Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)

On July 26, 1990, the American's with Disabilities Act (ADA) was signed into law.  The ADA guarantees individuals with disabilities access to employment, public accommodations, transportation, public services, and telecommunications.  The ADA also mandates the removal of structural barriers to individuals with disabilities in most new construction and renovations of existing buildings.

The ADA prohibits discrimination against any individual who has, used to have, or is perceived as having a physical or mental disability that substantially limits one or more of their major life activities.

In the area of employment there is an affirmative duty to provide reasonable accommodations to otherwise qualified individuals so that they can perform the essential functions of a job, unless the accommodation would create an undue hardship on the employer.

Accommodations may need to include: modifying facilities to make them accessible; restructuring jobs and/or schedules; eliminating nonessential job duties; reassigning individuals to vacant positions; modifying equipment and training materials; providing qualified aids such as interpreters, readers, or other adaptive aids such as tape recorders.

The ADA also requires that all services, programs and activities be provided in the most integrated setting appropriate to the needs of qualified individuals with disabilities.

The effects of how we deal with students with disabilities are far reaching.  Once a student with a disability has been admitted to the University, the institution may have to develop certain alternate procedures or requirements to assure that the student can make use of the opportunity to obtain a college education, such as allowing a visually impaired student to take an oral test rather than a written test, or taking a music appreciation course rather than an art appreciation course.  A student with a disability may not be denied the use of special aids in the classroom, such as tape recorders, note takers or adaptive equipment.  Such aids must also be made available in other areas of the academic program, including the library.

This does not mean, however, that the University is expected to change the fundamental nature or essential curricular components in order to accommodate the needs of a student with a disability.

Any program under which the University hires students, such as work-study or campus employment, must be administered so that no student is denied employment solely on the basis of having a disability.

In order to help ensure compliance with this far reaching piece of legislation, Lock Haven University has assigned responsibilities to the following employees:

Name	Handles	Location	Phone
Heather Fowler Interim Director of Disability Services for Students	Coordinator of Services for Students with Disabilities	Room 104, Russell Hall	(570) 484-2926
Keith Roush  Director of Facilities Management & Planning	Accessibility Concerns, Structural Accessibility Concerns &  Architectural Barriers Accessibility Concerns	Room 113, Facilities Building	(570) 484-2017
Albert Jones Associate Director of Human Resources	Employment Concerns	Room J202, East Campus	(570) 484-2838
Rodney Jenkins Director of Marketing and Communications	Public Information Concerning University ADA Activities	Room 303, Sullivan Hall	(570) 484-2253
William Curley Interim Dean of LHU Clearfield Campus	Clearfield Campus Accessibility & Employment	132 Founders Hall Clearfield	(814) 768-3433

These employees are responsible for providing information and/or assistance to anyone with concerns about the Americans with Disabilities Act.  

In addition, an Accessibility Committee for Individuals with Disabilities comprised of faculty, staff and students assists in our ongoing efforts to plan for a campus that improves accessibility. Anyone is welcome to discuss accessibility concerns with members of this committee. A list of committee members for the current year may be obtained from any of the above named individuals.

Internal complaint procedures designed to resolve problems associated with the ADA and its implementation have been developed. Copies of the procedure may be obtained from the above named individuals, deans and department chairs.

Last Updated 04/09/2013