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Northland Community & Technical College

Services

Academic Success Center

ASC provides accommodations and services for a variety of disabilities, including, but not limited to, the following:

  • Learning Disabilities
  • Hearing Loss
  • Vision Loss
  • Physical Disabilities
  • Psychological Disabilities
  • Attention Deficit Disorders
  • Brain Injuries
  • Autism Spectrum Disorders
  • Cognitive Disabilities
  • Other health-related disabilities

Services and accommodations are determined on an individual, case-by-case basis. They are also contingent upon the documented nature of the disability and the functional limitations accompanying the disability. For more questions regarding the federal guidelines related to disability access, please refer to the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and Frequently Asked Questions about Section 504.

When to Request Accommodations

Students may request accommodations at any time. However, it is highly advised that you begin the process several weeks prior to the start of classes since accommodations may take time to arrange. Late requests for accommodations may limit immediate assistance, and accommodations cannot be applied retroactively.

How to Request Accommodations

To request services, please contact Sara Johnson, Director of Academic Success Center, or Chris Fossum, Accommodation Specialist, and submit disability documentation in person, by mail, email, or fax.

Students who believe they may have a disability but do not have relevant documentation should discuss their situation with the ASC Director or Access Specialist. For more information about documentation, please see the Procedure for Requesting Disability Accommodations.

Intake Process

During the intake appointment, the student and ASC Director or Access Specialist will discuss the disability documentation and what barriers the student expects to encounter. Academic adjustments will be determined based on a combination of the student’s personal experience, relevant documentation, and the interactive conversation with the student. The ASC Director or Access Specialist will approve accommodations and send the accommodation letter to the student via their Northland email. It is the student’s responsibility to share their accommodation letter with their instructors and discuss how they would like to use those accommodations.

Updating Accommodations

Students are encouraged to contact the ASC Director or Access Specialist at any time in the semester if the approved accommodations are not adequate and/or if new needs are discovered. Students should indicate which changes are needed (if any) for future semesters and notify the appropriate faculty.

Transitioning from High School to College

Two excellent resources to assist students and educators with the transition process between high school and college are:

Accessibility Policies and Procedures

Local Disability Resources

Division of Vocational Rehabilitation – Minnesota

Crookston office
102 W 5th St
Crookston, MN 56716-3000
Phone: 218-277-7860

Roseau office
1307 3rd St NE
Roseau, MN 56751-0158
Phone: 218-463-2075

Thief River Falls office
1301 Highway 1 East
Thief River Falls, MN 56701-2500
Phone: 800-657-3962

Website: http://mn.gov/deed/job-seekers/disabilities/

Division of Vocational Rehabilitation – North Dakota

David Kvasager, Regional Administrator
1501 28th Avenue South
Grand Forks, North Dakota 58201-6727
Local Phone: 701-795-3100
Toll-Free: 1-888-256-6742
Email: dkvasager@nd.gov
Website: http://www.nd.gov/dhs/dvr/individual/

Minnesota State Council on Disability (MSCOD)

121 E. 7th Place, Suite 107
St. Paul, MN 55101
Phone & TTY: 1-800-945-8913
Fax: 651-296-5935
Email: council.disability@state.mn.us
Website: http://www.disability.state.mn.us/

North Dakota Association for the Disabled (NDAD)

2660 South Columbia Rd.
Grand Forks, ND 58201
Phone: 701-775-5577
Toll-Free: 1-800-532-6323
ND Relay: 1-800-366-6888
Email: grandforks@ndad.org
Website: http://ndad.org/

State Services for the Blind of Minnesota

2200 University Ave W
Suite 240
Saint Paul, MN 55114
Phone: 651-539-2300
Website: https://mn.gov/deed/ssb/

North Dakota Vision Services/School for the Blind

500 Stanford Road
Grand Forks, ND 58203
Phone: 701-795-2700
Toll-Free: 1-800-421-1181
Website: https://www.ndvisionservices.com/

State Parking Placard Information

Minnesota: Application for Disability Parking Certificate (.pdf)
North Dakota: Application for Mobility Impaired Parking Permit (.pdf)

National Disability Resources

Association for Higher Education and Disability (AHEAD)

Website: http://www.ahead.org/

Federal Relay Service

TTY / ASCII – (800) 877-8339
VCO (Voice Carry Over) – (877) 877-6280
Speech-to-Speech – (877) 877-8982
Spanish – (800) 845-6136
Voice – (866) 377-8642
TeleBraille – (866) 893-8340
Customer Service (Voice/TTY, ASCII, and Spanish) – (800) 877-0996

Mental Health Resources

National Alliance for the Mentally Ill (NAMI)
Website: http://www.nami.org/

Learning Ally

Website: http://www.learningally.org/

The DO-IT (Disabilities, Opportunities, Internetworking, and Technology) Center

Website: http://www.washington.edu/doit/

US Office for Civil Rights (OCR)

Website: http://www.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ocr/

Welcome – स्वागत – Bienvenida – Boozhoo – ترحيب – Bienvenue – Karibu – Hau

Do you want to improve your ability to speak, listen, read, or write in English? Do people use words or phrases that are unfamiliar to you? Do you want to gain confidence in using English? Northland can help you!

Adult Basic Education (ABE)

Adult Basic Education offers general English language help. They can measure your basic English skills (speaking, listening, reading, and writing) and help you prepare for college studies. ABE can help students with grammar, context, pronunciation, idioms, preparing for Accuplacer – and more. You can continue general services while you are a Northland student, but they cannot help with college-level assignments.

You can find ABE here:

East Grand Forks campus: Room 560
Phone: 218-793-2380

Thief River Falls campus: Room 213
Phone: 218-683-8764

Note: Minnesota residents are given first priority for services on the Northland campuses; North Dakota (or other) residents may be placed on a waiting list for services. North Dakota residents may also ask about EL services through:

Adult Learning Center
Stanford Centre
500 Stanford Road
Grand Forks, ND 58203
701-795-2777

Academic Success Center (ASC)

We can assist you with homework for your Northland classes, including helping with papers or understanding lecture notes that are unclear. We can also help you connect with other staff and faculty at Northland. The ASC offers tutors on specific topics like writing, math, science, liberal arts, and technical courses.

Students with limited English proficiency are only eligible for academic accommodations through the Academic Success Center if they have a documented disability. However, individual instructors may choose, upon their discretion, to provide services such as additional time on exams or use of translation resources, particularly for students who are attending college for the first time.

You can find the ASC here:

East Grand Forks campus: Rooms 578, 579, and 580
Phone: 218-683-8560

Thief River Falls campus: Room 205
Phone: 218-683-8560

Northland provides some assistive technology for students in the Academic Success Center on both campuses, including screen magnifiers, mouse scanners, and recording pens. Please refer to Policy 2035 for information about the college’s accessibility policy, including definitions of disabilities and what reasonable accommodations can be made.

In addition, students are encouraged to visit the ASC to discuss their individual needs and preferences for assistive technology. While the college does not provide extensive assistive technology, it will work with students to recommend technology on a case-by-case basis. The purchase, installation, and maintenance of assistive technology is generally the student’s responsibility.

Students are encouraged to contact outside agencies such as the Department of Rehabilitation Services (Minnesota and North Dakota) or Northland’s Veterans Resource Center for possible funding.

Assistive Technology for Students

Speech-to-Text/Text-to-Speech Software and Tools

  • JAWS Screenreading Software — from Freedom Scientific, one of the highest-rated commercially available screen readers
  • NVDA — Non-Visual Desktop Access, FREE screenreader for Microsoft PCs

Pointing Tools/Touch Screen

Universal Design

This section provides information and links to assist faculty and web content designers in creating accessible content.

  • CAST Universal Design Homepage — a nonprofit research and development organization for universal design
  • D2L Accessibility — information on how universal design principles are incorporated into the D2L learning environment, including resources for course designers
  • Section 508 — section of federal ADA code that applies to universal design requirements and includes professional development training in the 508 Universe section

Closed Captioning

Other Resources