifications or adjustments, it does not guarantee that the student will continue to receive those services.

Standards for documentation are based on the guidelines used by Educational Testing Services (ETS). Appropriate documentation at St. Ambrose University should:

  • Include the student's identifying information (full name, etc.)
  • Clearly state the diagnosed disability or disabilities
  • Describe the functional limitations resulting from the disability or disabilities
  • Be current - that is, be completed
    • within the last 5 years for a learning disability (LD) or attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder, or
    • within the last 12 months for psychiatric disabilities.

(NOTE: This requirement does not apply to physical or sensory disabilities of a permanent or unchanging nature)

  • Include complete educational, developmental and medical history relevant to the disability for which accommodations are being requested
  • Include a list of all test instruments used in the evaluation report and relevant subtest scores used to document the stated disability (this requirement does not apply to physical or sensory disabilities of a permanent or unchanging nature)
  • Describe the specific accommodations requested
  • Adequately support each of the requested accommodation(s)
  • Be typed or printed on official letterhead or ARC verification form and be signed by an evaluator qualified to make the diagnosis (include information about license or certification and area of specialization)

Click here to access verification forms through the ARC Portal Page

Read & Write Software

Read & Write helps all individuals with reading, writing, organizing, and studying regardless of ability or learning style.

The key functions of the software include: Screenshot Reader, Speech Maker, Phonetic Spell Checker, Text-to-Speech, PDF Aloud, Translator, Fact Mapper, Voice Notes, Vocabulary Builder, Study Skills Tools, and Fact Finder.

Only St. Ambrose University students, faculty, and staff have access to this software. Please visit the ARC Portal Page for information and access to this software. 

Workforce Recruitment Program

The Workforce Recruitment Program for College Students with Disabilities (WRP) is a recruitment and referral program that connects public and private sector employers nationwide with highly motivated postsecondary students and recent graduates with disabilities who are eager to prove their abilities in the workplace through paid summer or permanent jobs.

The WRP provides students with disabilities in all fields of study the opportunity to market their abilities to a wide variety of potential employers across the United States, sharpen their interviewing skills during a required one-on-one meeting with a WRP recruiter, and gain valuable skills, experience, and contacts on the job.

Applicants for the program must:

  • have a disability AND
  • be a U.S. citizen AND
  • be enrolled in an accredited institution of higher education on a substantially full-time basis (unless the severity of the disability precludes the student from taking a substantially full-time load) to seek a degree OR
  • be enrolled in such an institution as a degree-seeking student taking less than a substantially full-time load in the enrollment period immediately prior to graduation OR
  • have graduated from such an institution within the past year.

The WRP is run on an annual basis and requires student applicants to have an interview with one of our recruiters during an on-campus recruitment visit. The interviews take place during the fall semester of each year. The WRP is coordinated on college campuses by Disability Services or Career Services offices. Currently, over 270 colleges and universities participate in the program and additional campuses are added each year.

The school registration process will take place in the spring. If you are an eligible student, share this information with your school's disability services or career services coordinator, and ask him or her to contact the WRP Coordinator at wrp@dol.gov. Please understand that we work directly with college coordinators, and cannot respond to inquiries from individual students.

If your college or university does not participate in the WRP you may be able to interview for the program on the campus of a participating college or university in your area. The recruitment schedule is available under the Resources section of the WRP Website at www.wrp.gov.

The WRP is co-sponsored by the U.S. Department of Labor's Office of Disability Employment Policy (ODEP) and the U.S. Department of Defense's Office of Diversity Management & Equal Opportunity (ODMEO), with support from other federal agencies.

Staff

Ryan Saddler (he/his), Associate VP for Diversity, Equity & Inclusion
Lindsey Ekblad (she/her), ARC Director

Carla Heuer (she/her), Office Assistant
Carol McCoy (she/her), Disability Service Provider
Deneen Woerdehoff (she/her), Disability Service Provider
Tiffany Thumann (she/her), Disability Case Coordinator

Contact


Lindsey Ekblad, Director

Cosgrove Hall 25
518 W. Locust St.
Davenport, IA 52803
563-333-6275
ARC@sau.edu

So, what's next?

Are you ready to take the next step? Click on the visit button below to learn more about our virtual and in-person visit options.