INTRODUCTION

Students with disabilities are a rapidly growing group al Georgia Southern
University In Fall 1989, very few students identified them selves as having
disabilities. In Fall 1994, over 315 students may require academic and
physical accommodations to attend classes.


	  Accommodating students with disabilities 
	  extends beyond the moral and ethical 
	  responsibility of our University to 
	  fulfill its commitment to the process of 
	  access.


President Bush signed the Americans with Disabilities Act into law on July
26, 1990. This mandate reinforces the concept of reasonable accommodations
in education and greater access to employment, transportation and public
accommodations.

The legal imperative, embodied in Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of
1973, often referred to as the "Civil Rights Act" for people with
disabilities, states, in part:


	  No other qualified handicapped individual 
	  shall, solely by reason of his handicap, 
	  be excluded from the participation in, be 
	  denied the benefits of, or be subjected to 
	  discrimination under any program or 
	  activity receiving Federal financial as-
	  sistance.

In order to comply with this mandate, universities, such as Georgia
Southern, that receive Federal assistance must assure that the same
educational programs and services offered to other students are available
to students with disabilities. Academic competence must be the basis for
participation in higher education.

To accomplish this mandate, both physical and programmatic access must be
provided. This means more than the removal of architectural barriers and
the provision of auxiliary services, e.g. cafeterias, theater performances,
postal services, etc. It means that reasonable accommodations must be made
part of the instructional process to ensure equal educational opportunity.
This principle applies to curriculum and modes, as well as to institutional
and departmental policies.

The means of achieving this ideal require judgment, knowledge and
sensitivity that most of us lack due to our inexperience in teaching
students with disabilities.

This handbook is designed to fill such gaps; to heighten awareness; and
provide basic information for the benefit of both faculty and students.



Acknowledgments

The text of this publication has been tailored to Georgia Southern 
University by Sue S. Williams, ADA Compliance Officer.