DSIS is responsible for promoting accessible campus environments for students with disabilities, working with students and others to identify reasonable accommodations that remove barriers to access, and ensuring that accommodations determined to be reasonable are provided and effective.

DSIS is a member of the Association on Higher Education and Disability (AHEAD). AHEAD provides knowledge and guidance on issues related to higher education disability services and best practices.

Accommodations are changes to the learning environment or tasks necessary to ensure equal access for students with a disability. Accommodations are determined on an individual basis to best meet student’s needs.  DSIS engages in a structured exchange with the student to explore previous educational experiences, past use of accommodations, and what has been effective and ineffective in providing access. Ensuring that “accommodations” provide effective access requires a deliberative and collaborative process that is responsive to the unique experience of each individual, as advised by the ADA. Examples of accommodations for equal access include but are not limited to:

Classroom Accommodations​

• Access to PowerPoint Slides​
• Preferential Seating​
• Ability to Step Out of Class​
• Notetaking Assistance​

Testing Accommodations​

• Extended Time​
• Distraction Reduced Setting​

Assistive Technology​

• Audio Record Lecture​
• Books in Alternate Format

DSIS requires that all students requesting services provide thorough documentation of their disability from a qualified professional. Disability documentation should be current and relevant but not necessarily recent. A copy of the student's IEP or 504 plan from high school is not sufficient documentation, but can used as supplemental information about the student’s educational and accommodation history. 

If you do not have documentation already, the certification forms below were developed to provide DSIS with the information needed to determine which accommodations and services are appropriate. Please have your provider fill out the appropriate form as completely as possible. Complete documentation must be provided before accommodations can be put in place.

Certification Forms

Certification of  Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)
Certification of Autism Spectrum Disorders
Certification of Hearing Impairment
Certification of Mobility, Physical, Health Neurological
Certification of Psychological Disability 

If a student does not have documentation already, the guidelines below were developed by DSIS for your provider with guidance on what documentation should contain.

Guidelines for Documentation

Guidelines for Cognitive Disabilities

Guidelines for Learning Disabilities

Please keep a personal copy of all documentation you submit to DSIS. DSIS does not release copies of documentation back to students or send documentation to other institutions.

Harford Community College offers Steps to Success, a college prep program for incoming HCC students with disabilities who may have concerns about the transition from high school to college. Students learn about this transition and the new expectations, the academic differences between high school and college, their personal and academic responsibilities, professors’ expectations, resources on campus, how to access Disability and Student Intervention Services, the Student Code of Conduct, time management, wellness/stress management, specific strategies for success in college, and more. This program runs every July for three half days.

Please contact Disability and Student Intervention Services at 443-412-2402 or disabilitysupport@harford.edu if you are interested in registering for this college prep program.