Princeton and U.S. Reach Agreement on Disabilities

The U.S. Justice Department on Monday announced an agreement with Princeton University under which the institution agreed to revise or explain in new ways some policies with regard to students with disabilities. The agreement resolved issues raised in a compliance review conducted by the department. Princeton agreed to:

• Revise policies to "explicitly describe the types of accommodations students with disabilities may request, including modifications to university policies, rules and regulations; where students may submit each type of accommodation request."
• Revise websites to help students find relevant policies.
• Revise its leave policy and practices.
• Provide annual training, "with a focus on mental health disability discrimination, to all faculty and staff responsible for evaluating and/or deciding requests from students for reasonable accommodations."

A statement from the university said, "DOJ did not make any findings of noncompliance, but asked Princeton to update its policy language to better explain university procedures and options available to students with disabilities, which Princeton has agreed to do."