The ADA bans disability-based discrimination by state and local governments and by public accommodations.

Mike Hudson, director of MSU’s Resource Center for Persons with Disabilities, said MSU won’t need to worry if the new rules are passed, mainly because they mostly exceed what is required right now.

Among some of the larger provisions, new rules would extend accessibility for those with disabilities by requiring things such as lowering the height of light switches and making large sports stadiums, like Spartan Stadium and Breslin Center, provide written safety and emergency information on scoreboards. There is also a proposed change in the seating requirement for large stadiums, a problem that the University of Michigan ran into last year.

The Department of Justice posted the new proposals in the U.S. Office of the Federal Register and is excepting feedback online until Aug. 16.

Amanda Bell, a recent MSU graduate, said the update has been long overdue.

“The biggest thing with the ADA was it was written for people with manual wheelchairs,” said Bell, who uses an electric wheelchair. “Now, 90 percent of people use electric wheelchairs and it’s hard to get into some bathrooms. But they can say it’s accessible under the ADA. Disabilities have changed over the last almost 20 years.”

But, accessibility at MSU was never a problem, Bell said.

“It’s wonderful. It’s the best university in the state,” said Bell, who now attends graduate school at Eastern Michigan University. “A lot of times it was above and beyond what is required by law. It was never a question of if they could do something, but when they could.”

The new rules also would regulate the use of service animals, highlighting that a service animal must be a dog or other common domestic animal trained to perform tasks for its owner.

“I haven’t run into people needing to use horses, or anything like that,” Hudson said. He said all service animals must be approved before they are allowed on campus.

Brooke Ketchum, an animal science and kinesiology senior, who has been in a wheelchair since she was five, said MSU is very accommodating to students with disabilities.

“If you fill out on your application that you have a disability when you first get accepted, they tell you to contact RCPD,” Ketchum said.

The resource center helped her get snow removed in the winter and, in one case, got a class in Morrill Hall moved to a more accessible building, she said.

“It all depends on where you go, but I’ve never really run into any problems,” Ketchum said.

MSU can meet the standards whether the rules stay as they are or they change, Hudson said.

“I think what is important for people with disabilities is for them to review the proposals and give feedback,” he said.