Accommodations are available for persons with disabilities who are guests of the College and/or at events that are open to the public.

If a guest needs an accommodation to attend an event, they will contact the department sponsoring the event and the sponsoring department is responsible to help them arrange the accommodation that is needed. The Accessibility Committee [through Conference Operations 269-3235] can consult and brainstorm with departments to make needed accommodations.

When hosting a College event, workshop, public presentation or departmental meeting that is open to the public and a participant or employee is requesting accommodations:

Grinnell College provides equal opportunities and reasonable accommodations for individuals with disabilities to enable full participation in and enjoyment of the available benefits, services, programs and activities. The Accessibility Committee will assist departments in providing accommodations for program participants. As a department, to ensure equal participation for individuals with disabilities please complete the following steps:

Step 1:

Registration materials and program announcements, which include bulletins, flyers, brochures, letters, public service announcements, or other materials used to inform the public of the event or program must include the appropriate accessibility statement(s): If you need a special accommodation to fully participate in this program/event, please contact (sponsoring Department name and phone number). Please allow sufficient time to arrange the accommodation.

In addition, you may choose to pro-actively announce certain accommodations that are available before inviting people to make their request, for example, "There will be real-time captioning for the hearing impaired at the presentation. If you need any other kind of accommodation ..."

Step 2:

Designate a contact person within your department to answer questions or accept accommodation requests for your event. Place that contact number on all materials concerning your event.

Step 3:

When you receive a request for an accommodation please consult the list below for assistance in fulfilling that accommodation. Examples of typical kinds of requests are: location of handicapped parking places or closer parking for mobility limitations, location of the accessible entrance, wheelchair seating availability, sign language interpreters, real-time captioning, or text in alternative format. For many of these accommodations, requests must be submitted at least 5 business days prior to the event so please be thoughtful of this both when asking for an accommodation but also when working with the person making the request. If the request is not submitted in enough time to provide the accommodation, you must let the requestor know that the College is unable to guarantee that the accommodation can be made.

Resources Available

  • Location of the accessible entrance -
  • Wheelchair seating availability
    • Call Conference Operations and Events for locations in each space , x3235
  • Wheelchairs - The College does not own any wheelchairs.
    • Wheelchairs can be borrowed free of charge (if available) from the Light Center at the Grinnell Regional Medical Center - 236-2385.
    • Iowa Home Health Care - 211 West St, 236-0202
    • Wheelchairs can also be rented from Hammer Medical in Newton (they deliver and pick-up) - 641-792-9339
  • Closer parking for mobility limitations
  • Listen Technology Hearing Devices
    • available in the Joe Rosenfield Center, Room 101, Herrick Chapel, Fieldhouse and Darby Gymnasium by request.
    • Contact Conference Operations and Events, x3235, to set this up. Need at least 3 days set-up time to prepare equipment.
  • Sign language interpreters
    • Contact Deaf Services Unlimited, 515-243-4455.
    • Need at least 2 weeks lead time to set this up.
    • There is a cost for this service.
    • Contact Conference Operations and Events to set-up stand for interpreter
  • Real-time captioning
    • Contact Karen McRitchie in ITS, x4531 to coordinate captioner
    • Need at least one week to set this up
    • There is a cost for this service
    • Contact Conference Operations and Events to set-up equipment for captioner
  • Text in alternative format
    • Large print programs, etc - can be arranged through Communications, x3404. Need at least two weeks to set this up.
  • Service dogs are allowed at all campus events and locations
  • Golf Carts
    • The College rents Golf Carts for special occasions from Wade's Golf & Mow in Williamsburg.
    • Each Department is responsible for rental fee of golf carts.
    • Contact information for Wade's Golf & Mow is: 319-330-3731
    • Golf Carts should be delivered to security and left in the security parking area over night. Please alert security if you are renting golf carts.
    • Please request gasoline carts not electric as we have no location to store or charge electric carts.