Mission Statement

Our goal is to encourage Wagner students to become independent learners, to take advantage of campus services and to engage in all phases of campus life.  We are committed to providing support and reasonable accommodations for students with disabilities to ensure that they can develop to their full potential. In our effort to provide timely support to our students, these webpages are continually updated.

Policies and Procedures

Wagner College, in compliance with federal guidelines, strives to meet the needs of our students with physical, psychological and/or learning disabilities. The following guidelines have been set by the Center for Academic and Career Engagement  in accordance with national standards:

Eligibility for Services

To ensure the provision of reasonable and appropriate services, students must present current and comprehensive documentation of their disability. Generally, documentation must not be more than three years old. The records kept in our office are strictly confidential. At a minimum, eligibility criteria for disability-related support services at Wagner College includes:

1. Verification of diagnosis and severity of disabling condition prepared by a qualified professional.

2. Detailed description of how this impediment significantly limits a major life activity in an educational setting.

For students with learning disabilities documentation should include a comprehensive diagnostic interview or consultation, a neuropsychological/psychoeducational evaluation, and treatment plan or academic recommendations. A report should include test scores and an interpretation of overall intelligence, information processing, executive functioning, spatial ability, memory, motor ability, achievement skills, reading (rate, comprehension, and decoding,) writing, and mathematics, as well as a specific diagnosis and description of the students functional limitations in an educational setting. The evaluation should be conducted by a qualified professional (i.e.-licensed psychologist, school psychologist, neuropsychologist or psychoeducational specialist) with experience working with academically competent students and the adult population.

The four criteria necessary to establish a student’s eligibility for learning disability accommodations are:
1. Average or above average intelligence as measured by a standardized intelligence test which includes assessment of verbal and nonverbal abilities
2. The presence of a cognitive-achievement discrepancy indicated by a score on a standardized test of achievement which is 1.5 standard deviations or more below the level corresponding to students sub-scale or full-scale IQ
3. The presence of disorders in cognitive or sensory processing such as those related to memory, language, or attention
4. An absence of other primal causal factors leading to achievement below expectation, such as visual or auditory disabilities, emotional or behavioral disorders, a lack of opportunity to learn due to cultural or socioeconomic circumstances, or deficiencies in intellectual ability.

The assessment must provide data that supports the request for any academic accommodations. In the event that a student requests an academic accommodation that is not supported by the data in the assessment, or if the initial verification is incomplete or inadequate to determine the extent of the disability, then it is incumbent on the student to obtain supplemental testing or assessment at the student’s expense.

If the College requires an additional assessment for purposes of obtaining a second professional opinion, a Wagner College Counseling Services professional may make a referral.

The primary goal of documentation, in addition to establishing qualified status, is to address how the impairment significantly limits the essential life functioning of learning, how the student can utilize his or her strengths, and what academic accommodations would be effective in equalizing students opportunities at the post-secondary level.

For students with psychological or attentional disorders, documentation should include a diagnosis and information from which the diagnosis was made, a description of the students functional limitations in an educational setting, the severity and longevity of the condition, a description of the effectiveness of current treatment, and recommendations for additional treatment /assistance. The evaluation must be conducted by a qualified professional (i.e. – psychiatrist for ADHD, psychologist or psychiatrist for other psychological disorders.)

For students with physical disabilities, documentation should include a diagnosis and a description of the students functional limitations in an educational setting. Documentation should be provided by a qualified medical professional.

For additional information or questions regarding this policy, please contact Dina Assante, Associate Dean, Center for  Academic and Career Engagement , at (718) 390-3278, or by e-mail at dassante@wagner.edu.

Services Available

Depending on Documentation the following services are provided, but not limited to:

• Advocacy to college administration
• Testing accommodations, including proctors and/or extended time in a separate, distraction-reduced room.
• Learning disabilities-related advisement
• Preferential registration and advisement
• Provision of information to professors
• Paid membership in Learning Ally (formerly RFB&D)
• Assistive technology
• Referrals

College personnel are available to discuss a range of disability management issues such as course load, learning strategies, academic accommodations, and referral to campus and community resources. Students may be referred for additional services including diagnostic testing , and /or tutoring.

The student has the right to file an appeal concerning any allegations of failure to comply with laws, regulations and policies set forth for students with disabilities at Wagner College. A student wishing to file a complaint may do so in writing to the Office of the Provost located in the Union Building.

Assistive Technology

The Office of Disabled Student Services provides the following assistive technology for students with sensory, memory, or learning challenges:

Zoom Text-   Software that is helpful for those with low vision by allowing the user to magnify everything viewed on a computer, including icons, text, and web pages.   It will also read the text it magnifies.

Kurzweil-  Serves all patrons with any sensory or learning challenges.  Kurzweil software can scan print materials and “read”  scanned images, text files, or PDF documents aloud.  This advanced software also allows users to save readings as MP3 files which can be downloaded to your iPod or other MP3 player for reading anywhere.

Dolphin Easy Reader- Will read audio books aloud.  Any books (including textbooks) recorded by the national non-profit agency Recordings for the Blind and Dyslexic can be played on the system.

Dragon Naturally Speaking-Useful for users with dysgraphia or mobility challenges.  This advanced voice recognition software allows users to dictate to the computer and the system will type your dictation.

Hands Free Mouse-Assists users with mobility challenges in using computer software.

CCTV – available in the Horrman Library

Livescribe Smart Pen

To make an appointment for training in Kurzweil or Dragon Naturally Speaking, please contact Associate Dean Dina Assante at 718-390-3278.

Requests for Services

To ensure that needs are met, students must register with the Center for Academic and Career Engagement upon enrollment and at the start of each term for which they are requesting services. A student must make a specific request for services or accommodations. Based upon the documentation, the Associate Dean of Academic and Career  Engagement will authorize the needed accommodations. The College will make determinations on an individual basis regarding its provision of services to ensure that students are not subject to discrimination on the basis of disability. Please understand that we need a reasonable amount of time to evaluate the documentation, review the request, and make a determination.

The Center for Academic and Career Engagement  is located on the 3rd floor of the Union Building.  Contact us at (718) 420-3181 to schedule an appointment with Dina Assante, Associate Dean of Disability Services.