By Adhere Jaehnig, Director of Disability Services Center
On behalf of the Disability Services Center (DSC), I am excited to welcome you or welcome you back to the University of Southern Maine! We want you to know we are a resource for students and we encourage you to reach out to our office.
Students who have a disability or who previously had accommodations at another college, in high school, or in an employment setting are encouraged to connect with the DSC.
Educational access is the provision of accommodations and services to ensure equal educational opportunities for all students regardless of disability. Creating equal educational opportunities is a collaborative effort between the student, the faculty member, and the Disability Services Center (DSC) at USM.
The DSC is the designated office on campus for students to request academic or housing accommodations. The student will meet with a member of the DSC staff individually to discuss their needs, review documentation, and determine eligibility for appropriate accommodations and referrals to other resources on campus. Faculty should not require students to show documentation beyond their faculty accommodation letter.
We will be using a new tool to manage student disability-related accommodation services. The new tool, Accommodate, will be accessible to students and faculty through the USM Homepage single sign-on. Accommodate will be a lowercase “a” in white text on a bright blue background. Requests for accommodations should be made on this site.
Accommodate will better serve students and faculty by creating a more effective and efficient process to share information regarding accommodations and DSC services.
If you have any questions, please contact us at [email protected] or call us at 207-780-4706.
Sincerely,
Adrea L. Jaehnig
Director of Disability Services Center
242 Luther Bonney Hall