Support Services

Students must request accommodations from the Disability Support Services (DSS) office at MSU Texas and provide documentation of disability in order to receive accommodations in dual credit/concurrent, MSU Texas courses. The student may contact DSS at 940-397-4140 or disabilityservices@msutexas.edu for more information.

Students should request accommodations immediately after they have decided to take a college course. Accommodations cannot be retroactively implemented to alter unsatisfactory progress, so it is strongly recommended that the student have all accommodations in place prior to the start of their college course.

Accommodations can be utilized for the TSI. Using accommodations on the TSI test will provide MSU with a more accurate assessment level of achievement of the student. TSI accommodations will be coordinated among the student’s high school, MSU Testing Center, and Disability Support Services. Documentation must be submitted to the DSS in order to receive TSI accommodations.

Yes, the reauthorized Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act (Section 504) apply to high school students, while the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), the ADA Amendments ACT (ADA), and section 504 apply to students in higher education. Neither IDEA nor IEP’s (mandated by IDEA) are applicable as students transition to college. K-12 schools are legally required to guarantee all students successfully obtain a Free Appropriate Public Education (success), while higher education schools are legally required to provide students with access in order to perform to the best of their abilities.

If a student has a learning disability or intellectual impairment, DSS will need the student’s most recent, complete psycho-educational test report. If a student has any other type of disability (such as ADHD, emotional disability, health impairment) DSS will accept either a most recent, complete psycho-educational test report or a diagnostic narrative from the student’s specialist. A diagnostic narrative is a detailed letter that describes the student’s disability and the symptoms that may require accommodation. An IEP or other school plan (504) may also be submitted to substantiate the use of specific accommodations, but generally will not suffice as a student’s primary documentation of disability. All documentation should reflect the student’s current functioning and limitations.

Generally, Individualized Education Plans (IEP’s) alone don’t provide enough specific information about a student’s functional limitations and the impact those limitations have on the student’s academic performance. Documentation must include necessary information for determining the most appropriate accommodations for a student’s individual circumstances.

Accommodations are determined by looking at a student’s specific functional limitations (symptoms) and the ways those limitations affect the student in the educational environment. Appropriate accommodations are those that effectively reduce the impact of the student’s functional limitations on academic performance, and provide the student with access to perform to the best of his/her ability. Conversely, if an accommodation is not “logically” related to a student’s specific functional limitations, then that accommodations would not be considered appropriate (such as a reader for a student whose disability does not specifically impact reading ability).

Not necessarily. The student is earning college credit for the class and, therefore, accommodations are governed under the rules for higher education and the American’s with Disabilities Act. Accommodations are granted on a case-by-case basis. It is important to remember that the IEP does not continue to college; however, some accommodations provided at the high school may also be appropriate at the college level.

Most common accommodations include, but are not limited to, extended test time, reduced distractive test environment, and assistive technology. However, at the high school there may be supports and services provided that go beyond reasonable accommodation and would not be appropriate at the college level. Any accommodation that fundamentally alters the essential components of a course or field of study is not considered reasonable or appropriate. This includes waiving requirements that are considered essential to a course or program or substantially modifying tests or homework assignments (such as reducing the number of answer choices on a test or the number of required homework problems). Additionally, any accommodation that is for personal use or study (such as individual tutoring) is not provided unless that service is also available to the general population of students. 

MSU Texas utilizes a process used by most colleges. Students enrolled in courses that meet at the college will utilize Disability Support Services for all testing accommodations and adaptive technology. Accommodations for students who are taking dual credit/concurrent courses as part of their regular high school schedule will have their accommodations coordinated between DSS and the high school. It is expected that only those accommodations granted by the college be given to the student for the university/dual credit classes, although the high school classes will retain high school accommodations.