Americans With Disabilities Act

Introduction

Individuals with disabilities are a part of our lives.  The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA) is designed to provide equal opportunity to individuals with disability without discrimination.  Doña Ana Community College is committed to providing students, faculty, staff and employee applicants with disabilities an equal opportunity to work and learn.  An individual with a disability decides if he/she chooses to disclose his/her disability; no one may ask another person if that person has a disability.  Note the phrasing prompted by the ADA: individuals with disabilities.  The emphasis is on the individual first.

Requirements

The "Administrative Policies and Procedures Manual" of NMSU prohibits discrimination on the basis of disability.  Reasonable accommodations to access facilities, programs, events, services and employment are provided, upon request, to qualified students, faculty, staff and employee applicants with disabilities.  Who is a person with a disability?  * A person who has a physical or mental impairment (long lasting or permanent) that substantially limits (when compared to other people) one or more major life activities such as learning or working, or * has a record of such an impairment, or * is regarded as having such an impairment.

General information on ADA is available from the Doña Ana Community College ADA Coordinator who has the responsibility for coordinating Doña Ana Community College ADA compliance activities.  The DACC ADA Coordinator is located in Room 117A, and can be reached by calling (575) 527-7545 (Voice), (575) 527-7647 (TDD), (575) 527-7515 (FAX).  General information and information on informal and formal ADA-related discrimination grievance procedures is available from the NMSU Institutional Equity Office.  The Director of Institutional Equity can be reached at the O’Loughlin House, voice: (575) 646-3635, fax: (575) 646-2182.

Students with Disabilities

A description of DACC's procedures for providing services to students with disabilities is located in the DACC catalog and the Student Services section of the Student Handbook.  Qualified students must request services to have them provided.  Documentation should first be provided by submitting the "Petition for Services for Students with Disabilities" form which is available from the Services for Students with Disabilities (SSD) office, Room 117, DACC, or call 527-7548 (Voice), 527-7647 (TDD).  Services for Students with Disabilities has prepared a "Faculty Guide" describing different kinds of disabilities, methods of providing reasonable accommodations to students in the classroom, and a list of resources.

Employees with Disabilities

NMSU's Policy Manual describes policies for employees with disabilities.  A copy of the manual is located in the DACC Library.  It is the employee's responsibility to initiate and complete a "Petition for Accommodation" form which is available from the NMSU Office of Institutional Equity, voice: (575) 646-3635.  Doña Ana Community College will then provide appropriate, reasonable accommodation upon request by a qualified employee with disabilities.  Transfer and/or job restructuring may be considered on review of the request for accommodation at the NMSU Office of Institutional Equity.  The Human Resources Office is responsible for administering the university’s nondiscrimination grievance policies and procedures and provides assistance with determining essential job functions and appropriateness of transfer or job restructuring.  The Human Resources Office is located in Room 17, Hadley Hall, voice: (575) 646-2109.  .

Structural and/or Architectural Accessibility

The University Architect's office can provide guidance on specific questions about removing or precluding structural or architectural barriers.  The architects' two volume "ADA Self-Evaluation", a detailed summary of NMSU's and DACC's survey, is on reserve at the New Library reference desk.  The Architect's Office and the Physical Plant Department, 646-2101, welcome any additional suggestions.  The "Main Campus Accessibility Map", prepared by the Architect's Office, is available from SSD, Personnel, and DACC ADA Coordinator's and main campus NMSU Institutional Equity Director's offices.

Program and Service Accessibility

Doña Ana Community College programs include academic and social activities.  Services include admissions, registration, federal grant projects and financial aid, library, bookstore, parking, eating places and more.  Questions and comments about accessibility can be addressed directly to the program or service provider or to the DACC ADA Coordinator at 527-7548.

Summary

The purpose of the ADA is to open society to individuals with disabilities and promote access to the economic mainstream of the United States.  A goal is to empower individuals with disabilities to become effective students, employees, employers and citizens and provide opportunities to develop independence from financial or other subsidy programs to the greatest extent possible.  It means availing ourselves, as a society, of the talents, skills, creativity, and productiveness of a large population of willing participants.  As we work and learn together, surface differences of disabilities diminish and knowledge of the person becomes the focus of interaction.