The Massachusetts Institute of Technology is committed to providing equal opportunity to students with disabilities to allow full participation in all services and programs. As required under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) of 1990 and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, the following are the responsibilities of the Disability Services staff, faculty, and students in making a reasonable effort to provide appropriate accommodations for students with disabilities at MIT.
The Disability Services staff is responsible for ensuring that MIT meets its obligation to provide access to individuals with disabilities. The Disability Services staff works with faculty, students, staff, programs and departments to develop and implement MIT's compliance strategies and plans. The Disability Services staff monitors and mediates conflicts concerning the direct delivery of services to students. The Disability Services staff is responsible for working with faculty, staff, students, programs and other departments at MIT, as well as external resources and services, to provide direct delivery of aids, services and academic adjustments to students with disabilities. The Disability Services staff reviews student documentation, determines appropriate accommodations, and works with faculty regarding the provision of accommodations to students.
The faculty are responsible for working with Disability Services to ensure students are provided "meaningful access." Primarily, this involves working with the student and Disability Services to assure the provision of reasonable accommodations. Faculty play an important role by helping to determine whether requests compromise classroom academic standards and assisting in implementing reasonable accommodation requests. Faculty members should direct all questions/concerns regarding accommodations for students with disabilities to Disability Services.
Students with disabilities are responsible for providing to the Disability Services staff documentation that identifies their specific disability, describes their functional limitations, and lists the requested accommodations.
The documentation and accommodation request must be provided in a timely manner so Disability Services has reasonable time to review the request and coordinate accommodations. Students are responsible for following the Institute's procedures for requesting and receiving accommodations, academic adjustments, and auxiliary aids and services.