4.5 Reasonable Accommodations
Related MnSCU Board Policy: https://www.minnstate.edu/board/policy/1b04
Related MnSCU Board Procedure: http://www.mnscu.edu/board/procedure/1b0p1.html
Purpose: Normandale Community College is committed to ensuring its programs, services, and activities are accessible to individuals with disabilities through its compliances with state and federal laws. The college recognizes that individuals with disabilities may require accommodations to have equally effective opportunities to participate in or benefit from its programs, services, and activities.
Part 1: Definitions
Subpart A. An individual with a Disability
Any person who has a physical or mental impairment which materially limits one or more of their major life activities.
Any person who has a record of such impairment, which means that a person has a history of, or has been classified as, having a mental or physical impairment that materially limits one or more major life activities.
Any person who is regarded as having such an impairment.
Subpart B. Qualified Individual
An individual who, with or without reasonable modifications to rules, policies, or practices; the removal of architectural, communication, or transportation barriers; or the provision of auxiliary aids and services, meets the essential eligibility requirements for receipt of services or participation in a system office, college, or university program or activity. Essential eligibility requirements include, but are not limited to, academic and technical standards requisite to admission or participation in an education program or activity.
Subpart C. Reasonable Accommodations
Reasonable accommodations may include modifications to: rules, policies or practices; the removal of architectural, communication or transportation barriers; provision of auxiliary aids; or the provision of equally effective programs, services or activities. In accordance with the Americans with Disabilities Act, accommodations will not be provided for personal devices or services even though the individual may be a qualified individual with a disability or if they result in a fundamental alteration in the nature of a service, program or activity or in undue financial or administrative burdens. Reasonable accommodations do not include elimination of an essential function of a job or course.
Subpart D. Personal Devices and Services
Examples of personal devices and services include wheelchairs, individually prescribed devices such as prescription eyeglasses or hearing aids, readers for personal use or study or services of a personal nature including assistance in eating, toileting or dressing.
Part 2: The college encourages the employment and promotion of any qualified person, including persons with disabilities.
The college will provide reasonable accommodations directly related to performing the essential functions of a job or competing for a job on the basis of qualifications without regard to a person’s disability. An individual requesting an accommodation may be required to provide documentation of eligibility for the accommodation.
Part 3: Reasonable accommodations will not be provided for non-job related personal needs of individuals, even though the individual or person may be an individual with a disability.
In such cases, questions may arise as to whether the accommodation is personal or job-related. The primary factor in evaluating an accommodation’s job relatedness is whether the accommodation specifically assists the person to perform the job, or whether the requested accommodation is primarily to assist the person in daily activities, on and off the job. In the latter case, a reasonable accommodation is not required.
Part 4: If the college denies employment or advancement in employment based on an individual’s inability to perform and declines to make a reasonable accommodation to the physical or mental needs of an employee with a disability or job applicant with a disability to enable the individual to perform the essential functions of the job, it must be demonstrated that:
Subpart A: The accommodation would impose an undue hardship on the college;
Subpart B: The accommodation does not overcome the effects of the person with a disability that prevents performance of the essential job functions; or
Subpart C: The individual with a disability, with or without reasonable accommodations, is not qualified to perform the essential functions of that particular job.
Part 5: Pursuant to state law, every college must designate an individual to coordinate requests for accommodation under the Americans with Disabilities Act. The ADA compliance officer for employees is the Associate Vice President of Human Resources. Phone: 952-358-8269; Office: L2777.
Policy History:
Date of Adoption: Established prior to 2011
Date of Implementation:
Date and Subject of Revisions:
10/20/2022 - Amends all references and hyperlinks to MnSCU, updates outdated contact information; adds commitment statement and definitions; corrects grammatical errors and typos
Next Review Date: 2026