Access to Employment

Access: Rights, Responsibilities and Balance

Bowling Green State University is dedicated to providing quality academic programs in a learning environment that promotes academic and personal excellence in students, as well as appreciation of intellectual, ethical and aesthetic values. Wisdom, sound judgment, tolerance and respect for other persons, cultures, and ideas are the hallmarks of an educated person and the characteristics that the University hopes to develop in its students.

The information contained below is intended to provide a beginning and frame of reference for communicating the University’s vision into a common understanding regarding access for persons with disabilities at the University. Institutional mission, legal mandates, and a commitment to diversity provide the basis for our efforts in this regard. This document is representative of the University’s commitment to equal access, guides the development of policies and procedures, and is currently divided into two sections. The first addresses the institution’s instructional mission, while the second focuses on employment. Comments should be directed to the ADA/Section 504 Compliance Officer at access@bgsu.edu.

Access in the Workplace

The information below is intended to provide a beginning point for translating the University’s policy of nondiscrimination on the basis of disability into a common understanding of access for individuals with disabilities. Institutional mission, legal mandates, and a commitment to diversity provide the foundation for this document. It is representative of the University’s commitment to equal access and guides the development of policies and procedures. Questions and/or comments should be directed to the ADA/Section 504 Compliance Officer at access@bgsu.edu.

Rights and Responsibilities of Individuals with Disabilities
&
Rights and Responsibilities of The University

An individual with a disability has a right to an equal opportunity to participate in and benefit from employment, employee benefits, and employee privileges offered by Bowling Green State University.

Bowling Green State University recognizes its basic responsibility to identify and maintain the technical standards and essential functions that are fundamental to providing quality academic programs and services while ensuring the rights of individuals with disabilities.

• Individuals with Disabilities have the same obligation as any other employee to meet and maintain the institution’s employment, technical, and performance standards.
  
  The University has the right to identify and establish the abilities, skills, and knowledge necessary for successful performance, and to evaluate applicants and employees on this basis.
  
  
• Individuals with Disabilities have the right to an equal employment opportunity.   They have a right to reasonable modifications in aspects of their employment such as location, equipment or procedures that limit access, participation or ability to benefit.
  
  The University has the responsibility to ensure that its recruitment, application, and training information and activities are available in accessible formats and facilities.
  
  
• Individuals with Disabilities have the right to an equal opportunity to participate in and benefit from the Bowling Green State University community.   This includes access to services and benefits, when viewed in their entirety, that are comparable to those provided to any employee.
  
  The University has the responsibility to select and administer the methods used to evaluate applicants and employees so as to best ensure that the results accurately reflect skills, aptitude, performance, or competencies and do not discriminate against individuals with disabilities.   Methods designed to measure specific skills related to fundamental standards/essential job functions are allowable even when those skills are impacted by the disability
  
  
• Individuals with Disabilities have the responsibility to advocate for their own individual needs and to seek information, counsel, and assistance as necessary to be effective self-advocates.
  
  The University has the responsibility to ensure that all of its programs, viewed in their entirety, including but not limited to, employee privileges and benefits are accessible and usable.
  
  
• Individuals with Disabilities have the right to confidentiality of all information and have the right to choose to whom information about their disabilities will be disclosed.
  
  The University has the responsibility to adjust,   substitute, or waive any duties or requirements that unfairly discriminate against employees with disabilities that are not essential functions of the employee’s position.
  
  
• Individuals with Disabilities have the responsibility to demonstrate how their disabilities limit their ability to perform a particular job function when they make a request for modification.   In addition, the individual must provide documentation from an appropriate professional.
  
  The University has the responsibility to make reasonable modifications for an employee with a disability in the setting, equipment, and procedures associated with the position.
  
  
• Individuals with Disabilities have the right to information regarding the availability of auxiliary aids and possible modifications as well as procedures for making requests for either.
  The University has the right to request and receive documentation that supports requests for modifications.   The University has a right to deny a request if the documentation demonstrates that no modification is necessary or if the individual fails to provide such documentation.
  
  
• Individuals with Disabilities have the responsibility to follow published procedures for making such requests and to do so in a timely fashion.
  
  The University has the right to select among equally effective modifications.
  
  
• Individuals with Disabilities have the right to be informed of procedures for initiating an appeal of a decision by the institution regarding auxiliary aids or modifications.
  
  The University has the right to refuse an unreasonable modification or one that imposes an undue hardship on the University
  
  
• Individuals with Disabilities have the responsibility to follow published procedures for filing an appeal.
  
  The University has the responsibility to inform its applicants and employees about the availability of auxiliary aids and the range of possible modifications as well as the procedures for requesting them.   If a request for a modification is denied, Bowling Green State University has the responsibility to inform the individual of his or her right to appeal the decision and the procedures for initiating an appeal
  
  
• Individuals with Disabilities  have the right to be informed of procedures for initiating further appeal of an institutional decision through external channels.   This typically would be done through filing a complaint with the Office of Civil Rights or filing a case through the civil court system.

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