Palomar upgrades testing center for students with disabilities

SAN MARCOS – Palomar College opened a newly renovated testing center for students with disabilities – a reduced-distraction environment featuring a variety of accommodations to help all the college's students pursue their higher education goals.

Students who are registered with the Disability Resource Center can book appointments in advance to take their tests in the new space, and they receive extra time to complete exams in a setting with less noise and less traffic. The testing center also features specialized equipment to serve those with specific disabilities.

"Students with disabilities, who make up over 10 percent of our richly diverse Palomar College student community, are participating in degree and certificate programs with goals of transferring and entering the workforce," DRC director Shauna Moriarty said. "The testing center helps ensure the student's disability does not get in the way of their educational success."

Moriarty said many of the DRC's students will only take their tests in the center because of how quiet and calm it is compared to a standard classroom. DRC staff administered more than 4,000 tests with accommodations last year.

The center is open Monday through Thursday, 8 a.m. to 6 p.m., and Friday, 8 a.m. until 2 p.m. Tests are administered by appointment only because exam materials must be coordinated with professors ahead of time.

Submitted by Palomar College.