Office of Accessibility Resources and Services (OARS)

The Office of Accessibility Resources and Services (OARS) is committed to its mission of supporting the ongoing development of an accessible university that embraces and celebrates diversity. Ensuring those with a disability have equal access and opportunity to the university and its programs is part of this mission.

Students qualify for services through OARS upon self-disclosure of a disability and the presentation of documentation. Reasonable accommodations are arranged on an individual basis through an interactive process to provide students with disabilities equal access to living and learning at Bethel. Below are example accommodations, but this list is not exhaustive.

Examples of accommodations:

Extended time for exams and quizzes
Testing in a reduced distraction location
Readers and/or scribes for exams
Note-taking support through technology
Alternative format of texts and course materials
Sign language interpreters
Single room housing options

The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) defines an individual with a disability as "a person who has a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activity. This includes people who have a record of such an impairment, even if they do not currently have a disability. It also includes individuals who do not have a disability but are regarded as having a disability. The ADA also makes it unlawful to discriminate against a person based on that person’s association with a person with a disability."

This includes, but is not limited to:

ADD/ADHD
Blind/Visual Impairment
Brain Injury
Chronic Health Condition
Deaf/Hard of Hearing
Depression
Food Allergy
General Anxiety Disorder
Learning Disability
Mobility/Motor Impairment
Speech Impairment

Bethel complies with ADA and is committed to providing reasonable accommodations for students with documented physical or mental impairments that substantially limit one or more of the major life activities. Non-specific diagnoses such as test difficulty or anxiety do not constitute a disability or impairment.

Our Vision

We strive to be a community that creates and sustains an open and accessible environment that promotes holistic development in all members as we pursue kingdom living together.

Our Mission

We are here to support the ongoing development of an accessible university that embraces and celebrates diversity.

We do this by:

Creating an environment of open access to the university and its programs for students, employees and guests with disabilities
Working collaboratively as a community to eliminate barriers to access
Designing opportunities for inclusion
Coordinating effective reasonable accommodations
Advocating for an equitable learning atmosphere
Promoting self-determination and holistic growth in the pursuit of life in Christ