Compliance With Section 503 of

the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 at

Yale University
Jessica Turpin
Post University

Federal and state compliance in higher education or any field is often an important and deciding factor in a large amount
of funding. Whether or not compliance has been met could be the difference between a program continuing or coming to
an end and in the end it is likely the students who will suffer the loss as well as any staff that may lose their jobs. When
the organization is found to be compliant with the rules mandated at the federal or state level there is a better chance that
funding will continue and resources will be available. The area of compliance that will be the focus of this presentation
is Section 503 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973.

According to the U.S. Department of Labor (2013), the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 requires federal contractors and
subcontractors to actively seek out and employ Veterans and people with disabilities. It also sets out different
specifications that should be followed in the effort to meet the goal of having 7% of each job group staffed by people
with disabilities or veterans. This includes exceptions for reasonable accommodations like ergonomic keyboards or
desktops or interpreters for hearing impaired individuals.

Yale University is among the organizations that is expected to uphold the Section 503 regulations for compliance due to its
business with the federal government in the form of departmental funding, student loans, and grants. Founded in 1701 in
Saybrook, Connecticut, The University employs nearly 14, 000 faculty and staff combined (Yale,2016).

According to the number of current faculty and staff, the goal according to Section 503 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 for
people with disabilities and veterans employed by the university would be 1,120 employees. While no documentation of
actual number of veterans and people with disabilities employed by the University was to be found there is evidence of a
plan in place to comply with the regulations. Compliance efforts are carried out by the Office for Equal Opportunity
Programs.

The Office for Equal Opportunity Programs at Yale University is responsible for ensuring
compliance with affirmative action policy and laws including Section 503 (Yale University,
2016). Director Valerie Stanley works interdepartmentally in effort to increase the diversity of
the University. The office has an Employment Accommodations Program that helps to
coordinate any needed reasonable accommodation.

Having personally been through the application process for Yale University staff one recommendation would be to
make the application process more user friendly to people with disabilities. The process is completed online and
requires the applicant to be both literate and computer savvy regardless of the position they are looking for. That
means that the Janitor will go through the same application process as a professor.

One way to make the application accessible to people of all abilities would be to offer assistance at the university to
complete the application process. They could also add a read out loud button for visually impaired individuals or those
who lack literacy skills. They could use their students as volunteers to run such a program or open a workshop that
includes computers already fitted with the software that accommodates various disabilities.

Section 503 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 requires and contractor or subcontractor of the federal government to focus
effort on hiring veterans and people with disabilities. Yale University is among those organizations required to comply
with this regulation. One way in which Yale University aims to comply is through the Office for Equal Opportunity
Programs that oversees compliance with all policies and laws regarding compliance with the Rehabilitation Act of 1973
and other laws regarding diversity and Veterans and disability rights.

References
U.S. Department of Labor (2013) News release, US Labor Department announces final rules to improve
employment of veterans, people with disabilities. Retrieved from
https
://www.dol.gov/newsroom/releases/ofccp/ofccp20131578
Yale (2016) Yale by the numbers, fall 2015 enrollment. Retrieved from http://www.yale.edu/about-yale/yalefacts
Yale University (2016) Office for equal opportunity programs. Retrieved from http://equalopportunity.yale.edu/