About Disability Services at GPTC

Georgia Piedmont Technical College is committed to providing educational opportunities for all qualified students regardless of their disability. We provide reasonable academic accommodations for students with documented disabilities – without compromising academic standards.

Our policies comply with the regulations set forth by Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and the American Disabilities Act of 1990. Georgia Piedmont Technical College is an equal opportunity institution that admits otherwise qualified students with no regard to documented disabilities.

Our Disability Services Advisor will assist students with reasonable academic accommodations based on their individual documentation. Students are expected to identify themselves in a timely manner when an accommodation is needed and to provide appropriate documentation as requested. Failure to do so may cause students to either have to timely withdraw from classes or proceed without accommodations.

Accommodations cannot be provided until documentation has been received and evaluated.

You should also know about:

Confidentiality

Georgia Piedmont Technical College adheres to all state and federal laws concerning confidentiality. As an enrolled student, you are considered an adult and all information provided becomes confidential. Unless the student has signed the confidential disclosure statement, we will be unable to provide information to parents or other interested parties.

It is the students right to know who receives information regarding their disability. Therefore, we will not automatically provide services each semester. In order to receive accommodations, a student must provide their current class schedule to the Disability Services Office each semester they wish to receive services.

Documentation Needed

In order to provide the most reasonable and appropriate services for a student with a disability, we require current and comprehensive documentation of the disability. A qualified specialist must provide a report that addresses the student’s evaluation, diagnosis and appropriate recommendations. It is important this report outlines how the disability will impact the student in an academic setting.

Rights and Responsibilities

Georgia Piedmont Technical College has the right to identify and establish essential functions, abilities, skills, knowledge, standards and criteria for courses, programs and/or jobs. The college has the right to deny a request for accommodations, auxiliary aids or services that are inappropriate, ineffective, unreasonable or may pose a direct threat to the health and safety of others, impose a substantial change to an essential element of the curriculum or pose an undue financial or administrative burden on the program, activities, faculty or staff of the college. All students are evaluated based on their performance.

Important: Accommodations cannot be provided until documentation has been received and evaluated.

For more information, contact the Disabilities Services Advisor Paula Greenwood at 404-297-9522 ext 1155 or email: greenwop@gptc.edu.

 

Disability Services

Support services are offered to students with documented disabilities. Available assistance includes:

  • Career guidance
  • Academic assessment/placement
  • Special classroom aids
  • Interpreters for the deaf and hard-of-hearing
  • Adapted equipment
  • Referral to community service agencies

Disability Facilities

DeKalb Campus Parking

Special parking is available to students with physical disabilities in keeping with the nature and degree of the disability. Permit requests for students with temporary disabilities should be made to the Special Services Advisor at the beginning of each semester. A request for a handicapped parking permit may require a doctor’s statement. Students with permanent disabilities must have a handicap permit issued by the Georgia Department of Motor Vehicle Safety displayed in the vehicle window or a handicapped-license tag plus a Georgia Piedmont Technical College student parking decal.

Parking for disabled students with access to the Admissions Office (A171), Career Services (A169), Registrar’s Office (A171), Student Activities (Student Activities Building), Academic & Student Affairs (A103), Cashier’s Office (A161), Financial Aid (A163), and Veterans Affairs (A170) is available on the north side of Building B. In addition to designated parking for the disabled, all properly marked disabled students’ vehicles may park in any legal parking zone on campus, including faculty areas.


DeKalb Campus Ramps and Curb Cuts

On the DeKalb Campus, a ramp is located in the front of Buildings B, C, and D. Curb cuts on the DeKalb Campus are located on the North side of Building B and the South side of Building D.


DeKalb Campus Elevators

Elevators are located in the Atrium and at the north end of Building A on the DeKalb Campus.


Newton Campus Parking

Special parking is available to students with physical disabilities in keeping with the nature and degree of the disability. Permit requests for students with temporary disabilities should be made to the Special Services Advisor at the beginning of each term. A request for a handicapped-parking permit may require a doctor’s statement. Students with permanent disabilities must have a handicap permit issued by the Georgia Department of Motor Vehicle Safety displayed in the vehicle window or a handicapped-license tag plus a Georgia Piedmont Technical College student parking decal.

Parking for disabled students for access to Buildings B and C is available directly in front of the buildings. Accessible handicapped parking for the Admissions Office (A-214), Registrar’s Office (A-214), Financial Aid (A-214), Cashier’s Office (Lobby), and Veterans Affairs (A-214) is available at the front of Building A. Accessible handicapped parking for the Newton Campus Bldg. D is available on the north side of the building.


Newton Campus Ramps and Curb Cuts

On the Newton Campus, curb cuts are located at the front entrance of Buildings A, B, and C. They are also located at the Newton Campus Bldg. D.


Newton Campus Elevators

Elevators are located on the Newton Campus in Buildings A and B. An elevator is also located at the Newton Campus Bldg. D.



Special Populations

Georgia Piedmont Technical College offers services designed to help eliminate academic, career and economic barriers for our students.

Our services are designed to foster success and contribute to the self-sufficiency of students who are members of the special populations group.

Services are available for students, based on eligibility, and their self-identification with one or more of the following special population identifications:

  • Single Parents including single pregnant women
  • Displaced Homemakers (worked in home to care for family and dependent on another family member’s income)
  • Students preparing for a non-traditional career field (examples: male nurses or female automotive technology students)
  • Economically Disadvantaged (identified through Pell eligibility)

Available services include:

  • One-on-one support guidance
  • Academic Advising
  • Life Skills Coaching and Workshops
  • Internal Campus Support
  • Crisis Intervention
  • Community Resource Referrals
  • Textbook Lending Program: Textbooks are lent to students who face financial challenges. The Textbook Lending Program is designed to assist qualified students in obtaining some of the required textbooks that due to cost, may not otherwise be affordable to them. Available textbooks are lent to students for one semester on a “first come, first served” basis each term. Assistance with the purchase of eBook codes is not a part of the Textbook Lending program.