Housing Accommodations

Submission of Forms to EC Accommodate: 

• Student completes and uploads: Student Request Form 
• Provider completes and submits: Provider Request Form 
• Any additional documentation (letters, reports, evaluations) can be added to a request packet as supplementary documentation along with the two required request forms noted above. 

Complete request packets are sent to the Housing Committee, a team of professional staff from various campus departments. The Committee will determine the eligibility and feasibility of the request given the College’s available housing stock that would allow for certain physical and mental health accommodations. Please see above for Housing Accommodation Deadlines and more information on upcoming review cycles.

First, SAA will email students to notify them of the Housing Committee’s decision regarding their eligibility. If an accommodation is available, Residence Life will then notify the eligible student a specific housing placement offer, via email. If a student is found eligible but there is not a facility available that meets the documented need, the request will be placed on a waitlist. Any student determined ineligible by the Committee will also be informed and will remain in their current housing placement or participate in the regular housing selection. 

Eligibility is based on the documentation provided, specific accommodation requests, and the housing stock that is available at the College. Please note that requests may not be fulfilled due to either documentation and/or housing limitations.

The following are examples of non-qualifying conditions, not a complete listing of non-qualifying conditions. Temporary, non-chronic impairments of seasonal or short duration (less than 6 months) with little or no residual effects that will not substantially limit a major life activity: common cold, seasonal or common influenza, a sprained joint, minor and non-chronic gastrointestinal disorders, a broken bone expected to heal completely, appendicitis, and seasonal allergies are usually not qualifying conditions under the Americans with Disabilities Act.

Qualifying conditions may include students who have mobility needs that cannot be met in a traditional room, students who have medical needs that involve extensive apparatus, or medicine regimens that may not be conducive in a traditional room.

Appropriate documentation to determine reasonableness, as requested in the required Provider Request Form, will include the following information:

• A clear diagnosis from a licensed professional who is qualified to evaluate and diagnosis such conditions.  This professional may not be a member of the student’s family.
• Description of the student’s history with the diagnosis.
• Description of the functional impact and limitations of the disability/condition relative to an academic setting.
• Current treatment plan, including medications.
• Recommendation for accommodation(s). (Justification for why recommended accommodation is medically necessary. There must be a clear connection between the functional limitation(s) described and the recommended accommodation).
• Documentation must be in English and signed and dated.
• Initial documentation must be current, within one year.

Please be advised that, generally speaking, central air conditioning in St. Julie Hall and Notre Dame Campus is turned off no later than the second week in October, and individual air conditioning units in other residence halls are uninstalled at that time. Central air conditioning typically resumes around the second week of May. Seasonal allergies are usually not qualifying conditions under ADA. Students who require filtered air are permitted to bring in their own air purification devices. St. Joseph, St. Ann, and Loretto Halls have limited capacity for room air conditioning units. Please note, if a student is found eligible to bring a personal window air conditioning unit and their current placement is not window A/C compatible, their request will be waitlisted for a room change into a window A/C-compatible placement.

Emmanuel’s student housing is primarily designed to house two or more students per bedroom. Some residence halls do offer a limited number of single rooms. As with all accommodation requests at Emmanuel, qualification for a single residence hall room will be evaluated on an individualized basis. Emmanuel has designed its residential program on the premise that a vibrant, social residence hall environment is fundamental to living and learning at Emmanuel. As such, a request for a single room is utilized as an accommodation only when no other reasonable accommodation would allow a student to participate in our residential program as it is designed. Please note, if a student is found eligible for a single-occupancy room and there are no single-occupancy spaces available, their request will be waitlisted until a single-occupancy room becomes available.

Housing accommodation eligibility is not guaranteed. A student may be found ineligible for their requested housing accommodation following Committee review of documentation submitted by the student and their health care provider.

Specific housing inventory is not guaranteed due to limited availability. Eligible students may be waitlisted if a suitable facility is not immediately available and will be contacted by Residence Life if a facility becomes available.

A housing accommodation request should not name specific buildings. Instead, students should describe the environment or housing features necessary to accommodate their documented needs.

A housing accommodation request is intended to address the individual student's documented disability-related needs and cannot be made to request placement with a specific roommate. Additionally, housing accommodation paperwork cannot cite roommate conflict as a basis for the request. Students experiencing a roommate conflict should contact Residence Life for information on mediation and room change options.

Students must reapply for housing accommodations each academic year. To resubmit a previously approved accommodation without changes, students may indicate this in their EC Accommodate portal and provide written confirmation from their provider that the existing recommendation remains unchanged. Any new or changed accommodation request requires a new Housing Accommodation Request packet. 

1. Submission of Forms to EC Accommodate: 

Student completes and uploads:

1. Student Request Form
2. Student ESA Information Form
3. Owner/Handler Agreement
4. Relevant veterinary documentation, vaccination records, and if applicable, copy of City of Boston licensure.

Provider completes and submits:

1. Provider Request Form
2. Provider ESA Specific Form

Any additional documentation (letters, reports, evaluations) can be added to a request packet as supplementary documentation along with the five required request forms noted above. 

2. Review by the Housing Committee: Complete request packets are sent to the Housing Committee, a team of professional staff from various campus departments. The Committee will determine the eligibility and feasibility of the request given the College’s available housing stock that would allow for certain physical and mental health accommodations. Please see above for Housing Accommodation Deadlines and more information on upcoming review cycles.

3. Outcome and Notification: SAA will email students to notify them of the Housing Committee’s decision regarding their eligibility. Any student determined ineligible by the Committee will also be informed via email.

Eligibility is based on the documentation provided, specific accommodation requests, and the housing stock that is available at the College. Please note that requests may not be fulfilled due to either documentation and/or housing limitations.

Certain animals will be excluded from consideration as an ESA and will be referred to as "excluded animals."

• Excluded animals include: animals that are inherently dangerous or predatory (snakes, pythons, birds, etc.), large animals that exceed 30 lbs. at full-growth, and wildlife or endangered species (ferrets, etc.). 
• Animals that require accoutrements that are not permitted in residential buildings (such as heat lamps, live insect food, etc.) will also be considered excluded animals.
• Animals must be spayed or neutered as the species allows. Emmanuel College reserves the right to request documentation of the applicable procedure.
• Generally, dogs must be at least 10 months of age before they can live in-residence College housing.
• Other exceptions may be made as deemed appropriate based upon facility limitations and health and safety needs of the general community.

Emmanuel College may exclude an ESA from campus housing if the animal poses a direct threat to the health or safety of others, the animal would cause substantial physical damage to property, the animal would pose an undue financial and administrative burden on the college, the animal would result in a fundamental alteration of the college's program(s); and/or the student does not comply with the guidelines set forth in the Owner's Responsibilities Contract.

In applying the above eligibility criteria, Emmanuel will be guided by the following "interpretive principles, rules and factors":

• The student will have the responsibility of demonstrating, through documented Health Care Provider (HCP) opinion, testimony, and other evidence, that the student would not have been able to use and enjoy Emmanuel housing facilities "but for" the requested accommodation (having the ESA in the dorm room).
• The student will have the responsibility of demonstrating through HCP opinion, testimony, and other evidence, that the animal is both necessary and reasonable for equal enjoyment and use of Emmanuel housing.
• The student must demonstrate that no other means and methods (i.e. medication, counseling, other housing accommodations, other available interventions, crisis response mechanisms, or treatments) or combination of means and methods are available to adequately manage symptoms of his/her disability/impairment. If means and methods are available to the student to adequately manage symptoms of his/her disability/impairment, to a degree that the student with the aid of those other means and methods would be able to use and enjoy Emmanuel housing, then this accommodation would not be granted.

Note: These eligibility criteria are based primarily on the relevant provisions of the Fair Housing Act (FHA), 42 U.S.C. 3604(f), and regulatory guidance provided by the US Department of Housing and Development in its Final Rule entitled "Pet Ownership for the Elderly and Persons with Disabilities" published in the Federal register on October 27, 2008 (73 FR 63834).