Tuesday, May 20, 2025
2:00 – 3:30 pm ET

Practical Rules & Application Policies for Reasonable Accommodations Outside of Housing

Universities, by now, are well versed on the ADA laws pertaining to service animals, however there is still confusion and lack of guidance surrounding Emotional Support Animals (ESAs) or other types of assistance, therapy or comfort animals outside of housing. The Department of Education Office of Civil Rights (OCR) has recent settlements regarding ESAs classifying these as “reasonable accommodation” issues but there has been little to no guidance - magnifying the confusion for colleges administrators.

Understanding and complying with federal laws and regulations is no longer just the responsibility of legal counsel. Every area of campus plays a role in ensuring an institution is compliant with federal and state laws and Academic Affairs, Student Affairs, Facilities and others play a large part in that. Now more than ever, it is critical to enable faculty and staff members to understand their legal responsibilities, recognize hidden disabilities and collaborate with key resources on campus to provide a campus culture that contributes to students’ academic success.

Join us on May 20, 2025, and in just 90 minutes, you and your staff will hear from our expert presenter as she shares policy and procedure options to protect your institution’s mission and provides you with practical resources to manage requests for reasonable accommodations on your campus outside of housing. 

Topics Covered

As a result of this webinar, you will be able to:

• Develop, implement, and enforce legally defensible policies and procedures related to students’ rights to have ESA animals on campus (outside of their campus housing).
• Create basic policy and procedures, but also build a program beyond that to assist in providing a truly accessible campus, welcoming all students and ensuring their success.
• Comply with each of the federal laws dealing with accessibility on campus —avoid a legal quagmire caused by confusion and lack of confidence about how to proceed.
• Provide faculty, staff and students with systematic “gatekeeper” training to help everyone recognize and respond to students in need of accommodations and resources – in recognizing accommodation needs, develop relationships with university and community partners to support those needs.
• Understand the difference between FHA regulations and ADA accommodation processes.
• Be confident in excluding an animal who doesn’t belong from campus property. 
  

Presenter

Leigh Davis Fickling is the Deputy Director of the Title IX and Clery Compliance and an Accommodations Consultant at the University of North Carolina at Wilmington
Click here for full bio.