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Accessibility and Disability Services
At Horry-Georgetown Technical College your success is our highest goal. The Office for Counseling and Disability Services provides students with disabilities an equal opportunity to participate in and benefit from programs and services offered at HGTC. We are dedicated to providing appropriate services and reasonable accommodations to students with documented disabilities, in compliance with Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), and other applicable regulations.
To access services and accommodations, students must first self-identify, obtain and submit documentation of the disability, and make an appointment with an appropriate staff member to begin the interactive process of determining and implementing reasonable accommodations. For more information or assistance in obtaining services, please email disabilityservices@hgtc.edu.
How to request accommodations
- Step 1: Student identifies him/herself to Counseling and Disability Services.
- Step 2: Student provides documentation from a qualified professional. Students may use the online Accommodations Intake Form to self-identify and submit their documentation.
- Step 3: Documentation is evaluated and an accommodation plan is generated on the online Faculty Acknowledgement Form.
- Step 4: Student signs the Faculty Acknowledgement Form to approve their accommodation plan with their digital signature for each class.
- Step 5: Faculty Acknowledgement Forms are automatically sent to instructors after obtaining the student's signature.
- Step 6: Student coordinates a time to speak with his/her instructor (outside of class) to discuss implementation of accommodations.
- Step 7: Student submits the online Accommodations Intake Form each semester to request renewal of their accommodations.
Note: Accommodations will not be applied retroactively, thus it is imperative that students request to renew his/her accommodations by completing Step 7 at the beginning of each semester.
What documentation is required?
Your documentation must demonstrate an existence of a condition covered by the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Acceptable documentation should be typed on letterhead, signed by a qualified professional (i.e. Medical Doctor, Psychologist, Counselor), and must include specific information regarding the condition, as well as its potential impact on learning. Please provide your qualified professional with the following form that details the guidelines for proper documentation.It is the responsibility of the student to provide appropriate documentation to HGTC's Counseling and Disability Services Office. Counseling and Disability Services staff can give you more specific information about documentation guidelines.
After submitting your documentation you can arrange a meeting with your campus' Counseling and Disability Services staff member (see Contact Us). You and your disability service provider will decide on appropriate academic accommodations supported by your documentation that will help you to reach your academic goals.
Based on your individual needs and supporting documentation, accommodations may be provided in the classroom. Referral to outside agencies and other resources are also available.
Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 (“Title IX”), 20 U.S.C. §1681 et seq., is a Federal civil rights law that prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex - including pregnancy and parental status - in educational programs and activities.
According to guidance received from the Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights (“OCR”), under Title IX, colleges must not exclude a pregnant student from participating in any part of an educational program. Horry-Georgetown Technical College is committed to ensuring that pregnant students receive reasonable accommodations to ensure access to our educational programs. Students do not have to drop out of classes or academic programs or change educational plans due to pregnancy.
Generally speaking, if a student has approved testing accommodations, he/she will take his/her tests, quizzes, and final exams in the Testing Center. Students with testing accommodations have the right to choose to either test in the Testing Center or in the classroom with his/her classmates. Students who choose to test outside of the Testing Center cannot be guaranteed his/her testing accommodations.
Steps for Utilizing Testing Center
- Step 1: Student will notify his/her instructor of his/her choice to test in the Testing Center at least one week before each test.
- Step 2: Student will register for his/her test through myHGTC at least 48 hours before each test.
- Step 3: On the day of the test, student will report to the Testing Center, check-in using the computer kiosk, put all belongings in the provided lockers, and show Student ID to front desk to obtain test.
- Step 4: Once finished, student will turn his/her test into the front desk and check-out using the computer kiosk.
Note: Some students may need to take his/her test at an alternative time, based on extended time accommodations or scheduling conflicts with his/her other courses and the Testing Center hours of operation. It is the student’s responsibility to discuss alternative testing times with his/her instructor at least one week prior to the test and schedule his/her test with the Testing Center.
Note for students utilizing scribe/reader: You must notify the Counseling and Disability Services Office at least 48 business hours before each test to ensure a staff member will be available to scribe and/or read for your test. Students may email disabilityservices@hgtc.edu to request a scribe/reader for tests.
Who is eligible for disability services?
Any student who qualifies as a person with a disability, in accordance with ADA, is eligible to receive services through the Office of Disability Services at HGTC. The ADA defines a disability as a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities.
What is an “accommodation”?
It is a modification, adjustment, or elimination of a barrier to enable an individual with a disability to participate on an equal basis. Individualized accommodations are not designed to give the student an advantage over other students, to alter a fundamental aspect of the course, nor to weaken academic rigor. Accommodations provided will vary based on students’ individual needs. Examples of accommodations include: extended time for test taking, private testing rooms, use of a calculator, and use of a sign language interpreter.
Do all students receive the same accommodation based on his/her disability?
No, all accommodations are determined on an individual basis through an interactive process after an evaluation of the documentation provided.
What do I do if I have any questions about the implementation of my accommodations?
If students have any questions or concerns regarding the implementation of his/her accommodations, it is important that he/she meet with a Counseling and Disability Services staff member in a timely manner. The Office of Counseling and Disability Services is committed to ensuring accommodations are properly implemented at HGTC.
Can I revise my accommodation plan?
If a student wishes to revise his/her accommodation plan, he/she will need to meet with a staff member in the Office of Counseling and Disability Services. This may or may not require additional documentation from a qualified professional. If the student’s accommodation plan does change, a new Faculty Acknowledgement Form will need to be signed by Counseling and Disability Services, the student, and the instructor of each class.
If a single room is available in the Testing Center, am I able to use it?
Single rooms in the Testing Center are reserved, at all times, for students with “single-room testing” accommodations. Students with “single-room testing” accommodations have documentation provided by a qualified professional that justifies a need specifically for single-room testing.
Rights:
- Access to an equal opportunity in courses, services, facilities, activities, etc at the college through appropriate accommodations.
- Confidentiality of all information pertaining to the student’s disability. Specific information (including documentation) relating to the student’s disability will not be given out without written permissions from the student.
Responsibilities:
- Self-Identify to the Office of Counseling and Disability Services.
- Provide proper documentation from an appropriate professional verifying the nature of the disability, functional limitations, and the need for specific accommodations.
- Follow the procedures for obtaining appropriate accommodations and/or aids specific to your disability.
- Contact HGTC Counseling and Disability Services at the beginning of each semester to ensure accommodations are provided in a timely manner.
- Inform faculty or professors at the beginning of each semester of approved accommodations by signing the online Faculty Acknowledgement Form.
- Meet the established procedural requirements for scheduling use of the Testing Center, auxiliary aids, and additional services.
- Notify the Office of Counseling and Disability Services if you change or add any courses to your schedule.