No, PSCC does not provide evaluations at this time. Students may need to pursue evaluations independently of PSCC. Please contact us if you need guidance on whether or not to pursue a formal evaluation.
Disability Services coordinates services and accommodations for students with disabilities. To be eligible, students must self-identify to our office by completing the and provide appropriate documentation. The application for accommodations and submission of documentation is for students who have not previously registered with Disability Services.
Once you have applied as a student to Pellissippi State, you can access Disability Services forms, including the application, through your account.
Potential services and accommodations may include, but are not limited to:
First, practice being your own best advocate. Be prepared to explain your disability (ies) yourself and the kinds of accommodations you may need. Part of this process is providing documentation of your disability(ies).
You can follow the guided path through enrolling at Pellissippi State beginning with 汤头条. We encourage you to contact us during the 汤头条 process, so any accommodations you may need are in place before any required placement tests.
Should you need accommodations for events/appointments as you follow the guided path, please fill out the following form: .
Any student who has been admitted to the college and has a diagnosed disability is eligible to apply to receive an academic accommodation plan. We encourage students to seek assistance prior to enrolling for classes.
Before accommodation requests can be completed, professional documentation of a disability will be requested. Please be aware that there are differences between accommodations received in high school and those available in college.
Disability Documentation Form (PDF)
After we review your file (application and documentation), you will receive an invitation for a meeting from your Disability Services Coordinator in your Pellissippi State email. Please respond to this email to schedule an appointment. Application, documentation and an intake meeting are required prior to the establishment of an accommodation plan.
Students must manage their accommodations semesterly to customize accommodations by class and to generate digital, accommodation letters that are automatically emailed to professors, to the student, and to Disability Services through PSCC’s Outlook email. Without completing the management process, accommodations are not legally in effect for the current semester because professors have not been notified with an accommodation plan. Please note: Accommodations are effective from the date of management, moving forward for that semester only. Accommodations are not retroactive. With that in mind, we encourage management of accommodations prior to the semester start date. Typically, you can manage your accommodations about two weeks prior to the date of classes starting.
Any Pellissippi State student with a disability who has reason to feel that he or she has been affected by discrimination should contact George Underwood, in the Goins Administration Building, Room 258, Hardin Valley Campus or call 865-539-7354.
If you have a complaint regarding discrimination or harassment, please fill out the .
For more information, view the .
Pellissippi State Policy Manual
ADA Accommodations and Accessibility
Dual Enrollment
Institutional Compliance
TRIO
Our regular, semester office hours are M-F 8:00 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.
We are open year-round, with the exception of holidays recognized by PSCC.
Disability Services
Hardin Valley Campus
Alexander Building, Room 130
865-694-6411
Fax: 865-539-7699
disabilityservices@pstcc.edu
No, PSCC does not provide evaluations at this time. Students may need to pursue evaluations independently of PSCC. Please contact us if you need guidance on whether or not to pursue a formal evaluation.
No, IEPs and 504s do not automatically transfer to the collegiate environment in dual enrollment courses. You must follow the process of application, documentation, and intake meeting if you wish to have accommodations evaluated and determined for dual enrollment courses. Faculty members should not accept IEPs and 504s as collegiate accommodation plans; instead, students presenting faculty members with IEPs and 504s should be referred to the Disability Services’ office. Collegiate accommodation plans are issued through the Disability Services’ office via Outlook email.
You can apply with Disability Services at any time during the calendar year. However, the online application can only be accessed through your account, which students get access to shortly after applying to PSCC. If a paper application is needed, please stop by our office or email us. We recommend that you fill out your application as soon as possible to get the process started, well in advance of classes starting. If you wait to apply, you may experience longer wait times, especially in late July, August, and September or during finals.
We do recommend that you complete the process (application, documentation, and intake meeting) even if you are unsure about sending accommodation plans to your professors initially. Once reasonable and appropriate accommodations are agreed upon in the intake meeting, you have the ultimate choice in customizing your accommodation plan for each class and in choosing whether or not to send an accommodation plan to certain classes.
This means that you can complete the process without managing your accommodations, and you can wait to manage your accommodations when you are ready to do so. Just remember: Accommodations are not retroactive.
In the meeting with your assigned coordinator, you can expect questions related to your academic experiences prior to PSCC and during your time here (if applicable). It is important to share what accommodations you may have had in the past that proved particularly helpful and why the accommodations were helpful (if applicable). It is equally important to share what accommodations you predict will be helpful in the collegiate environment. You can also expect questions related to testing and classroom challenges in the interview. It will be important to link challenges to conditions disclosed in the application to substantiate the need for accommodations. You can expect us to brainstorm together to find the right supports for you. Supports must be reasonable and appropriate given the laws we must comply with, including the American with Disabilities Act (ADD), Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act, and Title IX.
To engage in the interactive process and determine reasonable and appropriate accommodations, we can either meet in-person or virtually through Microsoft Teams. Our office is open from 8:00 AM to 4:30 PM, Monday through Friday, with the exception of holidays recognized by PSCC. Meetings can take up to an hour in length. We are open year-round, including summers.
Please let your coordinator know as soon as possible if you need accommodations for an accommodation planning meeting. For example, if you require a sign language interpreter or if you need to meet at another location, please inform your coordinator of that request as soon as possible so that arrangements can be made for the meeting in a timely fashion.
Students must manage their accommodations each semester to customize their accommodations by class, thereby giving permission for the plans to be digitally created and digitally emailed through Outlook to each faculty member selected to receive one. Accommodations are not retroactive and are not officially in effect until accommodations are managed and emailed to faculty members. To manage accommodations, follow the steps below or contact a member of the Disability Services’ team for assistance:
Yes, you can request additional accommodations at any time. Depending on the accommodation request, additional documentation may be required to substantiate the need for the request. Contact your assigned case manager to make the additional accommodation request.
No, additional meetings to maintain eligibility for services and accommodations are not required after the initial intake meeting. You can always request an additional follow-up meeting if needed. You just need to manage your accommodations every semester to carry your accommodations over from one semester to the next.
If you experience any difficulty managing your accommodations, contact your case manager.
No, accommodations are not retroactive. This is true for both permanent eligibility and temporary eligibility for services and accommodations. Therefore, it is important to start the process of application, documentation, and intake meeting early. Once you manage your accommodations, accommodations will be in effect from the date of management, moving forward through the end of that semester.
Yes. Please apply even if you do not currently have professional documentation. We can discuss possible ways forward with you, including the possibility of considering the appropriateness and reasonableness of providing temporary accommodations while you pursue professional documentation.
High school accommodations can ensure success due to IDEA regulations. Collegiate accommodations must allow access due to ADA and 504 regulations. This means that success measures like redoing tests below a certain score or allowing corrections after the first initial grading are not used in college. Students are also not guaranteed to pass classes.
Additionally, postsecondary institutions are not required to lower or substantially modify essential requirements through accommodations, nor are they required to make adjustments that would fundamentally alter the nature of a service, program, or activity, or that would result in an undue financial or administrative burden. Furthermore, we are not required to pay for personal attendants, individually prescribed devices, readers for personal use or study, or other devices or services of a personal nature, such as tutoring and typing.
Emotional support animals are not allowed; however, service animals are with certain conditions. Service animals must be required because of a disability, and they must be trained to perform certain work or tasks related to disability. Service animals must be under the control of the owner and must be housebroken. An approved accommodation is not necessary to bring a service animal to campus. Additionally, an individual does not need to register with DS for a service animal to be allowed on campus.
Yes, Disability Services is involved in accommodating Study Abroad courses. When you apply for Study Abroad courses through TnCIS, notice the information provided about accommodations on the TnCIS application:
“3. If I am a student with a documented need for student assistance (students with disabilities documentation), I will share that information with TnCIS no later than the mandatory student orientation.”
Your acceptance letter for study abroad should also contain information related to requesting accommodations. Please make sure to notify your case manager of your need for accommodations for study abroad once you are accepted by TnCIS. Please make sure to notify TnCIS of the need for accommodations by their deadline as well. Disability Services will share an accommodation plan with the TnCIS Assistant Vice Chancellor, who will then communicate with the appropriate study abroad faculty member about what DS has approved and what can be applied abroad.
Yes, Disability Services can help with many temporary conditions. Please start our process (application, documentation, intake meeting) as soon as possible, even if you must designate someone to help you fill out the application. Remember: Accommodations cannot be backdated, so it is important to apply and move through the process as soon as feasible. Accommodations are not generated until the intake meeting is completed, and accommodations are managed.
No, your accommodations do not automatically transfer from the other institution. You need to complete our process (application, documentation, and student intake) for us to evaluate the accommodations that you have had previously and to possibly consider other accommodations that you may have not had before. Your current accommodation plan from the other institution can be provided as a form of documentation with your application, however.