529 Lafayette Street
The Housing Office is happy to work with the Office of Accessible Education (OAE) to support students with disability-related housing accommodation needs. As OAE shares on their website, “the goal is to support the college student with a disability to participate fully in campus life, its programs, and activities.” With this goal in mind, Housing works towards meeting the approved accommodation needs of students who have registered with OAE.
Students may register with OAE at any time during the academic year or summer. Please keep the following dates and information in mind as you prepare for the 2024-2025 academic year:
- We strongly recommend you register with OAE as soon as possible and no later than January, 2024, to allow enough time for the full review process.
- You may register and go through the full review process at a later date, but this may limit the spaces we may be able to offer that would meet your approved accommodation.
- Incoming First-Year students will be placed in an RLC which is in a building that meets their approved housing accommodation.
- Rising sophomores, juniors, and seniors who receive an approved housing accommodation will be placed manually, and will not need to go through Room Selection.
- Please keep in mind that an approved housing accommodation applies to the individual student. If a student is part of a group, their approved housing accommodation will not extend to the group members, and the student would need to go through room selection. This applies to sophomores, juniors, and seniors.
- Students who have an Emotional Support Animal (ESA) or Service Animal (SA) will need to register with OAE and be approved before they can bring the ESA or SA to campus. Make sure to register as soon as possible.
Animals in student housing: Resident students are not allowed to have pets, except for fish in a five-gallon tank or smaller. Students and guests are not to bring any unapproved animals inside University-operated student housing at any time. At times, university-sponsored programming may occur within University student housing where animals are present, including animals that have been approved to reside in student housing. University staff will provide advanced notice, use reasonable discretion when allowing animals in common areas, and provide a means of requesting accommodation, as needed.
Resident students are allowed to have a service or emotional support animal that would enable the resident to have an equal opportunity to access on-campus living, based on a documented medical need. Signage will be placed outside of all assigned spaces where an animal is present, with the exception of fish. Roommates of students with a service animal or emotional support animal may require relocation to a comparable space based on allergies, impactful fears, or other medical conditions. All animals in student housing must be conducive to a communal living environment. Residents must be responsive to complaints by residents or University personnel when animals constitute a nuisance to others. Residents must register all animals in Student Housing with the Housing Office and agree to provide proof of a clean bill of health, meet behavioral expectations, and meet handler responsibilities. Residents are responsible for the general care of the animal and must remove them from Student Housing during any prolonged absence.
Emotional Support Animals
Emotional Support Animals, as defined by the Fair Housing Act, are approved on an individualized, case-by-case basis and require relevant documentation that supports said need. All requests for an ESA must go through the Office of Accessible Education registration process. An emotional support animal (ESA) is defined as a typical domesticated household pet that provides emotional support to alleviate or lessen the effects of a disability within Student Housing. ESAs must be recommended by a licensed healthcare professional with whom the student has an established therapeutic relationship. ESAs are not an academic accommodation and must be kept within the assigned Housing space at all times, and caged or kenneled when the student is not present. ESAs are not permitted in common areas of Student Housing or other rooms not assigned to the student, except to enter and exit the building.
Service Animals
Service Animals, as defined by the Americans with Disabilities Act, are welcome in the residence hall, but must be registered with the Housing Office prior to occupancy. A service animal is defined as a dog that is required because of a disability and has been trained to perform specific work or tasks. These animals accompany the resident at all times and are permitted in any area that the student accesses. Service animals must be under the control of their handler at all times while outside of the assigned space. Service animals must be harnessed, leashed, or tethered, unless the resident’s disability prevents using these devices or these devices interfere with the service animals safe, effective performance of tasks. The owner must use signals to effectively instruct the service animal. Service Animals in training are not included in ADA guidance and are therefore not permitted in Student Housing for this purpose.