1B.4 Access and Accommodation for Individuals with Disabilities

Board Policies
Chapter 1 - System Organization and Administration
Section B - Equal Education and Employment Opportunity

Part 1. Purpose
Minnesota State Colleges and Universities is committed to ensuring its programs, services, and activities are accessible to individuals with disabilities, through its compliance with state and federal laws. Minnesota State recognizes that individuals with disabilities may need accommodations to have equally effective opportunities to participate in or benefit from Minnesota State programs, services, and activities.

Part 2. Application
Board Policy 1B.4 applies to individuals who are not employees or applicants for employment. Accommodation requests by employees and applicants for employment are covered by System Procedure 1B.4.1 Reasonable Accommodations in Employment.

Part 3. Definitions
For the purposes of this procedure only, these terms are defined as follows.

Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) Title II Coordinator
The employee who coordinates the efforts of a public entity to comply with and carry out its ongoing responsibilities under Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).

Applicant
An individual applying for admission to a Minnesota State college or university. The applicant has not yet been admitted.

Individual
A person, student, applicant for admission at a Minnesota State college or university, parent, or community member who would like to attend or participate in an event, activity, or program operated or sponsored by Minnesota State. Employees and applicants for employment are not included in this definition.

Individual with a disability

An individual who has a physical or mental impairment which materially limits one or more of the person's major life activities.

An individual who has a record of such impairment; a history of impairment, or has been classified as having a mental or physical impairment that materially limits one or more major life activities.

Individually prescribed personal devices and services
Personal devices for accessibility, also known as assistive technology (AT), are any items, equipment, software, or products designed to increase, maintain, or improve the functional capabilities of individuals with disabilities. Examples 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.

Qualified individual with a disability
An individual who meets the essential eligibility requirements for receipt of services or participation in a program or activity offered or sponsored by a college, university, or the system office. Essential eligibility requirements include, but are not limited to, academic and technical standards requisite to admission or participation in an education program or activity.

Student
An admitted or enrolled student at a Minnesota State college or university.

Part 4. Americans with Disabilities Act Title II Coordinator Responsibilities and Duties

Responsibilities
The ADA Title II Coordinator is responsible ensuring Minnesota State’s compliance with the ADA Title II – Public Services, in accordance with the ADA as amended, and the Minnesota Human Rights Act.

Duties
The duties of the ADA Title II Coordinator include, but are not limited to:

Track and facilitate requests for reasonable modifications for members of the public accessing Minnesota State services.
Provide reasonable modifications to members of the public (as defined by ADA) with known physical or mental disabilities to ensure equal access and privileges to programming and services. The ADA Title II Coordinator will consult with the member of the public in need of a modification and:
- Discuss the purpose and essential functions of the reasonable modification.
- Identify the potential modifications and assess the effectiveness of each request.
- After discussion and review, select and implement the modifications that are appropriate for both the member of the public and Minnesota State.
- Document this review and reported in the Minnesota State ADA Annual Report.
Comply with State of Minnesota, Minnesota State system-wide anti-discrimination and anti-harassment policies.

Part 5. Access

Subpart A. General Access
Colleges, universities, and the system office shall provide access to programs, services, and activities to qualified individuals with known disabilities as required by law. An individual requesting an accommodation may be required to provide documentation of eligibility for the accommodation.

General access involves providing a student with a disability access to services and activities that are operated or sponsored by the college/university or that receive significant assistance from the college/university. Such access must be provided in a reasonable manner as required by law.

Subpart B. Digital Access
Colleges, universities, and the system office shall ensure that the following readily meet Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.1 AA success criteria and are usable by individuals with disabilities:

Web content - that is provided or made available, directly or through contractual, licensing, or other arrangements; and

Mobile apps - that are provided or made available, directly or through contractual, licensing, or other arrangements.

Part 6. Availability, Notice, and Dissemination
Colleges, universities, and the system office shall post notices to the public in an accessible format stating (1) prohibition against discrimination on the basis of disability, and (2) contact information for the ADA Coordinator who provides information about and responds to requests for reasonable accommodation.

Policy and process information must be publicly available to:

applicants, students, and parents,
in plain language and accessible formats,
during the student application process, student orientation, in academic catalogs, and on the public websites of each college and university.

Part 7. Reasonable Accommodations - Programs, Services, and Activities
Colleges, universities, and the system office shall make reasonable accommodations to ensure access to programs, services, and activities as required by law. Access means that a qualified individual with a disability will not be excluded from participation in or be denied the benefits of the programs, services, or activities, nor will the individual be subjected to discrimination. 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, colleges, universities, and the system office are not required to provide:

personally prescribed devices to applicants and students with a disability,
accommodations that would result in a fundamental alteration in the nature of a service, program, or activity,
accommodations that could result in an undue financial or administrative burden, or
accommodations that would pose a significant risk of substantial harm to the health or safety of the individual or others that cannot be eliminated or reduced by reasonable accommodation.

Part 8. Interactive Process
Each college and university shall establish an interactive process for an individual with a disability to request an accommodation to access the institution's programs, services, or activities consistent with state and federal laws. The interactive process must include the self-disclosure by the individual with a disability requesting an accommodation.

The interactive process must, at a minimum, include the following:

Provide the requesting individual with a copy of Board Policy 1B.4 and the college/university interactive process.
How eligibility is determined, which may include an intake interview, review of relevant documentation, academic course/program requirements, and other programs and services the individual may utilize at the college or university
Identification of the ADA Coordinator responsible for making a determination about the request for accommodation or the delivery of services.
Provide a process for appealing a denial of a request for accommodation.

Subpart A. College and University Requirements (RISE Act)
Colleges and universities shall:

before the beginning of each academic term, offer an opportunity for admitted students to self-identify as having a disability for which they may request an accommodation. The person or office responsible for arranging accommodations shall initiate contact with any student who has self-identified. Identifying or not identifying at the beginning of the term does not preclude a student from requesting an accommodation for a disability at any other time;

not require a student to be reevaluated for or submit documentation to prove the presence of a permanent disability if the student previously provided proof of their disability status and is not requesting any new accommodations;

provide the student's accommodation letter to the student's instructors, if the student gives affirmative permission to share the information, and, if requested by the student, facilitate communication between the student and the student's instructors;

if a course instructor cannot provide an accommodation because it would fundamentally alter the nature of that course, require an instructor to provide a notification detailing why an accommodation cannot be provided to the student and submit that information to the student and the person or office responsible for arranging accommodations; and

provide a student with a disability who is denied accommodations the option to include the person or office responsible for arranging accommodations in the college or university grievance or appeal process, to resolve equitable access barriers and prevent academic or financial penalty due to no fault of the student.

Subpart B. Student Documentation
A college or university may request documentation as part of the interactive process to establish accommodations for a student with a disability. An admitted or enrolled student submitting any of the following documentation is sufficient for the interactive process to establish reasonable accommodations:

documentation that the student has had an individualized education program (IEP). The college or university may request additional documentation from a student who has had an IEP, if the IEP was not in effect immediately before the date when the student exited high school;

documentation that the student has received services or accommodations under a section 504 plan. The college or university may request additional documentation from a student who has received services or accommodations provided to the student under a section 504 plan, if the section 504 plan was not in effect immediately before the date when the student exited high school;

documentation of a plan or record of service for the student from a private school, a local educational agency, a state educational agency, or a college or university provided under a section 504 plan or in accordance with the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990;

a record or evaluation from a qualified health or other service professional knowledgeable about the student's condition, finding that the student has a disability;

a plan or record of a disability from another college or university;

documentation of a disability due to military service; or

additional information from a qualified health or other service professional knowledgeable about the student's condition and can clarify the need for a new accommodation.

Policy History:

Date of Adoption: 6/20/95
Date of Implementation: 7/01/95
Date of Last Review: 2/18/26

Date & Subject of Amendments:

02/18/26 – The proposed amendment consists of (1) adding new Part 2 Application, (2) adding the definitions of applicant, individual, individually prescribed personal devices and services, and student, (3) adding language on “general access” and “digital access” for individuals with a disability, (4) replacing “person designated” with “ADA Coordinator”, (5) expanding the language on “interactive process”, and (6) adding Subparts B and C to Part 7 to comply with the Reforming American Immigration for a Strong Economy (RISE) Act.

Additional HISTORY.

1B.4 Access and Accommodation for Individuals with Disabilities

Related Documents:

Policy History: