124.00 AMERICANS WITH DISABILITY ACT GRIEVANCE PROCEDURE

It is the policy of Cowley College to comply with the provisions of the Americans with Disability Act, U.S.C.A.Sect ion 12101, et seq. (“ADA”). The ADA prohibits discrimination against qualified individuals with disability on the basis of their disability. The ADA provides, in part, that qualified individuals with disabilities shall not be excluded from participating in or be denied the benefits of any program, service or activity offered by the College.

The ADA requires that all programs, services and activities,when viewed in their entirety, are readily accessible to and usable by qualified individuals with disabilities. The College must communicate effectively with individuals with speech,visual and hearing impairments and provide auxiliary communication aids to qualified individuals with disabilities participating in or benefiting from the College programs, services or activities to afford equal opportunity.

The ADA requires employers to reasonably accommodate qualified individuals with disabilities. It is the policy of the College to comply with all Federal and state laws concerning the employment of persons with disabilities.

It is College policy not to discriminate against qualified individuals with disabilities in regard to application procedures, hiring, advancement, discharge, compensation, training, or other terms, conditions, of employment.

Should you wish to review the ADA or its interpretive regulations, ask questions about your rights and remedies under the ADA, request a reasonable modification or accommodation to the College policies, practices or procedures, or file a written grievance alleging noncompliance with ADA, please contact the Dean of Student Life for student issues, and the Director of Human Resources for employee issues.

ADA GRIEVANCE PROCEDURE

Cowley County Community College hereby adopts the following grievance procedure, in accordance with Executive Order 92-154.

All College departments will adopt an internal grievance procedure providing for prompt and equitable resolution of grievances alleging any action prohibited by the U.S. Department of Justice regulations implementing Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act. Title II states, in part, that “no otherwise qualified disabled individual shall, solely by reason of such disability, be excluded from the participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination” in programs or activities sponsored by a public entity.

Any person who feels they have been discriminated against on the basis of a disability by the college in any of the above-quoted activities may file a grievance.

Whenever an individual files a complaint with the College pertaining to an action prohibited under the ADA, the College shall decline jurisdiction of the ADA matter and refer it to the Dean of Student Life or the Human Resource Director for handling pursuant to this grievance procedure.

The following guidelines apply:

1. A grievance should be filed in writing or verbally to be transcribed, contain the name and address of the person filing it, and briefly describe the alleged ADA violation.
2. A grievance should be filed within 45 days after the complainant becomes aware of the alleged violation. (Processing of allegations of discrimination which occurred before this grievance procedure was in place will be considered on a case-by-case basis.)
3. The Dean of Student Life or the Human Resource Director shall refer the grievance to a designee, who normally will be the ADA contact person for the College.
4. The Dean of Student Life’s or the Human Resource Director’s designees may informally resolve the grievance or investigate the grievance as the designee determines appropriate. These rules contemplate information but thorough investigations, affording all interested persons an opportunity to submit evidence relevant to a grievance.
5. A written determination as to the validity of the grievance and a description of the resolution, if any, shall be issued by the designee and a copy forwarded to the complainant and the Board no later than 60 days after it’s filing. A copy of the written determination and resolution, if any, shall also be forwarded to the Dean of Student Life or the Human Resource Director. When the designee to whom a grievance is referred is the ADA contact person for the College, the ADA contact person shall be subject to any internal agency approval processes established by such contact person’s agency head.
6. The Dean of Student Life or the Human Resource Director shall maintain a file of all complaints, determinations and resolutions of the College relating to the grievances filed.
7. The Dean of Student Life or the Human Resource Director, upon their own initiative, may reconsider the grievance decision or either party to the grievance can request a reconsideration of the case in instances where a party is dissatisfied with the resolution. The request for reconsideration should be made within 30 days of receipt of the written determination to the Dean of Student Life or the Human Resource Director.
8. The right of a person to a prompt and equitable resolution of the grievance filed hereunder shall not be impaired by the person’s pursuit of the other remedies such as the filing an ADA grievance with the responsible federal department or agency or the Kansas Human Rights Commission. Use of this grievance procedure is not a prerequisite to the pursuit of other remedies provided by the ADA or the Kansas Act Against
9. Discrimination. However, as noted above, this grievance procedure shall be used in lieu of any other complaint or agency administrative process provided by the College other than the Kansas Human Rights Commission.
10. These rules shall be construed to protect the substantive rights of interested persons to meet appropriate due process standards and to assure that the College complies with the ADA and implementing regulations.

Adopted July 19, 1993
Revised October 20, 2003