Academic Accommodations

Additional Resources and Policies

Whether you’re a student looking for additional support or a faculty member wanting how to best assist your students, our office provides plenty of resources to help. Learn more.

Reasonable Academic Accommodations

Ball State University is committed to providing equal opportunities in higher education to academically qualified students with disabilities. Students with disabilities at Ball State have access to tools and resources that will enable them to manage day-to-day life in college. However, Ball State does not offer a specialized curriculum for persons with disabilities, nor does it assume the role of a rehabilitation center.

The services that are available will vary depending on the nature of the disability. What follows is a list of potential accommodations that Ball State offers for students. This is not an exhaustive list; students should meet with staff in Disability Services for specific, individualized recommendations.

Common Reasonable Academic Accommodations

This includes accommodations like extended time, alternate testing location, reduced distractions, reader, scribe, etc. for exams and quizzes.

This accommodation allows students to record the lecture and have access to a professional notetaking service.

This accommodation is where students are given permission by Disability Resources to audio record the professor’s lecture content. They are permitted to use a cell phone, digital audio recorder, Smart Pen, or other appropriate recording device.

This accommodation permits students to have access to a copy of the lecture notes or slides when available.

This accommodation gives permission for a student to leave class for a brief period of time to address any impacts of their disability that may arise during class.

This accommodation reads: The student must have a discussion with you about how many additional absences would be practicable for your course. Absences are not unlimited and that the student must be responsible for notifying you of absences and completing missed work. Additional considerations about attendance accommodations can be found here: https://bit.ly/DSabsences

This accommodation reads: The student must notify the instructor within 24 hours before or after the deadline if an extension is needed, at which point a new date will be determined together. This flexibility is not guaranteed for every assignment and relies on the specific nature of the coursework. This accommodation applies to a one-time extension per assignment only, not multiple extensions for the same deadline.

This accommodation allows students to work with faculty on any public speaking in class. Some faculty have allowed the student to present to the instructor on a one-on-one basis, and others have allowed the student to record his/her presentation at home and then show to the class.

If you need assistance converting class materials to an alternative format or need a copy of a textbook in an accessible format, help is available in the Accessible Technology Lab (ACT) in Robert Bell Building (RB), room 168.

The lab is specifically designed for users with disabilities and is part of IT.

Lab attendants are available to help students learn any of the computer technologies available in the lab. The lab has many different types of technology for use by students with disabilities including speech-to-text programs, text-to-speech programs, screen magnification, textbook scanning/accessible electronic textbooks, Braille transcription, and tactile graphics.

ASL Interpreters are available upon request. Disability Services does not train or evaluate interpreters, but works with a local agency to coordinate interpreting services. Requests for ASL interpreter services must be made well in advance (minimum of 48 business hours) due to the limited number of interpreters in the area

Complete the form below to request an interpreter. This form is for BSU faculty, staff, and/or students who wish to request an ASL interpreter from the Office of Disability Services (DS). Please only use this form if you are a student with a hearing disability and need to request interpreters OR you are a BSU faculty/staff person who needs to request interpreters for a meeting/activity/event where a student who uses interpreters will be present. 

Interpreting Request Form

Faculty will be notified if a student is approved for this accommodation. Instructions on how to submit videos for closed captioning will be included in that email.

Campus shuttle buses operate daily during the academic school year (mid-August to early May) and are available free-of-charge to students, faculty, staff, and visitors.

Accessible Shuttle for Students with Disabilities

A lift-equipped campus shuttle, called the Demand Response Bus, runs during the regular academic year for those with disabilities that may not be able to ride the other shuttles.

Call the Transportation Office at 765-285-9045 to request a pick-up and to designate a location. The shuttle does not go off campus. Please call at least one hour prior to the desired pick-up time and please be patient, particularly in times of heavy use and inclement weather.

Our office establishes the eligibility list for this service.

Accessible furniture can be provided for those who cannot use the conventional seating in a classroom because their disability.

Arrangements to have these items put in the classroom should be made as soon as the schedule is completed.

Contact our office with both:

  • a list of classrooms for which you will need the furniture in

  • the height (in inches from the floor) to which you would like an accessible table adjusted (if needed)

Referral Process

To begin the academic accommodation process with our office, click on the relevant link below to refer yourself or one of your students to our office.

                                    SELF Referral                  Faculty/Staff - STUDENT Referral

Verification Process

In order for our office to help with accommodations, we will need to verify your disability, including obtaining documentation.

Review Verification Process

Reasonable Housing Accommodations

Disability accommodations are deemed “reasonable”, under Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act, if they are necessary to ensure equal access to the same opportunities as provided to all Ball State students. Accommodations are not considered reasonable if they are merely to improve chances of success. BSU certainly wants all of its students to succeed, however now that the student is an adult, success is the responsibility of the student, not the institution.

Disability accommodations are only appropriate when there is a barrier to equal access. Accommodations are reasonable when they include the student in the same opportunities everyone else has. Accommodations are not reasonable if they let students with disabilities out of the responsibilities or expectations BSU holds for everyone.

  • Rooms and bathrooms that can accommodate wheelchairs and other mobility devices
  • Strobe light or lighted doorbell for hearing loss to alert students about guests or emergencies
  • Room located close to shared restroom for chronic health conditions
  • Semi-private bathrooms for chronic health conditions
  • Room on first or lower floor for visual or mobility disabilities

What does Access vs. Success mean when it comes to campus housing?

Here are some examples of requests where an accommodation would not be approved. In the some of the following scenarios, the requested accommodation would be helpful or desirable, and could improve chances of success — especially when the student’s disability makes these situations more difficult. But when, generally speaking, no student has access to the opportunity requested, the request is generally regarded as a fundamental alteration to the campus housing, and legally not considered “reasonable”.

In general, BSU residence hall rooms are double rooms, with a few exceptions. All Cardinals are expected to seek out and discover places in their campus community to decompress, unwind, or process their emotions in places other than the room where they sleep. Here are several ideas:

  • Enjoy solitary walks in the Quad or Christy Woods
  • Find a private nook in the library or other academic buildings to nestle in and read or think
  • Make use of the Resource & Relaxation Room in the Counseling Center or study rooms in the residence halls for quiet time, meditation, and/or contemplation
  • Discover the many nooks in academic buildings (North Quad, Burkhardt Building, Ball Building, Letterman Building are some favorites), or the residence hall study rooms
  • The Counseling Center’s Resource & Relaxation Room (Lucina Hall 310A) has massage chairs which are great for stretching out, and escaping the sights and sounds of campus.
  • Work with Housing & Residence Life staff to set up and host a Roommate Agreement meeting. They are skilled at working with roommates in a neutral fashion to help with boundary setting and expectation management to create a healthy living environment for each roommate.

BSU provides many, many places on campus where you can study alone in peace and quiet:

  • Discover the many nooks in academic buildings (North Quad, Burkhardt Building, Ball Building, Letterman Building are some favorites), or the residence hall study rooms
  • Empty classrooms! Any student can “claim” an empty classroom for their study session. Make a sign for the door, or use a whiteboard marker on the glass of the door to say “In use”
  • The Learning Center (North Quad 350) is a quiet and peaceful place to study

In shared housing, each student should understand what they can control. It’s unrealistic to control the whole room, but it’s realistic to manage your own things and set boundaries with your roommate. All Cardinals need to learn how to share a space and set boundaries and express them with their roommates. This is an extremely valuable skill living in a residential community, such as Ball State. However, it is a new skill for many students who either have been only children, or have never had to share a room with a sibling. It gets easier with practice!

Just about any college alum can recall a less-than-perfect roommate situation. It can happen, and it doesn’t make that past bad experience go away. However, it is possible to move on in a positive way. Taking what you can learn from a bad roommate situation and applying those lessons to a new situation is how to utilize a growth mentality to come through adversity.

  • Work with the Ball State Counseling Center to talk through your past experiences and determine strategies and receive support for moving into a new roommate relationship
  • Make an appointment with Housing & Residence Life staff to discuss your fears or concerns; attend one of the various events held in your residence hall to potentially meet new roommate possibilities; partake in the roommate matching process to read profiles of other students seeking a new roommate to find a good match

All students should consider locking valuables, including medications.

  • We recommend buying a lockbox or small safe to keep tucked away and out of sight.
  • Lock your dorm room door when you leave.
Please proceed to the Accommodations page for more information.

Housing and ESA Accommodation Forms

To begin the Housing and/or ESA accommodation process with our office, click on the relevant form below. If you are requesting housing accommodations for the next school year, the deadline to apply is May 15th.

We'll still review applications after May 15th, but we'll prioritize the ones that met the deadline. This means it might take longer for us to get to your request. If you apply in August, we may not be able to review the request until after students have already moved in. Once the semester begins, it will take about 3 to 4 weeks for us to process any campus housing accommodation requests.

Housing Accommodation Request Form                          ESA Request Form

For More Information

If you have questions or need additional assistance from our office, please call or email us.

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