Disability services
The Disability Services Program is conducted by the Disability Services Coordinator with the cooperation of GUST faculty.
The Disability Services Program has been developed to provide accommodations to students with documented medical reports. The goal of providing accommodation to students is to encourage their continued growth, progress, and academic performance at GUST.
Accommodations for students with disabilities include, but are not limited to: note - taking assistance, tutoring, extra time for exams, as well as the possibility to receive proctoring services at the One Stop Student Services Center.
Students are responsible for requesting the needed accommodations through the OSC during the admissions process.
To download special needs campus map please click [here]
Disability Accommodation Guidelines
GUST empowers students with disabilities to realize their academic and personal potential through offering equal access to university programs. Services include coordinating reasonable accommodations and other support services for eligible students.
Reasonable accommodations are adjusted for students with disabilities which will provide equal access to GUST programs. Accommodation plans and services are customized to match the disability-related needs of each student and are determined according to documentation and the student's program requirements.
Registration for these accommodations includes submission of the Disclosure Form, which should be given with their application to the university, as well as appropriate disability documentation. Also, students need to complete the Disability Accommodation Request Form for use in the One Stop Student Services Center.
Disability Documentation
- Students requesting reasonable accommodations must submit documentation no older than 5 years.
- Documentation must be issued by a medical or other qualified, licensed professional.
- Documents must be printed on official letterhead, dated, and signed by the licensed professional.
- GUST reserves the right to require that a certified copy of the report be transmitted directly from the licensed professional to the university.
- Comprehensive documentations include a psycho-educational evaluation, diagnostic interview, and clinical summary.
Accommodations
- Proctoring exams: This is usually arranged by faculty and done at the One Stop Student Services Center. The exam/quiz is proctored at the OSC in the presence of one of the Disability Service Coordinators.
- Extended time during exams and/or quizzes: This is usually arranged by faculty and done at the One Stop Student Services Center. An alternative is to have the student take the exam/quiz in the faculty member's office.
- Orally administered exams: The student has the option of hearing the questions spoken and to orally provide his responses or to record their answers via a tape recorder. If the student would like to use a tape recorder, this specific accommodation needs to be confirmed, and the student must provide the tape recorder to use during the test.
- Note-taking services: If this is requested by the student, a note taker will be hired to assist student in class.
- Use of a tape recorder during class: The student should confirm this specific accommodation, and provide a tape recorder for class use.
OSC Logistic manual 2019/2020 disability services area
The One Stop Students Services Center, GUST
The One Stop Students Services Center is home to variety of programs and services designed to help students meet with their educational and life goals. This center at the Gulf University for Science and Technology includes Admissions, Academic Advising, Learning Support Services, Personal Counseling, Disability Services and Retention Services.
The disability services team assists with the Disability program as per identified by the director. The disability team will also be part of other OSC responsibilities as per allocated by the OSC Head.
The Role of the Area
A disability program has been developed to provide accommodations to students with documented disabilities.
Special Needs Student Acceptance
After receiving and going through the above mentioned documents, the students will be screened by The Disability Services team or the Dean of student affairs. A decision of acceptance or rejection will be made based on the screening sessions findings.
Forms of Disabilities
Learning Disabilities
After receiving and going through the above mentioned documents, the students will be screened by The Disability Services team or the Dean of student affairs. A decision of acceptance or rejection will be made based on the screening sessions findings.
- Proctoring exams: OSC proctoring working hours are from 8:30am – 2:30pm. If proctoring services are after stated working hours, please seek assistance from other colleagues. When proctoring services are required, allow sufficient time 2 working days before required proctoring date so that OSC can best meet students' requests.
- Proctoring exams outside the classroom: This is usually arranged by faculty and done in the student Success center. The exam/quiz is proctored at the OSC with one of the Disability service team member presence.
- Extended time during Exams and/or Quizzes: This is usually arranged by faculty and done at the Student Success Center. An alternative is to have the student take the exam/quiz in the faculty member's office.
- Orally Administered Exams: The student has the option of hearing the questions spoken and to orally provide his responses or to record their answers via a tape recorder. If the student would like to use a tape recorder should confirm the accommodation and provide a tape recorder for test use.
- Note Taking Services: If this is requested by the student, the Director of the OSC will request from the faculty to recommend a good note taker in class to the disabled student, who will ask that recommended student to share notes for that course. It may be a good idea to have an alternate in mind in case of student illness or other absence.
- Use of a Tape Recorder during Class: The student should confirm the accommodation and provide a tape recorder for class use.
Physical Disabilities
- Parking: Handicapped parking access is available to qualified students by the student life office.
- Special Materials for Classroom: Tables for students in wheel chairs are available upon request with the coordination of Campus Services and the request of students.
GUST Hosts KISR
Kuwait City, 6 May 2021: The Computer Science Department at GUST hosted the Kuwait Institute for Scientific Research's (KISR) webinar titled "Technical Support for People with Disabilities". Guest Speaker, Software Development Department Manager, Eng. Noura Alghurair, spoke about KISR's achievements in projects that benefited people with disabilities but also of KISR's long term goals with such projects.
The virtual webinar series, presented by the Computer Science Department at GUST, is a set of talks and seminars targeted at students and faculty members, in which representatives from local institutions and companies are invited to give a seminar talk about their research groups and business projects in the area of information, science, and technology. Recently the Computer Science Department held a webinar with Mr. Bashar Alostad of Zyda, an E-commerce platform. These webinars are the pillars of GUSTs culture of education beyond the classroom.
Alghurair's talk shed light on KISR's main achievements that are tailored to people with disabilities and the projects' teams that worked hard to develop several solutions to overcome the challenges that hinder the disabled. Among the projects included the 122 emergency mobile application for the disabled in collaboration with Ministry of Interior and the Arabic augmented and alternative communication application for iPads. KISR also developed and provided a braille printing facility for Kuwait Association for the Blind (KAB) and computer facilities for Kuwait special school as well as improving rehabilitation skills and working environment for the disabled in Kuwait. They also produce and provide braille daily newspapers for the KAB and are providing braille printing software for free to GCC countries, Libya, Lebanon and Morocco.
Eng. Noura Alghurair, Systems and Software Development Department Manager at KISR has 27 years of experience in the field. She is a Project Leader to many projects for the disabled in Kuwait, some of which received national and international awards. She is an active researcher in collaboration with government sectors and academic institutions.
Instructor of Computer Science, Dr. Noura Al-Jeri, said "This seminar was an excellent opportunity to expose the students and faculty members to the current scientific research trends in various fields of science and technology. In particular, the support that can be given by Computer Science graduates to Kuwait's handicaps community. This will also help our students to broad their knowledge on the recent projects and research achievements within KISR's teams and what potential career market is available for them after graduation. Hopefully this will open more opportunities for research collaborations between our faculty and the institution."
KISR is one of the leading institutions in Kuwait that attracts researchers and scientists from various fields to a collaborative environment in order to produce timely and efficient solutions to current and future problems. KISR has been providing technical support for people with disabilities since 1985, which include several pioneering projects targeting different kind of disabilities such as: blindness, deafness, autism, motor ability, and learning disabilities.
Services offered by the Student Success Center at GUST
Disability Services
The Disability Services program is conducted by the Retention Specialist and monitored by the Student Success Center Director. This program offers help to students with documented disabilities. Students are evaluated by a specialist and services are provided on the basis of the presented need. The goal for this program is to provide accommodation services to students in need and to encourage their continued growth and progress at GUST.
