Chapter 18: Special Populations (Athletes, EOP, International, Veterans, Accommodation Services for Students with Disabilities)

Athletes

Student athletes need to comply with the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) eligibility requirements in order to play sports at MCC. In addition, if they plan to transfer and want to play their sport at the 4-year college, they need to meet transfer eligibility requirements. These can vary depending on what Division level they play (I, II or III). The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) updates these requirements each year. Information can be found at: http://www.ncaa.org/student-athletes/current/want-transfer.

Some requirements for student athletes

    • Enrolled in a minimum of 15 credits per semester.
    • Prior to transferring/graduation each student-athlete should:
      • Have a minimum GPA of 2.5.
      • Have completed 6 credits of English.
      • Have completed 3 credits of Math (Credited math…i.e. MTH 150 or higher).
      • Have completed 3 credits of natural science.
      • Have a minimum of 48 transferable credits.

NCAA D1, D2, D3 have slightly different requirements depending on NCAA  initial eligibility from high school and if student-athlete was a transfer from 4 year to 2 year.  “4-2-4” transfer has detailed nuances that will require guidance.

Student Athlete Advisors

Due to these requirements, it is very important for student athletes to discuss their courses with their student athletic advisor:

Educational Opportunity Program (EOP)

The Educational Opportunity Program (EOP) makes college possible for New York State residents who are academically underprepared and economically disadvantaged.  Available to first-time, full-time matriculated, the program supports students throughout their college career. Students receive extensive academic support services to increase their likelihood of college success.  Academic support services may include:  individual and group tutoring; academic advisement, personal counseling, mentoring, and skill development workshops.  As part of a student’s overall financial aid package, Educational Opportunity Program students receive modest financial support to alleviate non-tuition costs (e.g. academic supplies and materials, textbooks, etc.).

Priority is given to students who are from historically disadvantaged backgrounds.

To be considered for transfer admission, students must have been previously enrolled in EOP, SEEK/CD or HEOP at his or her previous college.

To be considered for readmission, a student must have been previously enrolled in the Educational Opportunity Program at the College, but have not received a degree.

More information can be found at: http://www.monroecc.edu/depts/eop/

Students are required to meet with their EOP counselor on a regular basis. After advisement from a pathway advisor, students in the Educational Opportunity Program should confirm their courses with their EOP counselor.

International Students

International students are defined as those who are studying in the United States on an F-1 student visa.  While our immigrant, refugee, asylum-seeking, and ESOL students at MCC also have unique advisement needs, international students on an F-1 visa are required to maintain compliance with immigration regulations as defined by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.  From an academic advising perspective, here are a few important guidelines to keep in mind for international students:

  1. In nearly all cases, F-1 students must maintain full-time enrollment (at least 12 credit hours) each semester (fall and spring).  Full-time enrollment must be maintained for the duration of the semester.  Summer is considered a vacation term and students can choose whether or not they would like to enroll during summer.
  2. Exceptions to drop below 12 credit hours must receive advisement and permission from International Services first. Exceptions can be for reasons such as medical issues, academic difficulties, or to complete the program of study in the current semester.
  3. Only 1 course (3 credits) may count toward the full-time course load for an international student.  As a general rule, students should enroll in at least 9 credits in-class before enrolling in any online classes.
  4. Students must inform International Services if they are planning to: change their program of study, extend or shorten their graduation date, transfer to another school, or take a leave from their studies.

When advising international students, keep in mind that they are not eligible for state or federal financial aid.  Therefore, they do not need to pay close attention to which courses are (or are not) eligible for financial aid during registration.  This may allow them some additional flexibility when choosing courses.  They are eligible to work on-campus, but are not eligible for federal work study positions.  If students are thinking about pursuing work in the United States (on-campus, off-campus, or internships), they should be directed to International Services for information or proper authorization.

International students are encouraged to seek academic advisement from their faculty advisors, but it is also highly encouraged that they meet with International Services each semester around registration time to ensure immigration compliance is being met.  They are also required to check in with International Services at the beginning of each semester to meet necessary reporting requirements.

Any questions and student referrals should be sent to:

Coordinator of International Services, Global Education & International Services (GEIS)

Building 11, Room 208

585-292-3170

Veterans

General Advising Rules for Post 9/11 GI Bill® Veterans:

Students must be registered full-time to receive the full amount of basic allowance for housing (BAH) entitlement.

Full time is based on the rate of pursuit (how many credits a student is taking in relation to how long the course runs.)

This is especially important when dealing with non-standard terms like summer and intersession.

All classes must be a part of their academic program.

Except if student has applied for graduation

*Rounding Out – Veteran Administration (VA) rule, coincides with MCC’s graduation last term exception

The VA defines a term as such:

The beginning and end dates of the class as per the college catalog. (standard terms, varied length terms, late start classes)

Examples: Fall Student Schedule

-Ideal- 12 credits

MTH 104/4 credits/ September 4-December 20

BIO 142/4 credits/September 4-December 20

PHY 100/4 credit/September 4-December 20

The BAH for this student would be full time because he is taking 12 credits and all his classes begin and end at the same time.

–Ideal-

SLN MTH 104/4 credits/ September 4-December 20

BIO 142/4 credits/September 4-December 20

SLN GEO 101/4 credits/September 4-December 20

-Ideal-

ENG 101/3 credits/September 4-December 20

PEC 148/2 credits/September 4-December 20

BIO 142/4 credits/September 4-December 20

HED 115/3 credits/September 4-December 20

-Ideal-

TRS 094/5 credits/September 4-December 20

CRC 101/3 credits/September 4-October 22

TRS 200/5 credits/September 4-December 20

COS 101/1 credit/October 20-December 20

PEC 194/2 credits/October 23-December 20

*-Not Ideal-

PEC 194/2 credits/October 3-December 20

MTH 104/4 credits/September 4-December 20

EMS 110/6 credits/August 25- November 15

The BAH for this student would translate as follows: from September to October he would be getting around ¾ BAH. From October to November is the only time he would be getting Full BAH. Then no BAH for December (because students need to have at 7 credits in order to get any BAH). The reason for this is because all these classes are going to be entered into the VA as separate fall terms; it is only when they overlap and make 12 credits together that he gets full BAH.

*-Not Ideal-

SLN MTH 104/4 credits/September 4-December 20

SLN PEC 253/3 credits/September 4-December 20

SLN GEO 101/4 credits/September 4-December 20

SLN CRC 110/1 credit/September 4-October 20

SLN CRC 112/1 credit/October 14-December 20

The BAH for this student would only equal ½ time. The reason is, despite the student being 12 credits, all his classes are online. A student must have at least one class on campus in order to receive full BAH.

*-Not Ideal-

SLN MTH 098/4 credits/September 4-December 20

BIO 142/4 credits/September 4-December 20

SLN GEO 101/4 credits/September 4-December 20

The BAH for this student would only equal ½ time. The reason is, despite the being 12 credits and having one class on campus, the remedial course is online. The VA pays for remedial courses, but will not pay for them if they are online. (We talk about this below)

(ex2) Summer Student Schedule

-Ideal- 4 credits per summer term (5-6 weeks)

MTH 104/4 credits/May 29-June 30

BIO 142/4 credits/July 9-August 18

-Ideal-

ENG 101/3 credits/May 29-June 30

HED 115/3 credits/May 29-July 7

PEC 148/2 credits/ July 9-August 18

ACC 110/2 credits/July 9-August 11

The BAH for this student would translate as follows: from May to end of June the student would be receiving full BAH. The first week in July he would receive 75% of his BAH, but then the rest of July all the way to the August 11, he would be receiving full BAH. The last week of his last class he would be lucky to receive only 50%.

-Ideal-

SLN ACC 110/2 credits/May 29-August 11

ENG 101/3 credits/May 29-June 30

HED 115/3 credits/July 9-August 11

*-Not Ideal-

ENG 101/3 3 credits/May 29-July 7

BIO 142/4 credits. July 9-August 18

The BAH for this student translates as follows: from May 29-July7 he actually only getting paid at ¾ time. The reason is because he is only taking a 6 week course. If his class ended on June 30th he would be getting almost 90% of his BAH. His July to August class is receiving full BAH the whole time because the class is 4 credits.

*-Not Ideal-

SLN HED 115/3 credits/May 29-August 18

ENG 101/3 credits/July 9-August 11

The BAH for this student translates as follows: from May to July 9 he would receive little more than ¼ of any BAH because they class is not full time and it’s online (warranting half the allocated BAH. The only time he would receive anything is from July 9-August 11.

General Advising Rules for Other GI Bill® Chapters:

For the other chapters for the most part, with exception of Chapter 31, it does not matter if they are taking just on-line classes or not (with the exception of remedial classes–those must be taken on campus no matter what chapter). But ideally they need to be full time in order to have the full BAH stipend sent to them.

        1. a) Chapter 30 standard term

(ex.) whether he is taking 12 credits online or on campus he is full time

(b) Chapter 30 summer term

(ex.) 4 credits for a 5-6 week course will get him a full stipend no matter if it is online or not. But you still have to aware of the start and end date of the classes to calculate whether he is full time during the separate terms.

Transfer Credit for All Chapters

All transfer credit (whether it is military or collegiate) should be viewed as “hard” or successfully completed credit. The VA will not pay for classes that are not required for graduation (the exemptions to this rule are, of course, being the last term exemption*).

Remedial Courses

Remedial classes are paid for by the VA, however as we saw above, the class must be a resident course. The VA will not pay for a remedial course that is on-line.

Repeating Courses

        1. a) The VA pays for repeating a course if the class is required for the program and requires a certain grade to pass.

(Ex.) A student is a Physics Major. He currently is taking Pre-Calculus and gets a D+. Technically it is passing, but he needs to take Calculus I to complete the program and the only way to meet the Calculus I prerequisite is have a C or higher in Pre-Calculus. He would be able to retake this class and have the VA pay for it.

(ex2) A student is a Liberal Arts Major. He currently is taking TRS 092 and fails it. The VA will pay for him to retake the course because he needs to get to at least MTH 150 before graduating.

(ex3) A student is a Health Studies Major. He took BIO 142 and got a D+. He is transferring over to U of R, which is requiring a C. In this case the VA would NOT pay for the student to retake the class because he passed in regards to the MCC degree he is receiving here.

Accommodation Services for Students with Disabilities

Since accessibility in an important component of every course, we want to highlight a couple of resources as you create your courses. Below you will find accessibility resources from the Counseling Center and Disability Services office, Virtual Campus, Testing Services and the Library.

Counseling Center and Disability Services

Students who are requesting accommodations can contact the Counseling Center and Disability Services via email at disabilityservices@monroecc.edu or call 585-292-2140 to request accommodations. Students can request accommodations with the office at any point in the semester, but accommodations are not retroactive.

Once students are registered with the office, students will be able to access their Accommodation Letter electrically. The purpose of an Accommodation Letter is to notify faculty of the student’s approved accommodations. Students are responsible for the distribution of their Accommodation Letters to their instructors each semester.  When reviewing accommodations, it is essential that both student and instructor connect to identify the specific accommodations the student will be utilizing for that particular course.  This creates a common understanding between the instructor and student. All student accommodations are approved on a case-by-case basis. If students have specific questions about their accommodations, please encourage students to contact our office.

For students approved the accommodation, “Assistive Technology”, you may refer them to our website for specific downloading information. Students approved assistive technology may use text-to-speech software, speech-to-text software, screen magnifiers, screen readers and/or writing programs to ensure equal access. Students are strongly encouraged to connect with each instructor to determine how these programs will interface with their exams. To ensure all students can access all course materials, please keep accessibility in mind when you are creating your course.

If you or students have any questions, please reach out to our office directly via email at disabilityservices@monroecc.edu.

Virtual Campus

The Virtual Campus supports faculty with their course design needs for remote, web-enhanced, hybrid, hyflex, and online/asynchronous courses. Our goal is to create high quality courses for all MCC students.

It is essential to keep in mind the accessibility of course materials when setting up a course, and that includes any third-party tools from vendors such as Pearson, McGraw Hill, and Cengage to name a few. We encourage you to reach out to your vendor to make sure the tools are accessible. We recommended applying Universal Design for Learning (UDL) concepts within your course design, since accessibility is an important consideration in online course design.  Course design is one of the key factors in online student success. We use the Open SUNY Course Quality Rubric (OSCQR) to guide online course development which provides 50 different measures that are based on current research of course design.  When we offer an online course, we are assuring that all courses comply with the basic tenants of Universal Design, which means that any student, regardless of ability, can take an online course.

In the summer of 2018, we added the “Blackboard Ally” tool within Blackboard to help faculty check the accessibility of documents in a course and support our accessibility efforts. For more information about accessibility for all learners, visit the SUNY Accessibility website.

You can contact the Virtual Campus office at virtualcampus@monroecc.edu for more support with your accessible course design.

Testing Services

The Testing Services department serves students who have approved accommodations. We offer in-person and Zoom testing by appointment only. We can proctor both paper/pencil and web-based exams. First, the student should contact the testing center to make the testing appointment. Then, the student will communicate the appointment time to the professor. Then, the professor should provide testing services with the exam and exam instructions. You may submit the exam by delivering an appointment envelope to 6-207 or submit it electronically.

Many students who are learning remotely will choose to take their test that way. Read this Tribune article on how to best support these students.

Library

Housed within Library Services, MCC’s OER Initiative provides support to faculty developing and using Open Educational Resources (OER) in their courses. OER provide alternatives for students who can benefit from different teaching and learning material options.

Physical versions of digital materials can be placed on reserve and a scanner is available for faculty and students to create versions of a text with Optical Character Recognition (OCR). The library can also provide limited scans of text (adhering to copyright restrictions) for anyone unable to visit the library in person. Library staff is able to help students within the library space who need help when using assistive technology, such as screen reader software.

Visit the Accessibility Resources in the Library guide for further information. MCC Libraries can be reached at libraries@monroecc.edu.