Accessibility Accommodations

​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​“Providence College seeks to reflect the rich diversity of the human family…and affirms the God-given dignity, freedom, and equality of each person” (PC Mission Statement). Consistent with this mission, the College strives to offer equal educational and employment opportunities to all members of the College community. To this end, we offer reasonable accommodations for the needs of persons with disabilities, meeting the requirements of the Americans with Disabilities Act Amendments Act (2008) and Section 504 of the 1973 Rehabilitation Act.

The information on this site pertains to students. All faculty and staff seeking an accommodation for a disability should contact the Office of Human Resources at 401-865-2341 or hr@providence.edu.

Qualifying for Accommodations

An individual with a disability is someone with a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities. “Substantially limits” means being unable to perform a major life activity or significantly restricted as to the condition, manner, or duration under which a major life activity can be performed, in comparison to the average person or to most people. “Major life activities” include, but are not limited to, such functions as caring for oneself, performing manual tasks, walking, seeing, hearing, speaking, breathing, learning, and working.​

To learn more about different departments supporting disability accommodation requests, and for additional policies/procedures pertinent to these areas, please review the links below.

Requesting an Accommodation

Students seeking an ADA accommodation must complete the following application using the ACCOMMODATE system (linked below) and upload supporting documentation. Following submission, the student will be contacted for decisions and/or to schedule a meeting with a staff member.

Notice: Requests for Parking Passes

Every request for a non-academic accommodation due to a disability is considered. Please know that accommodations are granted in order for students with disabilities to have equal access to their educational program which cannot be achieved by another, more reasonable accommodation. Requests for parking passes solely on the basis of accessing treatment providers off campus generally do not qualify. If you would like more information about free RIPTA services for PC students, discounts for ZipCar, or other local transportation services please access the Transportation & Parking page on the MyPC Portal.

Temporary Impairments

Providence College recognizes that individuals with temporarily disabling conditions that are a result of injuries, surgery, or short-term medical conditions may need access to services and resources similar to individuals with permanent disabilities. Examples of temporary disabilities may include but are not limited to the following: broken limbs, hand injuries, concussion, or short-term impairments following surgery, or medical/mental health treatments. A temporary impairment, which does not qualify as an ADA disability, may nonetheless still be a “serious health condition” requiring reasonable accommodations. A temporary impairment caused by an injury may also be a covered disability under the ADA Amendments Act if it is sufficiently severe to substantially limit a major life activity. To request temporary accommodations, please follow the same guidelines described above for requesting an accommodation. 

​Renewal of Requests

Academic accommodation requests must be activated each semester. All other accommodations must be renewed annually.  In many instances new documentation may not be needed.

Additional Resources

• Accessible RI: A Guide to Accessibility in the Ocean State
• The official Americans with Disabilities Act (A.D.A.) home page​​​​​​: ​​A.D.A. Home Page​