Disability Services Office
202 Sanford Hall Box 19
Phone: 218-755-3883

Mission Statement: The mission of the Office for Students with Disabilities is to improve the educational development of students with disabilities and to enhance understanding and support within the campus community. The mission directly supports the university’s larger mission to promote the pursuit of knowledge by ensuring equal access to information for students with documented disabilities in their university studies.

Check out our new web page at:

www.bemidjistate.edu/disabilities/index.html

Disability Services Office Relocates

The Disability Services Office has moved to the second floor of Sanford Hall. In December the office moved into the space formerly occupied by the American Indian Resource Center. The growing number of students with documented disabilities that have been enrolling at the University the past several years necessitated the move.

At the end of spring semester 2003 the office had served 266 students throughout the year. This year, at the end of fall semester we had already served 250 students with a variety of documented disabilities. Of the 250 students served in the fall, 72 students were new fall student intakes.

The new space has doubled the number of testing rooms available and provides a much quieter testing environment.

Another improvement is that this area is all handicap accessible. Both the restroom facilities and the fountain are wheelchair accessible. Either the stairs or the elevator on the north end of Sanford Hall as well as the stairs at the south end of the building can gain access to the second floor. There is a power door off a wheelchair ramp at the north end of the building.

The additional space has afforded much better physical organization of the office as well. The reception area is easily

accessible to students who may have questions regarding an exam, need to sign up for exams or may just need a question answered.

We have a locked room to house all the medical documentation which are kept in locked files. Although the files were kept locked, previously they were stored in my office. This created some privacy and confidentiality issues at times that have been resolved with the move to second floor.

Improvements in Testing Rooms

There have been several changes in the testing area since the move to 2nd floor Sanford Hall. All the testing rooms have easy access to the reception area if students have any questions or problems.

Each room has a large window to allow for natural light. This has been especially helpful for students who are sensitive to fluorescent lighting.

In January windows were installed with one-way glass in all of the doors to the testing rooms. The students are still afforded a quiet testing space but we have a much easier time monitoring the testing in each room.

We now also have a large study area equipped with a conference table and chairs, coffee pot and microwave.

Students have been making good use of the space both individually and for small study groups. It is designated a quiet study area and there is plenty of space to sit and do homework.

Additional changes are anticipated in the coming months including repainting the second floor sometime this summer.

Many faculty have come by and toured the new area and we encourage faculty and staff to do that.

Number of Students Served Fall Semester

The Disability Services Office served 250 students with documented disabilities this past fall semester in the following disability categories:
Disability Category

No. of Students
Autistic 0
Blind/Visually Impaired 7
Chemically Dependent 4
Deaf 0
EBD* 1
Hard of Hearing 4
Head Trauma TBI 7
Learning Disabled 106
Physical/Mobility 24
Psychological Disability 79
Systemic 17
Language Processing 1

 

Total Served
*Emotionally Behaviorally Disturbed

 

250

The fastest growing group of students with disabilities continues to be students with mental health issues. Many students who are entering the university do so with a documented mental health or psychological disability. They have been diagnosed in high school or even earlier and are on medication and working with mental health professionals. There has also been a rise in the number of students who enter the university without a disability and are diagnosed during their enrollment at BSU. Depression, bi-polar disorder and social anxiety seem to be more prevalent the past two or three years but we are seeing a number of students with other types of disabilities increase as well. The Disabilities Services Office provides accommodations for students with documented disabilities enrolled at Bemidji State University including their satellite programs at Metro State University, or through the Center for Extended Learning and External Studies Office at BSU.


Does your department have questions about providing accommodations? Do you want more information about students with disabilities and how you might be able to help them (and others) in your classroom? Call me. I will be happy to answer questions over the phone, meet with you in person or come to a departmental meeting and answer your questions. My number is 755-3883.

Disability Services Website Published

The new web page for the Disability Services Office was published in mid-February. The web page is currently being divided into four sections. There is a section for prospective students interested in enrolling at BSU. Documentation guidelines and application forms are available for students to print, fill out and return to the office. There is also an article from the Office for Civil Rights (OCR) regarding transitioning from high school to post secondary education that parents will find helpful.

There is a section for current students that offers information about the availability of accommodations and gives students general information. Scholarship information is also available to all students. Rules for testing out of class have been posted as well as the reference handbook for the provision of accommodations.

A section for faculty already has the information for instructors to put on their syllabi or any publication is available. We will be posting some faculty tip sheets for working with students with disabilities in and out of the classroom in the near future. There will also be a unit on frequently asked questions (FAQ’s) by the end of the summer. If faculty have questions regarding disability accommodations that they think would be asked by other faculty, please send the question to my office and we will add it to the website. We have a few to get us started but feel free to send any questions you may have.

We also plan to archive the Disability Services Newsletters there so past information will remain easily available.

If you have any information that you would like to have posted on the Disability Services webpage please feel free to send me an e-mail and we will try to get your information on there as quickly as possible.

The web address for Disability Services is:
http://www.bemidjistate.edu/disabilities/index.html

Presentation at 2004 MnSCU CTL Conference in Minneapolis

Marsha Driscoll, Ph. D., assistant professor in the psychology department and Kathi Hagen, M. A., coordinator of the Disability Services Office, were co-presenters at the 2004 MnSCU Center for Teaching and Learning Conference, Realizing Student Potential, at the Minneapolis Community and Technical College in February. The presentation, "Improving Outcomes for Students with Disabilities through Faculty/Staff Collaboration" focused on disability accommodations in the classroom and the process to document a disability and establish accommodations. Risk signs for faculty to be aware of both in the classroom and in one-on-one interactions with students were presented. The role faculty can play in making appropriate referrals for students was also discussed.

Spring Semester Intern

Shelby Medved, a BSU applied psychology student, completed her 400 hour internship in the Disabilities Services Office spring semester. Her experience included working individually with students reading exams, monitoring academic performance of high risk students, preparing faculty notifications for student accommodations and proctoring and documenting exam activity.

Requirements of the internship included doing two projects for the agency. The first project was to enter all the student disability information into the ISRS data base for budget and reporting purposes for MnSCU. Her second project was to survey all the Minnesota four-year universities and compare disability services and institutional information. The information was compiled and disseminated to the other disability programs who requested it.

When Shelby was asked to sum up her experiences she said, "Throughout my time as an intern in the Disability Services Office I have learned and experienced many new ways of working with students with disabilities. If you have students who are looking for internships or volunteer experiences I suggest recommending them to the Disability Services Program."
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