Office of ACCESSibility
Accommodations | Collaboration | Consultation | Educational Support Services
The Office of ACCESSibility
We are here to help students succeed both in and out of the classroom while at Mercy.
The Office of ACCESSibility collaborates with and empowers students who have disabilities in order to coordinate support services, reasonable accommodations and programs that enable equal access to education and college life.
ACCESS serves as a resource to other departments and colleagues and works to provide regular training opportunities, advisement, and consultation on equal access, compliance, delivery of equitable services, and universal design. Additionally, ACCESS provides opportunities and resources that will facilitate the development of self-advocacy, self-efficacy, and adaptive skills in students to overcome barriers a disability may present.
Practicing Self Advocacy Skills at Mercy University
Know Yourself:
- Understand your disability and how it impacts you as a student.
- Identify the academic accommodations you need to function.
- Distinguish whether your accommodations are effective or not.
- Learn and understand your disability rights and how to receive them.
Communicate:
- Discuss your needs, wants, likes and dislikes with others.
- Ask for the things you need, and ask questions about the things you don’t know.
- Write down your thoughts before communicating.
- If your rights are being violated, tell someone.
Have Goals:
- Explore different majors and career options that spark your interests.
- Create an academic plan with your college advisor to reach your academic goals.
- Build relationships with your faculty and explore resources.
The Difference in Accessibility Between High School & College
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Resources
Download a copy of your Student Welcome Packet.
40 scholarship opportunities for students with disabilities, along with a set of valuable resources and support groups to further help throughout their college and career journey. Check out the full listing.
Best Online Guide to Scholarships and Resources for Students With Disabilities
Financial Resources and Discounts for Students With Disabilities
Explore additional resources for students with mental health issues.
Information on ACCESS-VR for University Students
Click here to be directed to the ACCESS-VR website.
Center of Academic Excellence and Innovation (CAEI)
The CAEI can help you with writing support, math, tutoring, science tutoring, general education support and much more! You can click the link above to bring you to the CAEI page where you can book an appointment and view the resources that you can utilize.
Frequently Asked Questions
Students with disabilities must apply to Mercy University through the regular admissions procedure. There are no special admissions procedures. A student may, however, apply to the companies that administer the standardized admission exams (such as Educational Testing Services and The College Board) for provision of accommodations when taking standardized tests such as the SAT, ACT and GRE. Contact the exam administration companies for further information on how to apply for and make arrangements for standardized exam accommodations.
If you suspect you have a disability that is impacting your academic performance, you will need to provide documentation of that disability to the Office of ACCESSibility (ACCESS). This documentation must be supplied by a qualified professional who is licensed or certified to diagnose the disability in question. An appointment ACCESS to discuss your potential need for services and to gather resource and referral information.
Colleges are required to provide any reasonable accommodation that may be necessary for equal access to education. They are not required to design special programs for students with disabilities or have Individualized Educational Plans (IEP’s).
In college, students with disabilities are covered under Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act and under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). IDEA no longer applies. Since this is the case, the legal obligations change. There is no special education in college. Colleges do not have to seek out students with disabilities. It is the student's responsibility to seek out services through the Office of ACCESSibility.
Students who are 18 years old or older are legally recognized as adults. In this case, the student is responsible for his or her own accommodation requests and disability-related decisions. However, students are encouraged to have an open dialogued with their parents. Parents can be a wonderful source of support.
Students with physical disabilities are encouraged to register with the Office of ACCESSibility every semester so that the office can help them with access to buildings and other university activities. ACCESS partners with Facilities Services to maintain an accessible campus.
Colleges are not required to conduct or provide testing. The student is responsible for providing current documentation, and any additional testing to support the requested accommodations, if necessary. However, ACCESS does provide referral information for local evaluators and counselors.
To notify your instructor about your accommodations, email them a copy of your Accommodation Memo. If you need a copy of your Accommodation Memo, please log on to the Student Health Portal to request one . Please keep in mind, that Accommodation Memos are semester specific. You will need to get an updated memo each term.
Send your Accommodation Memo to all you instructors to ensure you receive your testing accommodations online. If your instructor is concerned about meeting your accommodations online, please encourage them to reach out to the Office of Accessibility at accessibility@mercy.edu.
Natural Reader is a free text to speech software. For information on how to use ReadSpeaker, please reach out to the Office of ACCESSibility at accessibility@mercy.edu . There are many other options for text to speech, such as: Balabolka, PanopreterBasic, WordTalk, and Zabaware.
Contact Information & Office Hours
Office Hours
Dobbs Ferry - Monday to Friday, 9 a.m. - 5 p.m.
Available at all campuses and locations by appointment. We can also facilitate appointments remotely.
For questions, appointments, or sending in documentation:
Visit us in Main Hall, Room 121 (Dobbs Ferry Campus)
Call us: (914) 674-7764
Fax documents: (914) 674-7852
Email us: accessibility@mercy.edu
ACCESS Staff
Sara Venezian, Director
914-674-7523
svenezian@mercy.edu
Christina Locario, Associate Director
914-678-8473
Leah Woods, Accessibility Specialist
914-888-5232
lwoods10@mercy.edu
Follow Us
Check out our Instagram page for updated information and student resources at accessibility_mercycollege