State Fair Employment Act (Wis. Stat. § 111.32): An individual with a disability:
UW–Madison will adhere to all applicable federal and state laws, regulations, and guidelines with respect to providing reasonable accommodations as required to afford equal employment opportunity to qualified individuals with disabilities. The university will provide reasonable accommodations to qualified individuals with disabilities who are employees or applicants for employment unless doing so would cause undue hardship to the employer. The purpose of such accommodation is to allow a faculty member with a disability to perform the essential functions of a job or to access benefits and privileges of employment and to allow an applicant to have an equal opportunity to compete for a job.
The procedure below describes how a reasonable accommodation can be requested by current or potential members of the faculty.
Divisional Disability Representative (DDR): Each dean/director has appointed a DDR to respond to disability-related employment matters in the workplace. DDRs are responsible for making decisions regarding requests for disability accommodation and medical leave.
Contact information for DDRs is available online.
Employee Disability Resources (EDR) Office: The EDR Office serves as the campus-wide hub for information on the disability accommodation process for employees and job applicants. It offers essential information, consultation, education, and referral services to employees, job applicants, DDRs, supervisors, and others at any point in the accommodation process to ensure compliance with federal/state laws and university policy and to help minimize barriers in the workplace.
Contact information:
Employee Disability Resources (EDR) Office, Division of Diversity, Equity and Educational Achievement
186 Bascom Hall
608-263-2407 or employee.disabilities@cdo.wisc.edu
employeedisabilities.wisc.edu
ADA Coordinator: The Chancellor has appointed the ADA Coordinator to be responsible for campus-wide compliance with the ADA. The ADA Coordinator reviews appeals of disability accommodation decisions.
Contact information:
Office of Compliance
361 Bascom Hall
265-4508, or ada_coordinator@wisc.edu
compliance.wisc.edu/ada/
Faculty members will be informed about their right to request reasonable accommodations: in the letter of appointment and/or in any employee orientations and at periodic oversight, promotion, or post-tenure reviews; by periodic public notice in Inside UW-Madison, the university’s electronic employee newsletter; when a survey is conducted that invites employees to self-identify as persons with disabilities.
Many accommodation requests are simple and straightforward and have little impact on department/division/school functioning. For example, a person with back pain may request a better chair for his/her computer work station, an individual with carpal tunnel syndrome may ask for a wrist rest for his/her computer, or a faculty member with a mild hearing loss might request a volume device for the telephone. Other requests may be more complex and have more impact on the functioning of the unit. For example, a faculty member who acquired a disability might request an extension of the tenure clock, or modifications to an office or laboratory.
A faculty member needs to inform the university that he or she needs an accommodation for reasons related to a disability or chronic medical condition.
The faculty member may make an accommodation request to his or her DDR at any time. If the faculty member makes a request for an accommodation to the departmental chair, dean, or director that person shall forward the request to the DDR. The reasonable accommodation process begins as soon as an oral or written request is made. The faculty member, department chair/director/dean, or DDR may consult with the Disability Coordinator/Employment in OED for guidance and assistance at any time during the process.
Divisional Disability Representative (DDR) for the school, college, or division where the applicant is applying to work will process accommodation requests from applicants. After a request is made, the DDR, applicant, and others as needed, will work to identify what accommodations may be effective. Information about the applicant’s need for accommodation and any confidential medical information will be shared with others only on a need-to-know basis in order to make a determination on the request. The applicant, DDR, chair, or hiring/search committee can contact the Disability Coordinator/Employment in the Office for Equity and Diversity at any time.
Applicants will be informed of this UW-Madison policy to provide reasonable accommodations in the Position Vacancy Listing, in the invitation for an interview, and in the letter of appointment. This notice will include information on how to contact the DDR and how to make the request.
An applicant may request an accommodation orally or in writing. Individuals must follow up an oral request by completing the Disability Accommodation Request form or by confirming their request in writing (including email) to the Divisional Disability Representative (DDR). Contact information for DDRs is available on the Office of Equity and Diversity (OED) website and at the Office for Equity and Diversity, 263-2378.
If the applicant makes an accommodation request to someone other than the DDR, that person should notify the DDR. The DDR will only share with the chair/director/dean or hiring/search committee information that they need to know in order for the accommodation to be implemented.
In some cases, the applicants may have made a simple request for accommodation that the hiring/search committee contact was able to fulfill. The hiring/search contact person should notify the DDR in these circumstances with information about the modification or accommodation made.
Financial responsibility for providing reasonable accommodations (other than most barrier removal requests) belongs to the employer, which is deemed to be the University. Departments should consult with the division, school, or college, which, in turn, will consult with the Provost and Vice Chancellor for Administration for funding.
Applicants do not have access to this process but may follow external complaint procedures (Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development, Equal Rights Division; federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission).
An employee who disagrees with a reasonable accommodation request decision may appeal the decision using the following procedure.
Nothing in this policy should be construed to impede or prohibit a timely filing of a discrimination complaint with the appropriate external government agency (Wisconsin Workforce Development, Equal Rights Division; federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission). This procedure also does not prohibit a timely filing of an internal discrimination complaint, with the UW-Madison Complaint Investigator, Office of the Provost.