No qualified individual with a disability shall, on the basis of disability, be excluded from participation in or be denied the benefits of any academic, research, occupational training, housing, health insurance, counseling, financial aid, physical education, athletics, recreation, transportation, other extra-curricular, or other program or activity at Minnesota State University, Mankato. Qualified individuals with a disability shall be given an opportunity to participate in or benefit from our services, programs, and activities on a footing equal to that afforded others so as to gain the same opportunity as that given to others. The services, programs, and activities shall be administered in the most integrated setting possible and appropriate to the needs of qualified individuals with disabilities.
The University is not required to provide to individuals with disabilities personal devices, such as eyeglasses or hearing aids; wheelchairs; readers for personal use; or services of a personal nature including assistance in eating, toileting, or dressing.
Programs shall make modifications to academic requirements as accommodation for qualified students with documented disabilities as necessary to assure that requirements do not discriminate against students with disabilities or have the effect of excluding students solely because of disability. Programs are not required to make modifications to academic requirements if it can be shown the modification would result in a substantial change in an essential element of the program. Examples of modifications include substitution of degree requirements and adaptation of the manner in which specific courses are taught.
Students with disabilities shall be provided with appropriate accommodations to assure that their evaluations represent their achievement in the course of study rather than reflecting the effects of their disability. Examples of accommodations include extended time on tests, readers, note takers, use of adaptive equipment, interpreters, etc. Accommodations do not give students with disabilities an unfair advantage over non-disabled students, but minimize the effects of their disabilities to the greatest degree possible. Faculty members receiving requests from students for accommodation are encouraged to contact the Disabilities Service Office for assistance.
All programs shall take appropriate steps to ensure that communications with students and members of the public with disabilities are as effective as communications with others.
In some instances, a notepad, note taker, and written materials may be sufficient to permit effective communications; however, in other circumstances they may not be sufficient. A qualified interpreter may be necessary, or an auxiliary aid from the Office of Disability Services may be needed. Deference to the request of the individual with a disability is desirable because of the range of disabilities, the variety of auxiliary aids and services, and different circumstances requiring effective communication.
Where a program communicates by telephone with students and/or members of the public, TTY's or equally effective telecommunication systems shall be used to communicate with individuals with hearing or speech impairments. (TTY's are teletypewriters that are used by individuals who are deaf or have speech impairments.)
Those programs not having a TTY may use the Minnesota Relay Service. The Relay Service is a telephone service that connects individuals who are deaf, who have speech impairments, or who are hard of hearing with individuals who are able to hear. To access the Relay Service, dial 1-800-627-3529, and tell the communications assistant what type of call you wish to make (collect, calling card, third party billing). Give your number and the number you are calling. The communications assistant will relay your messages to the person whom you are calling via a TTY and relay responses back to you verbally. You should speak as though speaking directly to the person whom you are calling. The Minnesota Relay Service is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
Offices having TTY's shall train staff in how to receive and place calls using it.
Contracting with External Organizations
Programs contracting with other organizations to provide services and activities to program participants retain responsibility for assuring that the contractor provides services and activities in a nondiscriminatory manner.
All publicity regarding campus-sponsored events shall contain statements that:
The following is the suggested statement: "To request accommodation of a disability, please contact (name, department, address, phone number) at least 72 hours prior to the day of the event."
As a general rule, programs may not make medical inquiries of students or members of the public as a condition of eligibility for or participation in any program, activity, or service. Programs that believe medical inquiries are necessary are encouraged to contact either the Office of Disability Services or the Human Resources Office.
Individuals with disabilities may not be denied the opportunity to participate in an off-campus service, program, or activity because of their disability. The services, programs, and activities shall be administered in the most integrated setting possible and appropriate to the needs of qualified individuals with disabilities. Reasonable modifications in policies, practices and procedures that deny equal access to people with disabilities must be made unless those modifications result in a fundamental alteration in the program.
All printed materials (catalogs, program brochures, course syllabi, etc.) shall be accessible to students with disabilities, i.e., they must be available in alternative format such as large print, audio tape, etc. The following notice shall be printed on all materials, "Information in this publication (or brochure) will be made available in alternative format, such as large print or cassette tape, upon request." Programs receiving requests for materials in alternative format shall immediately contact the Disabilities Services Office for assistance.
Announcements of public events shall contain this statement, "To request accommodation of a disability, please contact (name, department, address, phone number) at least 72 hours prior to the day of the event." Programs receiving requests are encouraged to contact the Disabilities Service Office for assistance.
Events shall be scheduled in a setting that provides accessible seating in an integrated setting to accommodate wheelchair users, persons with other mobility impairments, and persons with vision or hearing impairments.
Programs arranging transportation for students and members of the public to attend off-campus services, programs, and activities shall arrange for transportation that is accessible to individuals with disabilities when needed. Announcements of off-campus activities shall contain this statement, "To request accommodation of a disability, please contact (name, department, address, phone number) at least 72 hours prior to the day of the event." Programs receiving requests for accessible transportation shall contact the Disabilities Service Office for assistance.
Minnesota Statute requires that all videos or films purchased, including educational videos and films, must be either open or closed-captioned. (Open-captions are similar to subtitles used in foreign films; the captions are permanently displayed on the tape. Closed-captions are subtitles that can only be received by a television having a special chip that receives the closed-caption signal. All televisions 13 inches or larger manufactured after July, 1993, feature built-in decoders.) MSU has three televisions with built-in decoders available in the Educational Resource Center in the Library.
It is not financially feasible to retrofit the videos already on-hand in the library and in the departments, but the University must provide accommodation to students who are deaf or hard-of-hearing upon request. Departments and/or faculty members receiving requests from students for accommodation for showing of videos shall contact the Disabilities Service Office for assistance.
As programs order new videos for their collections, they shall request videos with captioning. Not all production companies will be able to comply with the request; however, that shall first be determined before ordering a video without captioning.
