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Accessibility & Disability Support Services

Academic Programs, Student Services and Residence Life

Students with disabilities wishing to request an accommodation may contact the following:

Disabilities Support Center
Miles Community College
2715 Dickinson Street
Miles City, MT 59301
Phone (406) 874-6152
Fax (406) 874-6300
email: dss@milescc.edu

Employment

Reasonable accomodatoin with respect to employment matters should be coordinated with Human Resources. Applicants, prospective employees and faculty and staff with disabilities may submit requests for accomodations to:

Human Resources
Miles Community College
2715 Dickinson Street
Miles City, MT 59301
Kylene Phipps, Dean of Administrative Service & Human Resources
Phone: (406) 874-6292
Email: humanresources@milescc.edu

MCC Events, Athletic Contests and Public Offerings

Web Accessibility

Visitors that access Miles Community College web page use a wide variety of technologies. Our visitors utilize a variety of different web browsers, screen resolutions, and preferred font sizes. A growing number of visitors are using mobile phones and other hand-held computers. Visitors to our web site may have disabilities that can make access to our website challenging or even impossible. To promote Miles Community College's commitment to access for our visitors, web content should be accessible to all members of our diverse audience. Accessible web content should be developed with the following guidelines and standards:

WCAG 2.0 covers a wide range of recommendations for making web content more accessible. Following these guidelines a the AA level, will make content accessible to a wider range of people with various kinds of disabilities, including blindness and low vision, deafness and hearing loss, learning disabilities, cognitive limitations, limited movement, speech disabilities, photosensitivity and a combination of these. Implementing proper accessibility will make web content more useable to users in general.

    These Guidelines are associated with the following principles:
  1. Perceivable: Information and user interface components must be presentable to user in ways they can perceive.
  2. Operable: User interface components and navigation must be operable.
  3. Understandable: Information and the operation of user interface must be understandable.
  4. Robust: Content must be robust enough that it can be interpreted reliably by a wide variety of user agents, including assistive technologies.

Reporting a Web Accessibility Issue

For questions reqarding web accessibility or to notify Miles Community College regarding online information or functionality that is currently inaccessible, contact the Chair of the College's Web Commitee.

Complaints or Grievances

The college has adopted a policy prohibiting discrimination on the basis of a disability. Individuals who have complaints alleging discrimination based upon a disability may file them with the following:

Title IX Officer
Kylene Phipps
2715 Dickinson Street
Miles City, MT 59301
Phone: (406) 874-6292
TitleIX@milescc.edu

Additional Information

Tuition & Fee Schedule Campus Safety

    Students who would like to request Disability Accommodations must complete the following forms and return them to room 208.


    By following these links, you hare leaving the MCC website. MCC is not responsible for the contents of any off-site pages or links referenced. The presence of a hyper-link from a page on one of MCC's web servers does not imply any kind of endorsement of the content of these pages.


    Mind and body are integrated as can be seen with the issue of stress. It is no secret that psychological stress and physical illness are related. Stress triggers physiological and chemical (hormones) changes in the body. Physical illness is commonly accompanied with increase stress. Thus, as we learn to manage stress we must address physical as well as psychological factors. As you consider the following tips, keep in mind that maintaining balance between your intellectual, social and personal development is the key to a well-adjusted college experience.

    • Add a physical workout to your schedule at least every other day. One does not need to be gifted athletically to accomplish this. You can jog, power walk, use stepper, rowing or biking machines, swim or any other form of exercise. Do not see this as 'recreational time' that can be blown off. Physical activity is a great way to insure that life's minor stresses do not build. Park at the far end of the parking lot.
    • Set both long term (this semester or this year) and short-term (this day or this week) goals. Write them down. Make them part of your time management schedule.
    • Manage your time. Develop a schedule that provides for academic, social and physical time. Follow the schedule! Seek the help of an advisor in developing better time management skills.
    • Each day find ten to twenty minutes of 'alone time' to relax. Take a walk, write in a journal or meditate.
    • Don't sweat the small stuff...always ask yourself if the issue at hand is worth getting upset about. If it isn't affecting your goal achievement, it may not be worth fretting over.
    • Humor and positive thinking are important tools in stress management.
    • Most importantly, communicate! Talking to a person who you trust be they a friend, roommate, family member, professor, significant other or co-worker about issues of concern is helpful. We all need someone to listen.

    Daily Schedules

    There are a variety of time schedules that can fit your personality. These include engagement books, a piece of poster board tacked to a wall, or 3 x 5 cards. Once you decide upon the style, the next step is construction. It is best to allow spaces for each hour, half-hours for a busy schedule. First, put down all of the necessities; classes, work, meals, etc.

    Now block in your study time (remember the study time formula presented earlier). Schedule it for a time when you are energized.

    Also, it's best to review class notes soon after class. Make sure to schedule in study breaks, about 10 minutes each hour. Be realistic on how many courses to take. To succeed in your courses you need to have the time to study. If you find you don't have time to study and you're not socializing to an extreme, you might want to consider lightening your load.

    Tips for Saving Time Now that you know how you spend most of your time, take a look at it. Think about what your most important things are. Do you have enough time? Chances are that you do not. Below are some tips on how to schedule and budget your time when it seems you just don't have enough.

    Don't be a Perfectionist

    Trying to be a perfect person sets you up for defeat. Nobody can be perfect. Difficult tasks usually result in avoidance and procrastination. You need to set achievable goals, but they should also be challenging. There will always be people both weaker and stronger than you.

    Learn to Say No

    For example, an acquaintance of yours would like you to see a movie with him tonight. You made social plans for tomorrow with your friends and tonight you were going to study and do laundry. You really are not interested. You want to say no, but you hate turning people down. Politely saying no should become a habit. Saying no frees up time for the things that are most important.

    Learn to Prioritize

    Prioritizing your responsibilities and engagements is very important. Some people do not know how to prioritize and become procrastinators. A "to do list" places items in order of importance. One method is the ABC list. This list is divided into three sections; a, b, or c. The items placed in the A section are those needed to be done that day. The items placed in the B section need completion within the week. The C section items are those things that need to be done within the month. As the B, C items become more pertinent they are bumped up to the A or B list. Try it or come up with your own method, but do it.

    Combine Several Activities

    Another suggestion is to combine several activities into one time spot. While commuting to school, listen to taped notes. This allows up to an hour or two a day of good study review. While showering make a mental list of the things that need to be done. When you watch a sit-com, laugh as you pay your bills. These are just suggestions of what you can do to combine your time, but there are many others, above all be creative, and let it work for you.

    Conclusion

    After scheduling becomes a habit, then you can adjust it. It's better to be precise at first. It is easier to find something to do with extra time then to find extra time to do something. Most importantly, make it work for you. A time schedule that is not personalized and honest is not a time schedule at all.

    There are many ways to reduce tension and relax. Here are ten stress relievers that are the are most effective for the amount of work and time involved. Some can be learned in the time it takes to read this page, while others take a little more practice, but there's something here for everyone!

    1. Get active
      Virtually any form of exercise and physical activity can act as a stress reliever. Even if you're not an athlete or you're out of shape, exercise is still a good stress reliever. Physical activity pumps up your feel-good endorphins and refocuses your mind on your body's movements, improving your mood and helping the day's irritations fade away. Consider walking, jogging, gardening, house cleaning, biking, swimming, weightlifting or anything else that gets you active.
    2. Meditate
      During meditation, you focus your attention and eliminate the stream of jumbled thoughts that may be crowding your mind and causing stress. Meditation instills a sense of calm, peace and balance that benefits both your emotional well-being and your overall health. Guided meditation, guided imagery, visualization and other forms of meditation can be practiced anywhere at any time, whether you're out for a walk, riding the bus to work or waiting at the doctor's office.
    3. Laugh
      A good sense of humor can't cure all ailments, but it can help you feel better, even if you have to force a fake laugh through your grumpiness. When you start to laugh, it lightens your mental load and actually causes positive physical changes in your body. Laughter fires up and then cools down your stress response and increases your heart rate and blood pressure, producing a good, relaxed feeling. So read some jokes, tell some jokes, watch a comedy or hang out with your funny friends.
    4. Connect
      When you're stressed and irritable, your instinct may be to wrap yourself in a cocoon. Instead, reach out to family and friends and make social connections. Social contact is a good stress reliever because it can distract you, provide support, help you weather life's up and downs, and make you feel good by doing good. So take a coffee break with a friend, email a relative, volunteer for a charitable group, or visit your place of worship.
    5. Assert yourself
      You might want to do it all, but you probably can't, at least not without paying a price. Learn to say no to some tasks or to delegate them. Saying yes may seem like an easy way to keep the peace, prevent conflicts and get the job done right. But it may actually cause you internal conflict because your needs and those of your family come second, which can lead to stress, anger, resentment and even the desire to exact revenge. And that's not very calm and peaceful.
    6. Do yoga
      With its series of postures and controlled-breathing exercises, yoga is a popular stress reliever. Yoga brings together physical and mental disciplines to achieve peacefulness of body and mind, helping you relax and manage stress and anxiety. Try yoga on your own or find a class - you can find classes in most communities. Hatha yoga, in particular, is a good stress reliever because of its slower pace and easier movements.
    7. Sleep
      Stress often gives sleep the heave-ho. You have too much to do - and too much to think about - and your sleep suffers. But sleep is the time when your brain and body recharge. And the quality and amount of sleep you get affects your mood, energy level, concentration and overall functioning. If you have sleep troubles, make sure that you have a quiet, relaxing bedtime routine, listen to soothing music, put clocks away, and stick to a consistent schedule.
    8. Journal
      Writing out thoughts and feelings can be a good release for otherwise pent-up emotions. Don't think about what to write - just let it happen. Write whatever comes to mind. No one else needs to read it, so don't strive for perfection in grammar or spelling. Just let your thoughts flow on paper - or computer screen. Once you're done, you can toss out what your wrote or save it to reflect on later.
    9. Get musical
      Listening to or playing music is a good stress reliever because it provides a mental distraction, reduces muscle tension and decreases stress hormones. Crank up the volume and let your mind be absorbed by the music. If music isn't your thing, though, turn your attention to another hobby you enjoy, such as gardening, sewing, sketching - anything that requires you to focus on what you're doing rather than what you think you should be doing.
    10. Seek counsel
      If new stressors are challenging your ability to cope or if self-care stress relievers just aren't relieving your stress, you may need to look for reinforcements in the form of professional therapy or counseling. Therapy may be a good idea if stress leaves you feeling overwhelmed or trapped, if you worry excessively, or if you have trouble carrying out daily routines or meeting responsibilities at work, home or school. Professional counselors or therapists can help you identify sources of your stress and learn new coping tools.

    When a completed FAFSA is received by the United States Department of Education, a formula mandated by Congress called "Federal Methodology" is used to calculate the Expected Family Contribution (EFC). Students will receive a Student Aid Report (SAR) and the school whose code is listed on the FAFSA will receive an Institutional Student Information Report (ISIR). The SAR/ISIR will contain the EFC, which is used to determine eligibility for financial aid. The financial aid office uses the estimated Cost of Attendance (COA) (tuition, fees, books, room, board, and other related expenses) less the EFC to determine the student's financial need. See yearly college costs for an average breakdown of COA Figures.

    Students applying for financial aid are considered for all programs for which they request aid and are eligible, contingent upon the availability of funds. The amount of financial aid awarded is generally a combination of grants, work-study, and loans and is based on the remaining need of a student (COA-EFC = Need).


    Aid is disbursed to student accounts in the Business Office once each semester. Please check your account balance and disbursements through your Banner Self-Service access.

    Initial disbursement is made two weeks after classes start for the term.

    If the disbursement of your aid was enough to pay your balance, any remaining funds will be refunded to you. This will be in the form of a paper check. Checks are available on fee payment day. To pick up your refund, bring photo id to the Business Office. Distance Education students will need to contact the Business Office to make arrangements for your check to be mailed.


    The Higher Education Act of 1992 allows financial aid administrators to make professional judgement decisions for special or unusual family or student circumstances. These circumstances must be documented and reviewed on a case-by-case basis.

    Typically, this authority is used to do one of the following:

    • Adjust figures on the FAFSA to reflect changes to income or resources
    • Declare a student independent for purposes of FAFSA completion
    • Adjust the Cost of Attendance (COA) to include non-standard education expenses


    Students need to complete the Request for Special Circumstances/Judgement form and submit along with all requested documents.


    Any adjustment to Cost of Attendance is only helpful to students that are already fully funded.

    An increase to the Cost of Attendance can be done for childcare expenses, purchase of a computer, and for special equipment or supplies needed for a degree program.


    The FAFSA makes the assumption that the best estimate of a family's current financial resources is the income and resources they had in the prior year. Due to extenuating circumstances, this may not actually be the case.

    If the income information reported on the FAFSA does not adequately reflect a family's financial situation, MCC's financial aid staff has the authority to make adjustments to the FAFSA data that may result in a change to a student's aid eligibility.

    Adjustments are not made for such things like regional differences in cost of living, the purchase of a new or used vehicle or an accounting of personal income against monthly bills. All adjustments are made at the discretion of staff in the financial aid office.


    If a parent, student, or student's spouse has lost a job, retired, or otherwise had a substantial loss of income, adjustments can be made to the income figures reported on the FAFSA.

    In such a case, the student should submit an estimate of income for the academic year (July 1 through the following June 30). The estimate should include itemized amounts of unemployment benefits, severance pay, worker's compensation and any other taxable or untaxed income reported on the FAFSA.
    If a family has paid a substantial amount toward medical bills in the prior or current year, an adjustment may be made to account for this unusual expense.

    Adjustments can only be made for payments actually made by the family for after-tax expenses. It can include anything that the IRS allows to be claimed, such as doctors bills, the cost of prescriptions, medical supplies and insurance premiums paid with after-tax funds.

    It does not include bills paid by an insurance company, over the counter medication, or health insurance paid with pretax dollars (since they are already removed from income figures).
    The following situations may result in a drastic change in a family's financial strength for which the financial aid staff may make changes to the FAFSA data:

    • Dependent student's parents separate or divorce
    • Student's parent or spouse dies
    • Student separates or divorces

    If one of these situations occurs, a student should write a letter with the effective date, supporting documentation (e.g. death certificate), and an accounting of which income and resources are attributed to each individual.

    If a dependent student marries after filing the FAFSA they may request reclassification to independent student status. To do so, they must be married, request the change, and have it approved before the end of the first term they receive aid in the academic year. Students who make this request will be required to provide a copy of the marriage certificate and a copy of spouse tax transcript for the year being reported on the FAFSA.

    Students who cannot answer yes to any of the dependency questions on the FAFSA can submit an appeal to the financial aid office requesting that they be declared independent. If granted, eligibility for federal aid is then based solely on the student's income.

    To have an appeal approved, there must be extenuating circumstances which prevent the student from providing parental information on the FAFSA. To have the independent status carried forward into subsequent academic years, the student must submit a letter requesting that it be renewed.

    Appeals granted to students by other colleges do not apply to MCC. The student must go through MCC's appeal process to be granted independence at MCC.


    Dependency overrides can only be granted if an extenuating circumstance exists.

    In reviewing appeals, the committee is looking for evidence that it is not reasonable to expect the student to seek out information from their parents because it would be unsafe, unhealthy, or the parents are inaccessible.

    Examples of extenuating circumstances include:

    • Physical or sexual abuse
    • Abandonment by both parents
    • History of neglect due to parental alcohol or drug abuse
    • Incarceration of the custodial parent
    • Other circumstances which prevent the student from having contact with the parents

    A parent's refusal to provide information on the FAFSA, or the fact that a student is self-supporting, in and of themselves, are not reasons for which a dependency override can be granted.
    A student will need to complete the FAFSA online. When asked if you would like to provide parental information, they should say they are unable to do so. This will leave the FAFSA incomplete, pending the approval of the dependency status change.

    The student will need to submit the Request for Special Circumstance/Judgement form to the financial aid office. Along with the form, at least two sources of written documentation of support need to be submitted.

    Official notification from the Director of Financial Aid with a decision will be sent within 30 days.
    An approved dependency change is for one academic year at a time. If a student has been changed to Independent for the current year, the student will need to submit a letter requesting that the dependency change be renewed. The letter should be a confirmation that the situation that was originally documented remains unchanged.
    If a student request for dependency change is denied, the Parent Refusal to Complete FAFSA Affidavit form is the next course of action. Students can either update their FAFSA to include parental information, or have their parent complete the affidavit.

    Submitting the affidavit limits students to receiving only the Federal Direct Unsubsidized Loan in the amount for which dependent students are eligible.

    30% of all students that complete a FAFSA are selected for verification. Selection is made by the US Department of Education (ED) and can occur in multiple years if an applicant meets ED's criteria. If a student is selected, the student will need to provide the required verification documents to the financial aid office before an award offer can be made.

    The financial aid office is required to ask for additional documentation if, while reviewing a student's file, there appears to be conflicting information.

    Documents required are listed on both the initial letter sent to students via US mail and the Financial Aid tab in Banner Self-Service. Links to the necessary forms are provided in the Forms & Policies section of the Financial Aid webpage.

    Additional Verification Information

    As part of the verification process, students and parents may be required to submit their federal income tax return data to the financial aid office. The IRS Data Retrieval Tool allows users to transfer tax information directly from the IRS to the FAFSA. This information is then forwarded to the schools listed on the FAFSA, which in turn satisfies the requirement to provide tax data.

    Note: If after using the IRS Data Retrieval Tool a family will not see the numbers imported from the IRS. You will see Transferred from the IRS. If any information is altered after the transfer, an IRS Tax Return Transcript will be required.

    Not everyone is able to use the IRS Data Retrieval Tool. The alternate way of providing the required data is to submit an IRS tax return transcript.
    If unable to use the IRS Data Retrieval Tool, a copy of your IRS Tax Return Transcript will be required. A tax return transcript is a record of the tax data that is in the IRS database. For verification purposes, photocopies of the 1040, 1040A and 1040EZ are not allowed.

    For information on requesting a return transcript, refer to the IRS Retrieval and Tax Transcript Instructions.
    To satisfy verification requirements, some students are required to confirm their identity. Students can do this by bringing current government issued photo ID, in person to the financial aid office.

    For online students and those that wish to complete before coming to campus, can do so by completing the Identity Statement of Education Purpose form. This form must be completed in front of a notary public and the original document, along with a copy of the ID presented to the notary, must be sent in the mail to the financial aid office. This form cannot be accepted via fax or scanned.