Disability & Access
Wartburg College is committed to supporting qualified students with disabilities by providing reasonable accommodations that ensure equal access to the college’s programs, housing, services, and opportunities. Accommodations are determined on an individual basis, kept confidential, and tailored to both the nature of the disability and the specific requirements of each course or program. Students seeking accommodations are asked to provide current and appropriate documentation to support their request. Accommodations are available to be requested at any time during a student’s college experience.
Have questions or need support? Contact the person below.
Nicole Willis
Disability and Access Coordinator
Phone: (319) 352-8230 | Fax: 319-352-8365
Email: nicole.willis@wartburg.edu
Information for Students
If you received academic accommodations in high school through the support of an Individualized Education Plan (IEP) or 504 Plan, you may be able to transition those accommodations to college.
You may also qualify for academic accommodations if you are experiencing a new disabling condition or a temporary health issue.
To request academic accommodations, please submit documentation that supports your request. This can be a recent IEP or 504 Plan or a letter from a licensed medical or mental health care provider. Please refer to the Documentation Guidelines section below for submitting appropriate documentation. Your request may not be reviewed until you have followed the documentation requirements as they are listed.
Residential living is an integral part of the Wartburg College experience and all full-time students are required to live in on-campus housing in accordance with college policy. The college is committed to providing reasonable housing accommodations when needed to support students with disabilities in fully participating in residential life, or when their needs cannot be appropriately met within standard campus housing. As a residential campus, we are prepared and well-equipped to meet housing accommodation requests on-campus before exploring off-campus options.
To be considered for a housing accommodation, a student must have a documented physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities, or a history of such an impairment.
Documentation to support a housing accommodation must be provided by a licensed medical or mental health care provider. Please refer to the Documentation Guidelines section below for submitting appropriate documentation. Your request may not be reviewed until you have followed the documentation requirements as they are listed.
It is important to note that housing accommodations only apply to the student making the request. Any questions about implementation of housing accommodations and how approval or denial may impact a student’s housing lottery experience should be directed to Residential Life.
Wartburg College Dining Services accommodates medically required special dietary needs such as food allergies, celiac disease, diabetes, etc. Students may request a dietary accommodation if they feel self-management does not meet their medical needs. Dining Services staff are prepared and well-equipped to meet dietary accommodation requests on-campus before exploring meal plan exemptions or other off-campus options.
To request a dietary accommodation:
- Submit accommodation request though Gateway.
- Upload a letter from your provider that explains your dietary needs and/or restrictions. Please refer to the documentation guidelines section below for submitting appropriate documentation. Your request may not be reviewed until you have followed the documentation requirements as they are listed.
- The dining services nutritionist will reach out to the student to complete the accommodation process.
Animal Definitions & Policy
- Assistance Animal: An umbrella term for animals that provide disability-related support. This includes both service animals and emotional support animals. Assistance animals are not considered pets.
- Service Animal: An animal that is individually trained to perform specific tasks related to a person’s disability. Service animals are permitted in campus buildings without prior approval. Providing the animal’s vaccination records to Residence Life is requested for students living on campus.
- Emotional Support Animal (ESA): An animal that provides comfort or emotional support to help reduce the effects of a disability. ESAs are not required to have specialized training. If a student receives approval from the college to have an ESA on campus, they are only permitted in college housing, not in other campus buildings.
- Pet: An animal kept for companionship that is not providing disability-related support. Pets are not permitted in college housing.
To request an ESA:
- Submit your ESA request through Gateway using the Housing Accommodation request form.
- Upload a letter from a licensed medical or mental health care provider to support your request to have an ESA in college housing. Please refer to the Documentation Guidelines section below for submitting appropriate documentation. Your request may not be reviewed until you have followed the documentation requirements as they are listed.
- Your request and supportive documentation will be reviewed by the Disability & Access Coordinator.
If eligible for an ESA:
- The Disability & Access Coordinator will invite you to meet to discuss your responsibilities of being an animal owner on campus and to review & sign Wartburg’s Assistance Animal Agreement.
- You will be required to provide vaccination records to Residence Life.
Who Can Provide Documentation?
Documentation must come from a licensed medical or mental health care provider who is qualified to diagnose your condition. The provider cannot be a family member.
How Recent Should My Documentation Be?
Documentation should generally be from the past five years. If your condition changes over time, more recent documentation may be required.
What Should Be Included In My Documentation?
- Official Letterhead: Documentation should be on professional letterhead and include the provider’s contact information.
- Diagnosis Information: Your diagnosis, including when it was first made and when you were most recently evaluated.
- Evaluation Details: A description of how the diagnosis was made, such as clinical interviews, medical exams, or testing. If testing was completed, results and a brief interpretation should be included.
- Impact on Academics and Daily Living:
- How your condition affects you in an academic setting. For example: learning, reading, concentrating, thinking, communicating, seeing, or hearing.
- How your condition affects major life activities. For example: sleeping, daily living, eating, socializing.
- Expected Duration: Whether your condition is ongoing or if follow-up evaluations are expected.
- Accommodation Recommendations: Suggested accommodations and how they support your needs.
- History of Accommodations (if applicable): Any previous accommodations you’ve used and how they worked for you.
Follow these steps to request accommodations through Gateway:
- Log into Gateway using your Wartburg credentials.
- Click “Ask for Help.”
- Click “Choose a Form” from the drop-down menu.
- Select the appropriate request for accommodations form.
- Fill out the form, including uploading your documentation.
- Preview your request and submit for consideration.
The Disability & Access Coordinator will reach out to you via email to inform you of next steps specific to your request.
Once received, your request will typically be reviewed and considered within 7 days.
The Disability & Access Coordinator will reply to your request via email:
Academic Accommodations
- You will be invited to meet with the Disability & Access Coordinator to discuss how we can support your needs. If approved for academic accommodations, a Faculty Notification of Accommodations form will be established and shared with faculty with your permission.
- Implementation of accommodations and your responsibilities as a student are discussed during this interactive process.
- You will be requested to renew your academic accommodations in the ARC at the start of each term.
Housing Accommodations
- You will be informed if your requested accommodation is approved, denied, or if more information is needed.
- Approved accommodations will be communicated with the Residence Life staff who will coordinate the accommodation with you.
Dietary Accommodations
- You will be informed if your requested accommodation is approved, denied, or if more information is needed.
- Approved accommodations will be communicated with the Dining Services Nutritionist who will reach out to you to complete the accommodation process.
If your accommodation request is denied, you may:
- Submit additional supportive documentation from a licensed medical or mental health provider to support your request.
- File a grievance with the college. The Student Grievance Policy and link to file can be found here: https://www.wartburg.edu/student-life/grievance-policies
Information for Faculty & Staff
All Wartburg College course syllabi must include the following language:
Access and Accommodations: It is the policy and practice of Wartburg College to create inclusive and accessible learning environments consistent with federal and state law. If you anticipate or experience academic barriers due to a disability (including physical, mental health, learning, vision, or hearing) you may request accommodations through Gateway on my.wartburg.edu or by contacting the Disability & Access Coordinator in the Academic Resource Center. The ARC offers resources and coordinates reasonable accommodations for students with disabilities and/or temporary health conditions.
Genio: Some students in this course may be approved to record lectures as an accommodation through the Academic Resource Center (ARC). These recordings are securely managed through the Genio platform and are intended solely for accessibility and academic support. All recordings remain confidential and cannot be shared.
Faculty Guidance on Lecture Recording and Note-Taking Accommodations Using Genio
Wartburg College is committed to providing reasonable accommodations in accordance with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). To ensure equal access while protecting instructional content and classroom privacy, we utilize Genio as the approved platform for note-taking and lecture recording accommodations.
Genio as the College’s Note-Taking Accommodation
- Genio replaces the need for traditional peer note takers.
- If a student has access to Genio for one or more courses, the Academic Resource Center (ARC) will not hire a peer note taker for any other course. The Genio account, which is college-funded, is intended for use across all courses where the student requires note-taking support.
- Genio provides a secure platform that allows students to record lectures (if needed) and take notes in one place, while also maintaining compliance with FERPA and ADA guidelines.
Recording Accommodations and Classroom Privacy
- Lecture recording remains a long-standing reasonable accommodation for eligible students.
- Recordings made through Genio are secure: they cannot be downloaded, shared, or accessed outside of the platform by the student.
- Faculty are welcome to maintain a “no-tech” policy in the classroom, while still allowing students to discreetly use their phone or device to access Genio for approved accommodations. For example, a student may start the Genio app and place their phone face down on the desk.
Communicating with Your Class
The ARC will not make general announcements regarding which students have recording accommodations.
- To maintain student privacy and prevent singling anyone out, we encourage faculty to:
- Briefly inform students at the start of the semester that recording may occur for accommodation purposes.
- Include a general statement in the course syllabus regarding the use of Genio for accessibility
- Suggested Syllabus Statement: “Some students in this course may be approved to record lectures as an accommodation through the Accessible Resource Center (ARC). These recordings are securely managed through the Genio platform and are intended solely for accessibility and academic support. All recordings remain confidential and cannot be shared.”
Accessibility Topics
If you are having difficulty finding or accessing the information you need on any Wartburg website, please contact the following offices for additional assistance. If you cannot find the appropriate office on this listing, please refer to our directory. The college has begun including accessibility questions in its bi-annual surveys of web users to continue to improve the website. However, if there is a change to a Wartburg website that you believe would make it more accessible to individuals with disabilities, please email markcomm@wartburg.edu with your specific suggestion.
Admissions Questions:
800-772-2085 or admissions@wartburg.edu
Financial Aid Questions:
(319) 352-8262 or finaid@wartburg.edu
Housing Questions:
(319) 352-8260 or reslife@wartburg.edu
Academic Policy Questions:
(319) 352-8284
Billing Questions:
(319) 352-8411
Employment Questions:
(319) 352-8521 or hr@wartburg.edu
Registration Questions:
(319) 352-8272 or registrar@wartburg.edu
The following assistive technology software programs are available for any student on campus. Some of these items may be checked out for personal and classroom use.
SmartPen Features:
- Take hand written notes and record your lecture using the same device
- Written notes are synched with the audio recording using specialized notebooks
- Tap on any written text and listen to your lecture from that exact moment in the lecture or meeting
- Upload your notes to your computer for playback, and ability to search content
- More Information: http://www.livescribe.com/en-us/smartpen/
eTextbooks Features:
- The Wartburg Store partners with VitalSource to help you save up to 80% when purchasing eTextbooks.
- Read anytime, anywhere online or offline from your laptop, tablet or smartphone.
- Interact with your books: search topics, highlight, take notes and more.
- With the text-to-speech tool, you don’t have to look at your device to absorb your content. Listen to your eTextbooks while on the go to multitask and save time.
- More Information: https://wartburg.vitalsource.com/
ACCOMMODATIONS/PROVISIONS MANDATED BY LAW: SECTION 504 OF THE REHABILITATION ACT OF 1973
“No otherwise qualified person with a disability in the United States shall solely by reason of his or her disability, be excluded from the participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any program or activity receiving federal financial assistance.”
According to this law, an individual with a disability is a person who has a “physical or mental impairment which substantially limits one or more major life activities.” With regard to post-secondary students, “qualified” refers to a person with a disability who meets the “academic and technical standards” required for admission to or participation in an educational program or activity. Section 504 mandates “reasonable accommodations” for students with disabilities via such methods as alternative format textbooks, alternative testing arrangements, curb cuts, and ramps to entrances of classrooms and buildings.
It should be stressed that nothing in the language or intent of Section 504 abridges the freedom of an institution of higher education to establish academic requirements and standards.
THE AMERICANS WITH DISABILITIES ACT OR ADA
The ADA, passed in 1990 and amended in 2008, gives people with disabilities the same rights that women and minorities have had since 1964. It prohibits discrimination in employment, public services, public accommodations, transportation, and telecommunications. Employers are required to make “reasonable accommodations” for persons with disabilities unless such accommodations would result in “undue hardship.”
DISABILITY LAWS AND POST-SECONDARY INSTITUTIONS
Essentially, Section 504 and the ADA require that colleges and universities make reasonable adjustments to ensure equal access to the educational experience. For example, it may be necessary to allow a student with a reading disability to have reading materials in an audio format. Other examples might include extending time limits on exams or allowing lectures to be recorded when disabilities impact a student’s ability to keep up with the lecturer. For students with physical disabilities, adjustments might need to be made to classrooms or sign interpreters might need to be provided.
Note that the emphasis in each of these adjustments is on the may. The key is accommodating for the effects of the disability, not altering course content. The “may” means that, with the exception of removing architectural barriers, no set formulas exist for making adjustments that will be helpful in every case. Thus, the adaptation will be specific to the needs of the individual student. In every case, the intent is to accommodate for the disability without altering academic standards or course content.
While in high school, the student’s home school-district was legally responsible for initiating, developing and providing all academic supports required for the student’s full access to and involvement in the educational process.