Frequently Asked Questions and Resources

Michigan Technological University supports the rights of all persons, including those with disabilities. If you have a question about equal opportunity for persons with disabilities, including requests for reasonable accommodation, please contact Equal Opportunity Compliance and Title IX.

The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) gives civil rights protection to individuals with disabilities. It guarantees equal opportunity for individuals with disabilities in public accommodations, employment, transportation and government services.

If you are a qualified person with a disability, the ADA protects you from discrimination and requires employers to make reasonable accommodations for employees.

A qualified employee or applicant with a disability is an individual who, with or without reasonable accommodation, can perform the essential functions of the job in question.

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

Temporary, non-chronic impairments that do not last for a long time and that have little or no long-term impact usually are not disabilities. The determination of whether impairment is a disability is made on a case-by-case basis.

Examples of major life activities listed in the ADA regulations include, but are not limited to, caring for oneself, performing manual tasks, walking, seeing, hearing, speaking, breathing, learning, working, sitting, standing, lifting, and mental and emotional processes such as thinking, concentrating, and interacting with others.

A major life activity also includes the operation of a major bodily function, included but not limited to, functions of the immune system, normal cell growth, digestive, bowel, bladder, neurological, respiratory, circulatory, endocrine, and reproductive functions.

A reasonable accommodation is any change or adjustment in the workplace that permits a qualified person with a disability apply for a job, perform the essential functions of a job, or enjoy the benefits and privileges of employment. An employer is required to make a reasonable accommodation to the known disability of a qualified applicant or employee if it would not impose an “undue hardship” on the operation of the employer’s business.

Individuals with disabilities may be accompanied by working service dogs on the campus of Michigan Technological University. A service dog is a dog that has been individually trained to perform work or tasks to assist a person with a disability. An individual with a service dog may access all public facilities, with the exception of areas where service animals are specifically prohibited due to safety or health restrictions, where the service animal may be in danger, or where the service animal’s use may compromise the integrity of research.

To learn more, please visit Michigan Tech's Service Animal Procedures and the Service Animal Resource Hub from the ADA National Network.

If you are on campus and would like temporary, short-term use of a wheelchair, please contact Equal Opportunity Compliance and Title IX at 906-487-3310 for assistance.

If you are a student in need of more information on disabilities or academic accommodations at Michigan Technological University, contact the Coordinator for Student Disability Services at 906-487-1494 or email: cmoslund@mtu.edu.

If you are an employee or visitor in need of more information on disabilities or a reasonable accommodation, contact the ADA Coordinator at 906-487-3310 or email adacoordinator@mtu.edu

If an employee discloses a disability or health condition and requests accommodations or assistance, or the employee mentions that they are not able to meet job requirements because of a disability or health condition, a supervisor should refer the employee to the ADA Coordinator (adacoordinator@mtu.edu) in Equal Opportunity Compliance and Title IX to begin the interactive process to determine reasonable accommodations.

If you believe you have been denied the benefits of any University service, program or activity due to your disability, you may contact the ADA/504 Coordinator in Equal Opportunity Compliance and Title IX by phone at 906-487-3310, by email at eocompliance@mtu.edu,  or in person at 308 Administration Building. View Grievance Procedures.

What do you say when you are approached by other employees about the accommodation provided? One employee's reasonable accommodation looks like "special treatment" to other workers.  How do you maintain morale without violating the confidentiality provisions of the ADA? 

It is imperative that managers be trained about how to respond to such questions because it is reasonable to assume they may be asked questions by an employee's co-workers where the accommodation involves modification of a work schedule or dress code, or any other change in the workplace that a co-worker may perceive as holding the employee with a disability to a different performance or conduct standard. Employers already keep many types of information confidential despite inquiries from the workers, such as personnel decisions like the reason an employee left a job or was transferred. This situation should be treated in a similar fashion. An employer could respond that she does not discuss one employee's situation with in another in order to protect the privacy of all employees, but she could assure the co-worker that the employee is meeting the employer's work requirements. Also, the employer could explain that she is acting for legitimate business reasons or in compliance with federal law.

Yes. The ADA prohibits not only retaliation for protected EEO activity, but also interference with an individual's exercise of ADA rights. Under the ADA, employers may not coerce, intimidate, threaten, or otherwise interfere with the exercise of ADA rights by job applicants or current or former employees. For instance, it is unlawful for an employer to use threats to discourage someone from asking for a reasonable accommodation. It is also unlawful for an employer to pressure an employee not to file a disability discrimination complaint. The ADA also prohibits employers from interfering with employees helping others to exercise their ADA rights. The employer's actions may still violate the ADA's interference provision even if an employer does not actually carry out a threat, and even if the employee is not deterred from exercising ADA rights.