The Accessibility & Accommodations Division facilitates the reasonable accommodations process for university employees (including student employees) and job applicants, on the basis of disability and other categories:
Disability / Medical Condition
A disability is a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities. This term includes a wide range of medical conditions that an individual may or may not personally regard as a “disability”, but are still covered under our policy.
Some examples include: deafness or hard of hearing, blind or low vision, intellectual disability, mobility impairments, chronic medical conditions, diabetes, immunocompromised conditions, cancer, diabetes, epilepsy, Autism, ADHD, and other neurodiverse, cognitive, or mental health conditions.
Individuals requesting disability accommodations will usually be asked to provide medical documentation to support their request, unless the nature of the disability is obvious. If you do not include medical documentation when you submit the request form, a member of our staff will reach out to you to discuss any documentation needs.
Pregnancy, Childbirth, Lactation, and Related Conditions
Employees and applicants may request reasonable accommodations on the basis of pregnancy, childbirth, and related medical conditions, including lactation.
In the majority of cases, medical documentation is not required.
For more information please see our Pregnancy Resources page.
Religious Accommodations
Employees and applicants may request reasonable accommodations on the basis of religious beliefs, observances, or practices.
The individual must affirm that their request is based on a sincerely-held belief, and provide information about the practical aspects of the request, such as the hours or days when the individual will need to be absent from work or other modifications in the work environment.
For more information please see Religious Accommodations.
Victims of Violence
Under the Victims’ Economic Security and Safety Act, employees who are victims of domestic violence, sexual violence, gender violence, or any other crime of violence, and employees who have a family or household member who is a victim of such violence, are entitled to reasonable accommodations.
Accommodations include, but are not limited to, an adjustment to the job structure,
workplace facility, work requirements, or telephone number, seating assignment, or physical security of the work area.
For more information, please contact our office at accessibility@illinois.edu or (217) 333-0885 option #1.
Parking Accommodations
Employees may request parking accommodations based on a disability/medical condition or other covered basis such as pregnancy, childbirth, or related conditions. Parking accommodations may be requested using the same form above, and may be added onto another accommodation request.
Our office coordinates with the Parking Department to process of parking space requests and identify a parking space that meets the location and other necessary criteria. Parking spaces may still be subject to the University’s standard parking fee structure.
For more information, please contact our office at accessibility@illinois.edu or (217) 333-0885 option #1.
Who do we serve?
OAE facilitates accommodations for all University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign employees including:
- Faculty (including tenure-stream and specialized faculty)
- Academic Professionals
- Civil Service
- Residents
- Extra Help
- Postdocs
- Student employees, including undergraduate and graduate students, in the context of their employment position.
- Individuals seeking employment with the university seeking accommodations to apply for a job or participate in the hiring process.
For information about student academic accommodations and other types of accommodations not handled by our office, please see the Request an Accommodation page.
What is a reasonable accommodation?
A reasonable accommodation…
- is a modification or adjustment to a job-related activity, an employment practice or the work environment.
- enables an individual to perform the essential functions of their position, access the privileges and benefits of employment, or apply or interview for a job.
- may be for a fixed time period or for indefinite duration.
- may be adjusted over time as the needs of the employee or the unit change.
- must not create an undue hardship for the employing unit.
If you have previously requested an accommodation through our office (since 2020), please log into our database using your NetID and password in order to start a new/supplemental accommodation request.
Our services are provided pursuant to the university’s Reasonable Accommodations Policy. Please see our Procedures and Forms page for more information about our process. If you have questions, please reach out to us at accessibility@illinois.edu or (217) 333-0885 option #1.