Gloucester Special Services

Discover personalized support through Gloucester Special Services, empowering students with disabilities through accommodations, advocacy, and resources that promote academic success, accessibility, and confidence throughout their college journey.

Special Services provides academic support to eligible RCSJ Gloucester campus students who have documented disabilities. Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 prohibit discrimination on the basis of disability.

The Department of Special Services ensures eligible RCSJ students receive appropriate accommodations that allow for academic success. Any questions regarding Section 504 or the ADA can be answered by Director Carol Weinhardt, 856-415-2247.

Note: RCSJ students who have disabilities are not required to register with the Department of Special Services. Registering with the department is done on a voluntary basis. However, students who are interested in receiving accommodations are required to submit documentation to the Department of Special Services to verify eligibility to receive special services.

Register with Special Services

  1. Complete and submit the Student Profile Form.
  2. Students are required to submit the Documentation of Disability Information to the Department of Special Services to verify eligibility to receive special services. 
  3. If you have ADD, ADHD, Anxiety, or Depression and DO NOT HAVE AN IEP or 504 PLAN FOR THE LAST THREE YEARS please contact our department at [email protected] and we can discuss our Verification of ADD, ADHD, Anxiety, or Depression form.
  4. Take the College’s Placement Test. 
    View the Special Accommodations for Placement Testing page to determine whether student should arrange his/her placement test through the Special Services office or the general Testing Center.
  5. Schedule an appointment to discuss eligibility for college level accommodations. Please call 856-415-2265.

Please note that academic accommodations are determined on a case-by-case basis and only after a student has met with a Special Services staff member. The Department of Special Services is dedicated to a long tradition of personally meeting with each student who requests academic accommodations. Every student is encouraged to complete and submit all required forms and meet with a Special Services staff member as soon as possible so that any approved academic accommodations are in place prior to the start of the student’s upcoming semester at RCSJ.

Our staff looks forward to assisting you with your academic and career goals. We invite you to schedule an appointment with a Special Services staff member to discuss your specific needs for academic accommodations.

Test Appoinment Form

An eligible student who wishes to use their accommodations and test in the Special Services Office is required to schedule a test appointment at least two weekdays prior to the test date, except if a test is on a Monday.  

To schedule a test date that falls on a Monday, the student must schedule an appointment on or before the Friday prior to the Monday test date.  Special Services must receive the request by 4 pm on Friday, for a next Monday test.  If a test request is received after 4 pm on Friday, Special Services will not provide test accommodations for the following Monday. 

If a class meets in the evening or on the weekend, an appointment must be scheduled at least two weekdays prior to the test date. 

Please complete the Test Request Form here. 

Accommodations

Students who qualify for accommodations are encouraged to register with the Department of Special Services at RCSJ before they begin their academic career at Rowan College. This allows students to take advantage of any special accommodations and auxiliary aid to which they may be eligible.

  • Audiobooks
  • Digital recorders
  • FM listening systems
  • Interactive calculators
  • SmartView 360 (Camera)
  • Topaz desktop magnifiers
  • Large-screen computer monitors
  • Touch-screen computer monitors

Confidentiality

Students who register with the Department of Special Services are assured that their information is kept confidential.

In addition, the student’s transcript will not indicate that he or she is registered with the Department of Special Services. The student’s specific special need is not disclosed to the student’s instructors. However, accommodation letters are sent to each of the student’s professors if the student needs testing& accommodations or accommodations in the classroom. It is the student’s choice whether or not to disclose the specifics of his or her special need.

Have Questions?

Special Services - Frequently Asked Questions

To qualify for assistance from the Department of Special Services, a student needs to have been diagnosed with a disability. The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) defines disability as any physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities such as: caring for oneself, performing manual tasks, walking, seeing, hearing, speaking, breathing, learning or working.

Students who are interested in receiving special accommodations and/or auxiliary aids need to provide documentation specifying a disability. The documentation provided should include the following information:

  • Diagnosis of current disability
  • Date of the diagnosis
  • How the diagnosis was reached
  • Credentials of the professional conducting evaluation
  • Explanation of how the disability affects daily activities and/or academic performance
  • In addition, please submit the Special Services Student Profile form.

In high school, a student with a disability is required to have an IEP. The student in high school may be required to be in special education classes and may not be fully mainstreamed with non-disabled students. In college, students with disabilities are fully mainstreamed with students who do not have disabilities. There are no special education classes. However, there are some basic-skills classes for students who require remediation in reading, writing and/or mathematics. These courses also include students who may or may not have disabilities.

When a student registers with the Department of Special Services, there is nothing in the student's transcripts indicating he or she received special accommodations or auxiliary aids. Students are encouraged to visit the Department of Special Services and request accommodations, such as extended time on tests, tape recorders, etc.

FERPA is the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act. It is a federal law designed to protect the privacy of student educational records. From the time a child enters preschool until the child completes 12th grade, the parent has certain rights regarding their children's education records. Once the student turns 18, or once they are enrolled in a post-secondary school, those rights are transferred from the parent to the student.

For the student who is enrolled at RCSJ this means:

  • The student has the right to inspect and review their educational records
  • The student has the right to request their school correct records he or she believes is inaccurate or misleading
  • There must be written permission from the student to allow his or her information to be released to a third party.
  • This means the College cannot disclose information about the student's grades, attendance, course load, financial aid status, etc. without the written permission of the student. Parents who wish to be informed of their children's progress at RCSJ need to communicate directly with the student or have written permission from their child allowing the release of information.

More information about FERPA can be found on the U.S. Department of Education's website. 

The ADA/504 officer is a designated person to be contacted for issues concerning discrimination based upon a disability. The ADA/504 officer at Rowan College is Carol Weinhardt, who can be reached by emailing [email protected]. 

The ADA is the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990. It is Public Law 101-336 (PL-101-336). The purpose of the ADA is to prohibit discrimination based on disability in employment, state and local government services, transportation, public accommodations and telecommunications.

Section 504 is part of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. It is Public Law 93-112 (PL 93-112). The purpose of Section 504 is to prohibit discrimination based on disability in federally-funded programs and activities.

A "person with a disability" includes "any person who (i) has a physical or mental impairment which substantially limits one or more of such person's major life activities; (ii) has a record of such an impairment or (iii) is regarded as having such an impairment" including, but not limited to:

  • Blindness or visual impairments
  • Cerebral palsy
  • AIDS
  • Arthritis
  • Cancer
  • Cardiac disease
  • Diabetes
  • Multiple sclerosis
  • Muscular dystrophy
  • Psychiatric disabilities
  • Deafness or hearing impairments
  • Drug or alcohol addiction (former users and those in recovery programs and not currently using drugs or alcohol)
  • Epilepsy or seizure disorders
  • Mental disabilities
  • Orthopedic impairment
  • Specific learning disability
  • Speech disorder
  • Spinal cord injury
  • Traumatic brain injury

First-time students are responsible for the following:

  • Make an appointment by calling 856-415-2265
  • Submit proof of disability
  • Submit your current student schedule, if you have already registered
  • Fill out a Special Services Intake Packet/Request to be Considered for Accessibility and Academic Accommodations

Not necessarily. Every semester, continuing students are responsible for the following:

  • Make an appointment for continuation of services
  • Submit your schedule

Support Services include:

  • Advisement
  • Advocacy
  • Assistive Technology
  • Readers
  • Proctored, out-of-class testing in a distraction-reduced test room
  • Tutoring- provided through the Academic Support Center

No. Neither the College nor Office of Special Services provides transportation for students. However, NJ Transit bus #463 comes onto the campus. Students who are physically challenged should contact NJ Transit Access Link.

For More Information

RCSJ-Gloucester

Department of Special Services
Carol Weinhardt
Director
Special Services
856-415-2247
[email protected]

RCSJ-Cumberland

Department of Special Services
Meredith Vicente
Senior Director
Disability Support Services
856-200-4688
[email protected]