Accomodative Services (1400:03:02)

  
POLICY

The College is an equal opportunity employer and is committed to the philosophy of equality in education and employment opportunities and will not discriminate on the basis of handicap, race, color, religion, national origin, sex, age, or veteran’s status in the recruitment and admission of students, the recruitment and employment of faculty and staff, and the operation of any of its programs and activities.

SCOPE

This procedure applies to all students, employees, and applicants for student admission or employment who are seeking accommodative services under the auspices of Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, as amended, and/or the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990.

RESPONSIBILITY

The Human Resources Director is responsible for overseeing the implementation of this procedure for all employees and applicants for employment. The Vice President for Student Services is responsible for overseeing the implementation of this procedure for all students and applicants for admission as students. All accommodative services: are under the oversight supervision of the ADA and Section 504 Coordinator (Director of Human Resources), must be coordinated within the College, and will involve the cooperation of all departments and employees/students of the institution.

DEFINITION

The following terms, as used by and defined through the implementing regulations for Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (as amended) and or the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (as amended), are listed so that this procedure may be more easily understood and utilized.

Person with a disability: a person who has a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more of the major life activities, has a record of such an impairment, or is regarded as having such an impairment.

Physical impairment: any physiological disorder, condition, cosmetic disfigurement or anatomical loss that affects one or more of the following body systems: neurological, muscular skeletal, sense organs, respiratory (including speech organs), cardiovascular, reproductive, digestive, genitor-urinary, hemic and lymphatic skin, and endocrine.

Mental impairment: any mental or psychological disorder, such as mental retardation, organic brain syndrome, emotional or mental illness, as well as specific learning disabilities.

Major life activities: activities such as breathing, caring for self, hearing, learning, performing manual tasks, seeing, speaking, walking, or working.

Accommodative services: reasonable services and auxiliary aids provided to an eligible, qualified person with a disabling condition after the person has given proper notice and documentation.

Eligible, qualified person: a person with a disability who meets the essential, pertinent standards for a program or activity and who has appropriately documented a disability that substantially limits a pertinent major life activity.

Services agreement: a College document that identifies the reasonable accommodative services being provided to an eligible, qualified person with a disability identifies any pertinent partners assisting in the provision of the reasonable accommodative services, and the guidelines pertaining to the use of services and/or auxiliary aides.

PROCEDURE

Request for accommodative services for employee and applicants for employment are made to the Human Resources Office, AD Room 185. Requests for accommodative services for students and applicants for admission as students are made in the Student Services Office, AS Room 113.

NOTICE: Persons needing accommodative services must provide advance notification to College personnel of their desire to receive services. Following the receipt of notice, College personnel will ensure that the person is properly directed either to the Human Resources Office, if an employee, or to the Student Services Office, if a student. When meeting with the appropriate personnel, the person requesting the accommodative services must be prepared to provide documentation of eligibility for services and discuss the types of services that are being requested. Typically, notice of the need for accommodative services must provide not less than seventy-two (72) hours in advance of when the services are needed. When adaptive equipment or special services must be ordered, a minimum of two weeks prior notice must be given.

Documentation: It is the responsibility of the person requesting accommodative services to provide the appropriate College professionals with documentation that will

1. verify the existence of an eligible disabling condition;
2. reflect his/her current levels of skills and abilities;
3. assist in the determination of eligibility for work environment and/or academic adjustments and the necessity for any auxiliary aids;
4. authorize appropriate College professionals to have contact with the person(s) providing the documentation so that an individualized accommodative services agreement can be developed; and
5. aid in the development of clear and realistic career and educational goals.

Generally, this documentation will be no more than three years old, will have been provided by a qualified professional practitioner within the specific field, and will give as much depth and breadth of information as possible so as to allow for the development of an effective accommodative services agreement. Additional and/or undated documentation may be required in those instances when disabilities are sporadic or degenerative in nature and/or when changes in the working/learning environment may suggest that the accommodative services agreement needs to be reviewed.

Records relating to accommodative services for employees will be maintained in the Human Resources Office in files separate from the employee’s personnel files. For students, these documents will be considered students records, will be maintained in files separate from the student’s academic records, and are subject to Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act regulations.

Services Agreement: Once the eligibility for services has been verified, a reasonable, individualized accommodative services agreement will be developed using input from appropriate College professionals, the person requesting the services, and any other person deemed appropriate and knowledgeable on a case by case basis. Usually the terms of the agreement will be implemented within two weeks or less of its finalization. The following items will typically be included in an agreement document:

1. a general statement about why the accommodative services are being provided to the person;
2. a statement of the adjustments which will be made in the working/learning environment;
3. a list of the adaptive equipment and/or special services covered through the agreement;
4. a statement as to the responsibilities (of the College, and pertinent partners assisting in the provision of the reasonable accommodative services and the person with the disability), for the maintenance, care and disposition of any required equipment;
5. a statement as to the beginning and ending dates of the agreement (typically done on an animal basis for employees and a semester basis for students);
6. a general statement as to the responsibilities of the person using the services to maintain contact with the College professional coordination the agreement relative to any necessary adjustments, revisions or termination of services;
7. a listing of the people involved in the implementation of the agreed upon services and an acknowledgment of the personnel who need to be informed of the service agreement.

Upon finalization of the services agreement the College professional responsible for coordinating the agreement and the student receiving the services must both sign the agreement acknowledging their understanding of their respective roles and responsibilities.