Overview for Prospective Students

Welcome to Student Disability Resources at Penn State DuBois!  At Penn State, we are committed to providing a welcoming, encouraging, and empowering environment for students with disabilities to ensure equal access, full participation, and reasonable accommodations for academic pursuits.  We encourage students with disabilities to take advantage of our educational programs and accommodations while attending Penn State DuBois.

The Student Disability Resources (SDR) office is responsible for

  • requesting and maintaining disability-related documents
  • certifying student eligibility for services
  • determining and developing plans for reasonable accommodations such as academic adjustments, auxiliary aids, and/or services as mandated under Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act, Amendments Act (ADAAA) of 2008 and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973,
  • coordinating support services
  • implementing reasonable academic accommodations
  • promoting disability awareness to the university community 

 
We are committed to assisting students with disabilities to reach their academic goals by providing reasonable accommodations, academic adjustments, auxiliary aids, and/or services to students with disabilities. 

Registration Process 

To be eligible for disability-related services, students must have a documented disability as defined by the Americans with Disabilities Act, Amendments Act (ADAAA) of 2008, and Section 504 of the Vocational Rehabilitation Act of 1973. A person has a disability if he/she has a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities such as performing manual tasks, walking, standing, seeing, speaking, hearing, sleeping, learning, reading, concentrating, thinking, communicating, and working.

To be considered an active student registered with the Office for Student Disability Resources, please complete the following steps:

  1. Schedule an intake appointment with the Office for Student Disability Resources (OSDR) by contacting Jordan Rummelby e-mailing [email protected] or calling 814-372-3037. This meeting will take about an hour and should not be scheduled during class time. This meeting can be completed in person at 244 Swift or via zoom, whichever works best for you.  Plan to discuss your disability, what accommodations you might need, and how we can best help you to be successful.
  2. Complete the online introductory questionnaire (https://equity.psu.edu/sdrintro).   It takes about 30 minutes to complete and asks for more detailed information about your diagnosis and academic needs, such as the name and description of your diagnosis, how your diagnosis affects your learning, which accommodations you’ve had in the past, the name and dosage of medications you take, your health and psychological history, family diagnosis similarities, etc., so be sure to collect any needed information before you begin the Online Introductory Questionnaire. Please complete this form before your intake appointment.
  3. Please review our documentation guidelines (https://equity.psu.edu/offices/student-disability-resources/documentati…) and submit documentation of your disability online (https://docs.equity.psu.edu/sdr/documentation).  A Third-Party Verification form (https://equity.psu.edu/offices/student-disability-resources/documentati…)  and/or other formal medical evaluations are usually necessary to determine services.  Recent secondary school documentation, such as Individualized Education Programs (IEPs) or Section 504 Plans, may assist in Student Disability Resources’ determination for services, but their sole submission may not meet Penn State's Student Disability Resources documentation requirements.

Alert! Student Disability Resources does not recommend emailing documentation as email is not a secure method of sharing confidential information.

Given the sensitive and personal information contained in disability documentation, Student Disability Resources strongly discourages the use of email to provide us with documentation. Email is not secure. We are not responsible if your information is compromised due to you sending us documentation via email.

Other recommended methods of providing your documentation are:

  • In-person drop-off
  • Fax
  • U.S. Postal Mail