Accommodations Offered | Accessibility & Accommodations

The following accommodations are provided to eligible students through the Office of Accessibility & Accommodations (OAA).

Academic Services

Housing & Dietary Needs

Extended Test Time

A student who is eligible for extended test time must either make arrangements with OAA, or with their instructor. Visit the Testing Accommodations  page for more information.

Flexibility with Attendance

There may be times when OAA provides a reasonable accommodation related to providing flexibility within attendance policies to ensure students with disabilities are provided equal opportunity when the nature of their disability may prevent them from being present for every class session. See OAA's Flexibility with Attendance policy for details about this accommodation, including information about how the faculty and student will complete a Flexible Attendance Agreement.

Reduced Distraction/Separate Room Testing Accommodations

The terms "reduced distraction accommodation" and "separate testing room" both refer to accommodations that help students perform better during exams, but they target different types of challenges:

Reduced Distraction Accommodation:
Purpose: Minimizes environmental factors that could distract or disrupt the student's concentration during a test.
Ideal For: Students with conditions that make it difficult to focus due to environmental stimuli or sensory processing disorders.
Features: This might involve sitting in a less noisy area of the classroom or a room designed to minimize visual and auditory distractions, but it doesn’t necessarily mean complete separation from other students.

Reduced Distraction Testing
Reduced Distraction testing limits visual and auditory stimulation, this may include at times the use of cardboard dividers, white noise machines, or earplugs. Qualified individuals with a disability may be approved for this accommodation. Students with disabilities must meet federal ADA guidelines. OAA may facilitate reduced distraction exams when space is available. At times students may test with their academic program. A student who is eligible for reduced distraction testing, should schedule their exam with OAA at least one week prior to the exam. Visit the Testing Accommodations page for more information on OAA’s proctoring procedures and exam booking guidance.

Separate Testing Room
Purpose: Provides a private space for testing, away from other students.
Ideal For: Students who need a controlled environment and experience significant distractions from others, or specific needs for individualized attention.
Features: This room is usually quieter and can be adapted to meet specific needs, such as extra time or special testing formats.

Separate Room Testing
OAA has individual testing rooms that can be used to minimize distractions that might occur in a regular classroom. Qualified individuals with a disability may be approved for this accommodation. Students with disabilities must meet federal ADA guidelines.  During separate room testing, the test taker will be alone in a room monitored by an OAA staff member. There may be times when a student’s test will be facilitated by their academic program. A student who is eligible for separate room testing, should schedule their exam with OAA at least one week prior to the exam. Visit the Testing Accommodations page for more information on OAA’s proctoring procedures and exam booking guidance.

In summary, while both accommodations aim to help students perform their best, a separate testing room is a more comprehensive solution for isolation and focused attention, whereas reduced distraction accommodations specifically target environmental factors that might hinder concentration.

Test Readers

The OAA office has people, and computers with e-reader software, available that can help with reading material for tests.

Alternative Format Testing

If an alternative format is needed for an exam (ie. enlarged font, use of speech-to-text or text-to-speech, other), you must schedule your accommodated exam at least one week in advance to ensure the OAA can provide the accommodation. Visit the Testing Accommodations page for more information.

Advising Support

All students who attend Pacific are required to have an Academic Advisor. Advisors are faculty members who help students stay on the right track to obtain their degree. OAA can help students who have advising or academic concerns connect with their Faculty Advisor or the Academic Advising center. You may also refer to the academic advising website for more information.

Audio Book Format

Many textbooks are available in audio book format. OAA can help students find out if their textbooks are available in audio book format through the Learning Ally website.  OAA can provide a free membership to Learning Ally for qualified students.  Also, often times textbooks and journal articles can be accessed in a read-aloud format via Pacific University's Library or the InterLibrary Loan system.  

Alternative Format (e-text)

If an Audiobook version is not available, OAA staff can scan and convert the student's reading materials into an electronic text format. Students must have a voice synthesizer software designed to read the material aloud. Visit the e-text page for more information. Other alternative formats are provided on a case by case basis.

Clinical Accommodations

Clinical experience is an essential component for many students in their program of study. Classroom accommodations may be deemed unreasonable in clinical environments. OAA engages in an interactive process with the student and the academic program to determine if accommodation requests in clinical environments are reasonable. See OAA’s Clinical Accommodation Policy and Procedure for more information.

Memory Aids

A memory aid is a notecard/cue card used while testing that allows a student to demonstrate knowledge of course material by helping prompt the student's memory while not providing the answer. Please see our Memory Aid Standards and Examples.

Notetaker Services

Notetaker services are set up in order to assist students in receiving notes only when the student requesting notetaker services attends class. A student who is enrolled in the same course as the OAA client can be hired as a notetaker. Visit the Notetaker Services page for more information about how to obtain notetaker services or to learn how to become a notetaker.

Reduced Academic Load

Depending on the specific needs, OAA can help develop a plan that can lower the student's course load in order to make it more manageable. The student's academic advisor can also help with this.

Physical Accommodations

With the correct documentation, OAA can help find on-campus services and/or housing that will fit the student's needs. The housing department will also help with this process.

Housing Accommodations

Housing accommodations are determined by the Office of Accessibility & Accommodations (OAA) based on diagnosed disability and documentation from the healthcare provider. The Campus Living Office will be notified by OAA if an accommodation is needed. Students who already have housing accommodations with OAA are not required to renew these accommodations, except for Emotional Support Animal accommodations under the Fair Housing Act. 

Some examples of potential housing accommodations are:

  • ADA accessible room or a room without stair access
  • Access to a restroom with a handrail near the toilet and shower
  • Room with a visual fire alarm installed
  • Single room

To be considered for housing accommodations you must send or upload medical documentation to:

Accommodate (students only)

Pacific University
Office of Accessibility & Accommodations
UC Box A-111
2043 College Way
Forest Grove, OR 97116

Email: oaa@pacificu.edu

Fax: 503-352-6260

Service and Emotional Support Animal Policy (pdf)

Pacific University provides reasonable accommodations to students living on-campus with a documented disability. University campus living policies support emotional support animals to live with students in their on-campus accommodation upon approval by the Office of Accessibility & Accommodations (OAA). Individuals with a service animal are encouraged to register with OAA and to inform University Housing as soon as possible that they plan to have a service animal with them in campus housing. This will give Campus Living staff an opportunity to meet the student's specific-housing needs.

Service Animals are defined by ADA requirements as dogs that are individually trained to do work or perform tasks for people with disabilities. Examples of such work or tasks include guiding people who are blind, alerting people who are deaf, pulling a wheelchair, alerting and protecting a person who is having a seizure, reminding a person with mental illness to take prescribed medications, or performing other duties. Service animals are working animals, not pets. The work or task a dog has been trained to provide must be directly related to the person’s disability. Dogs whose sole function is to provide comfort or emotional support do not qualify as service animals under the ADA.  Service animals are working animals, not pets.  The work or task a dog has been trained to provide must directly relate to the person's disability.  Dogs whose sole function is to provide comfort or emotional support do not qualify as Service Animals under the ADA.  While many service dogs wear vests to identify them as service animals, ADA does not require them to do so. 

Emotional support animals (ESA) are prescribed to an individual with a disability by a healthcare or mental health professional to play an integral part of a person’s treatment process. There must be an identifiable relationship or nexus between the disability and the assistance the animal provides. An emotional support animal does not accompany a person with a disability at all times. ESAs may not accompany a person to the University Center, to class, or to other campus buildings.  However, the treatment occurs within the person’s residence and, therefore may be considered for access to University housing.

**Please be aware that many Pacific University students are getting ripped off, and paying upward of $200 for ESA Letters. OAA utilizes AHEAD (Association on Higher Education and Disability) ESA list serve to guide our decisions for approvals. OAA can not accept paid ESA letters.

Procedure to Request Emotional Support Animals
  1. Register as a client of OAA by filling out and submitting your intake form. Please log-in to your Accommodate student portal to access the intake form.
  2. Submit to OAA documentation from a medical or mental health professional by uploading to your Accommodate student portal: Emotional Support Animal Recommendation Form. 
  3. Once OAA has all necessary documentation, OAA will notify the Housing Office.   
  4. The Housing Office will reach out to the student to discuss housing expectations for the student and their animal. Students are not permitted to have their animal in housing until the Campus Living Office has officially approved the animal.

Accommodations for Emotional Support Animals must be renewed each academic year via Additional Accommodation Request in Accommodate.

Procedure to Renew Emotional Support Animal Accommodation

Accommodations for Emotional Support Animals must be renewed each academic year. When you are approved for an ESA accommodation you will receive an expiration date by which you will need to complete updated documentation. If your situation has not changed, please resubmit the original documentation.

1. Please log-in to your Accommodate student portal to access the additional accommodation request form.
2. Submit to OAA documentation from a medical or mental health professional by uploading to your Accommodate student portal: Emotional Support Animal Recommendation Form.
3. Once OAA has all necessary documentation, OAA will notify the Housing Office. The Housing Office will reach out to the student to discuss housing expectations for the student and their animal.