Disability Services at Fanshawe College

There are currently about 1,400 students with various disabilities attending Fanshawe College. Just like the larger community, about 10 per cent of the student population have a disability of some sort and may need assistance or academic accommodations to ensure they have equal access to education.

Many people think of ‘a person with a disability' as referring only to someone who uses a wheelchair or a student who is blind or deaf. But there are also many students at Fanshawe College with non-visible disabilities such as a learning disability, mental illness, or a medical condition like epilepsy or cancer.

The College provides a wide range of services and supports to students with disabilities who identify themselves to Disability Services. A few examples are: extended time while writing tests and exams, assistance with note taking, providing psychoeducational assessments, counseling, and specialized technology.

Ontario law requires that academic accommodations be provided for students with disabilities to assist them in meeting the essential requirements of their academic studies. The College also has a clear policy that addresses these requirements. This just makes sense because we want the College to be as accessible and useable as possible for everyone.

For more information, please contact Disability Services in the Student Success Centre, F2010, or telephone 519.452.4282.

Getting your grades and your Fall 2008 Academic Standing

If you are a day school student and your classes end on:

- December 5 (15-week semester programs),
- December 12 (16-week semester programs), or
- December 24 (18-week semester programs), your final grades for this term will be available on WebAdvisor:

- December 17 (15-week semester programs),
- December 23 (16-week semester programs), or
- January 12 (18-week semester programs).

You may see grades posted on FanshaweOnline, but your official grade is only on WebAdvisor. Log on, go to Academic Profile, then View Grades. Pick the correct term, and click Submit.

In addition to your grades, each term you are assigned an Academic Standing. Academic Standing is your status towards completion of the program requirements. Look above your grades for your Academic Standing for the term.

If your standing is Academic Probation or Conditional Continuation you must contact your Program Coordinator to see what you must do to improve your standing next term. If your academic standing is Required to Re-Apply, your registration for the next term will be cancelled and you must speak to your Program Coordinator about re-admittance to your program. Please see College Policy 2-C-05 at www.fanshawec.ca/policies/2c05.pdf for complete details.

Are you finished your program in December? If you believe you've finished, make sure your divisional office agrees, or your paperwork might not get sent to the Graduation Office.

Fanshawe College will be closed from December 25 and will reopen Monday, January 5. If you plan to make a payment toward your fees during the holidays, please use WebAdvisor. If at any time you notice anything strange about how your fees show on WebAdvisor, it might be related to an academic issue — we recommend you see staff in the Office of the Registrar, E1012, as soon as you possibly can.

Important Dates

Note! Fanshawe College programs each fall under one of three academic calendars — 15-week, 16-week, and 18-week semesters. Make sure you know where your program fits! If you aren't sure, talk to the helpful folks in your Academic Office.

- Fee payment deadline for Winter 2009 (15-wk, 16-wk, or 18-wk semesters) — Dec 4, Dec 4, Dec 4

- Last day of classes for Fall 2008 (15-wk, 16-wk, or 18-wk semesters) — Dec 5, Dec 12, Dec 24

- Exams (15-wk, 16-wk, or 18-wk semesters) — Dec 8-12, Dec 15-19, Jan 5-8

- Grades are available on WebAdvisor (15-wk, 16-wk, or 18-wk semesters) — Dec 17, Dec 23, Jan 12

- Book appointments with Financial Aid starting December 24

- Fanshawe is closed December 25 to January 4

- Classes start (15-wk, 16-wk, or 18-wk semesters) — Jan 12, Jan 5, Jan 13

- First release of OSAP for Winter 2009 (15-wk, 16-wk, or 18-wk semesters) — Jan 12, Jan 5, Jan 13

Have a safe and happy holiday season!

Office of the Registrar
... We're working for you.

This column is a Student Success Initiative sponsored by Counselling and Student Life Services, Financial Aid and the Office of the Registrar.