Housing Accommodations
**THE SCHEDULED REVIEW PERIOD FOR HOUSING ACCOMMODATION REQUESTS FOR THE FALL 2019 SEMESTER HAS PASSED.
Spalding University is a residential college and the residential experience is understood to be an integral part of a Spalding education. Spalding is committed to the full participation of students with disabilities in all aspects of College life, including residential life.
Please be advised that requests for particular housing assignments based on a student’s preference, rather than need, for a particular type of living environment or location will not be honored. (e.g. A student with ADHD or a learning disability seeking a single room to serve as a quiet, undisturbed place to study represents a preference, but not a necessity.) Accordingly, single room accommodations are reserved for individuals whose documentation illustrates clear and substantial needs, and for whom a standard housing assignment with a roommate is not viable.
Students seeking a housing accommodation will need to submit the appropriate documentation to the Office of Accessibility Services (OAS).
Documentation must include:
Request for Accommodation Application – Students are to complete and submit this online form.
Disability Documentation Form for Housing Accommodation – To be completed by the student’s health care provider and returned directly to OAS.
Documentation of the disability – Please refer to our specific guidelines for proper documentation.
Please send all disability-related information directly to OAS rather than to Resident Life.
NOTE: The presentation of documentation and/or the recommendation of a care provider does not automatically guarantee disability status or specific accommodations.
HOUSING ACCOMMODATION REQUEST DEADLINES
THE SUBMISSION DEADLINES (3/17 for returning students and 7/1 for new students) FOR THE 2019-20 ACADEMIC YEAR HAS PASSED.
These deadlines were established to provide the University with sufficient time to review requests, communicate with care providers, and for consideration to be given to specific housing-related needs before the complex housing assignment processes for all Spalding students take place. For this reason, it is critical that requests and all supporting documentation is received by the posted submission deadlines.
If you have a need for a housing accommodation which arises for the first time after a deadline, contact OAS to make it known that you will be submitting a post-deadline request. The Housing Accommodation Committee will strive to determine and, for those deemed eligible, meet newly arising needs for housing accommodations as soon as reasonably possible given the limited availability of housing options following the assignment process. If accommodated housing is granted, but unavailable, the student will be placed on a priority waitlist until such housing becomes available.
If you wish to seek a housing accommodation request for subsequent academic years, we urge you to take note of the guidance, notification information, and deadlines posted in the Accommodation Request Procedures for College Housing
Single Room
Be cautioned that single rooms are rare on campus and reserved for disability impacts that are severe and significantly limiting. For students who have trouble concentrating and studying in their room, a single room is not typically warranted and OAS refers the student to an interactive list of quiet study spaces around campus.
Service and Emotional Support Animal
A Service Animal means any dog that is individually trained to do work or perform tasks for the benefit of a person with a disability, including a physical, sensory, psychiatric, intellectual, or other mental disability. The work or tasks performed by a service animal must be directly related to the person’s disability. Service Animals will be permitted to accompany people with disabilities in all areas of the universities facilities.
An Emotional Support Animal (ESA) is an animal that provides emotional or other support that ameliorates one or more identified symptoms or effects of a person’s disability. Unlike service animals, support animals are not required to be trained to perform work or tasks, and they include species other than dogs. According to the Fair Housing Act (FHA) a person with a documented disability is permitted to have an Emotional Support Animal in their individual dwelling when a professional health care provider has deemed it necessary for the individual’s emotional well-being.
For more information on the differences between a service and an emotional support animal, procedures for obtaining approval to use such animals, owner responsibilities, and Spalding’s Community expectations, please read carefully the Spalding University Service/ESA Policy.
For a better understanding of Service Animals and ESA’s, review the ADA National Network Service Animals Booklet.