We look forward to providing you with the assistance needed for you to achieve your academic goals.  Assistance will be made available to students that have provided documentation that confirms their disability and need for accommodations in the academic setting. 

This office assists students once they have been accepted to Odessa College with the process of receiving accommodations. In order to ensure your accommodations are applied to your class on the first day, accommodation request must be submitted 7 days before the first day of class. Accommodation requests submitted 10 days before the last class day will be processed for the following term.

1. Fill out the Student Accommodation Application Forms

        Application/Request for Accommodations
        Student Statement of Understanding
        Exchange of Information Form 

2. Gather supporting documentation for your application. Usually this is an evaluation by a qualified professional such as a medical doctor, diagnostician and/or psychologist. We recommend that the evaluation is no more than five years old*. Application requests will not be considered until all appropriate documentation is received.
3. Make an appointment with the Student Accommodations Specialist here or call 432-335-6697. This appointment can be online or in person.
4. Once application is processed the specialist will communicate your accommodations by email to your instructors for each term. Accommodations will continue until the student informs the Accommodations office to discontinue them.

*Certain programs and/or exams require documentation that is less than 2 years old.

Examples of documentation

• An evaluation from a physician, diagnostician, licensed therapist, or a licensed psychologist on letterhead with diagnosis and accommodations required in a classroom setting.
• High School 504
• High School IEP

Common Accommodations include:

• Testing accommodations include extending test time.
• Copies of notes
• Sign language interpreting services
• Ebooks
• Large screen monitors

The Office of Student Accommodations will review all requests for reasonable accommodations that are not listed here.

Student Support Services

(432) 335-6697 | cares@odessa.edu

OC Resources

The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA)

The federal law guarantees civil rights and protection from discrimination to persons with disabilities.  It basically makes it illegal to discriminate against someone on the basis of disability.  The ADA covers employment in the private or public sector, transportation, public accommodations, services provided by state or local government, and telecommunication relay services.

The law was passed in July 1990 and its purpose was to end discrimination against people with disabilities in areas of employment, education, public accommodations, the licensing of professionals, and other areas.  This law is generally thought to be as important for people with disabilities as was the Civil Rights movement of the 1960’s for persons who are considered minorities.  Colleges and universities that receive federal funds (such as Pell Grant monies) are also required to comply with a nondiscrimination law called Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973.  The ADA upholds and extends the provisions of the earlier Section 504

Colleges and universities cannot discriminate in the recruitment, admission, or treatment of students if they receive federal funds.  What this means is that students with documented disabilities may request modifications, accommodations, or auxiliary aids which will enable them to participate in and benefit from all post-secondary educational programs and activities.  Colleges and universities are required to make the changes necessary to make sure that each academic program or activity is as accessible as possible by all students, disabled or not.

Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973

This law states that “No otherwise qualified handicapped individual in the United States shall, solely by reason of handicap, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of or be subjected to discrimination under any program or activity receiving federal financial assistance.”

Who are Individuals with Disabilities?

A person with a disability is anyone with a mental or a physical impairment who has a history of such condition, or who is perceived by others to be disabled, where one or more life activities are substantially limited.  Life activities are things like caring for oneself, performing manual tasks, walking, seeing, hearing, speaking, breathing, learning, and working.  The term “physical impairment” or “mental impairment” includes, but isn’t limited to, things like:

Odessa College does not discriminate on the basis of sex, race, color, national origin, religion, disability or age.