Animals in Campus-Based Housing – On-Demand Training

Assess Current Policies & Process Requests With Confidence

College and University housing offices are likely making room for not only residential students, but a wide-variety of animals on campus due to the increase in requests for service and emotional support animals as accommodations under the ADA. It can be easy for administrators (and residents, alike!) to become confused and overwhelmed by the amount of requests for “animals on our campuses.” Additionally, different regulations govern the presence of service animals on campuses versus the presence of emotional support animals in our residential facilities, and without a clear plan to process accommodation requests, it is easy to feel as if you are managing and maintaining a campus farm with all of the animals today!

Prepare Now:

Join this online training to understand what is and what is not required in processing animal-related housing accommodation request. Our expert presenter offers practical insight into the requirements surrounding these accommodation requests, including some of the misunderstood and overlooked aspects of the ESA accommodation process. You’ll explore the necessary processes and key considerations for successful policies related to animals in housing, with the goal of balancing the protection of the institution and supporting the access and inclusion needs of students with disabilities.

Take Action:

Gain crucial, actionable takeaways that will help you: 

• Gain confidence to accurately assess your current policies and procedures to help you meet the needs of your students with disabilities – make sure you are prepared to remedy any potential issues with ESAs before a conflict arises.
• Differentiate between service animals, emotional support animals, therapy animals and personal pets and how these are related to access to campus housing – understand how/when you can exclude an animal from college housing so you can make difficult decisions confidently.
• Strengthen key partnerships on campus to make the student + animal experience a positive one and to reduce disability-related complaints – establish a strong relationship between the student disability office and housing and residential life offices to ensure both the safety of residents and the approved animals, as well.
• Enhance and review interactive reasonable accommodation-related processes for animals in campus housing – develop a check-list for student intake interviews for animal-related accommodation requests.
• Sift through and comprehend the different regulations that pertain to animals on campus and in campus-based housing (ADA, FHA, HUD guidance, etc.). 

Presenter

Leigh Fickling is the Director of the Disability Resource Center at the University of North Carolina at Wilmington.
Click here for full bio.