Talking Stick - March/April 2013 - 32

The Top six
Questions to
consider When
Making housing
assignments for
students with
accommodation
needs
By Kathryn Magura

1. What is a reasonable accommodation?
A reasonable accommodation means finding a way to meet the needs of a student with a disability through
a housing assignment. This can mean providing a room with wheelchair-accessible furniture, a single
room for a student with a learning disability, or a reduced room rate based on the stipulations of the
need. Reasonable accommodations may require you to remove furniture from a room so a student with a
disability can navigate the space more efficiently or to allow a therapy animal in a building where pets are
not allowed.

2. What types of rooms does
the institution have for students
with disabilities, and what are
the rates?
Daniel Terrell, associate director for housing
services at Old Dominion University in
Norfolk, Virginia, suggests that the better
you know what you have to offer regarding
types of rooms and range of room rates, the
better you will be able to serve students.
“Students come with a variety of different
accommodation needs, and it is our
responsibility to accommodate those needs
on an individual basis. This means being
an expert in your building inventory and
knowing how what you have to offer best
matches the needs of students,” he says.
How an institution charges for the
rooms comes down to this: Is the room
essential to serve the needs of the disability,
or is it a preference? A student who
requires specific equipment to support
their disability may not be able to have
a roommate due to space requirements.
Some students prefer a single room but
do not require one to be reasonably
accommodated. As mentioned earlier, this
is a subject of much debate. However,
institutions need to be consistent in their
response to how they charge for single
rooms in this situation. If they reduce the
cost of a single room for one student with a
disability, that decision may prompt others
to request a single room at a double rate.
If the decision is made to not reduce the
single room rate, the institution needs to
have a well researched and documented
reason for why. Be consistent, and keep
copious documentation.
It is also important to balance having a
variety of rooms available with the types of
housing requests made by a student with
a disability. Sometimes making a minor
modification to a room (adding a visual
alerting device, as an example) is all you need
to do to make a reasonable accommodation
to meet the need of a student.

Talking STick

3. What relationship does housing
have with the disability access office?
Remember that the staff in the disability access office
are the true experts on disabilities for your students.
While many staff in assignments gain a strong
understanding of various disabilities throughout their
tenure making room assignments, they do themselves
a greater service by leaving the decision making to the
campus experts.
Make sure that housing has a point of contact in
the office and that they meet regularly. Furthermore,
make sure that the disability services staff have
toured the residential facilities and know what there
is to offer. Disability services staff can be the best
advocates when it comes to assigning students with
an accommodation request.
“All requests for an accommodation . . . must
first go through our Disability Resource Center (DRC),”
says Lenord McGownd, assistant director of residence
life, housing, and dining services for business services
at Missouri State in Springfield. “They are the experts
in the field, and they know what is a legitimate
request and what is not a legitimate request. If it is
determined an accommodation is needed in this
situation, I am notified and then I determine how we
can make the accommodation.”

4. What do you know about current
housing law?
In addition to meeting with your legal counsel and
disability services staff, it is advised that you read
through the law as well. It’s not just a matter of
knowing the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA),
Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act, or the Fair
Housing Act; it’s developing an understanding of how
these laws should influence your assignments process.
You should also be aware of any state laws that
impact how you make accommodations. Each state
is different, and if you are a state institution, you are
bound to rules stipulated by your department of justice.
Speaking of states, how your colleagues around
the state accommodate disabilities may affect how
you must do so as well. If you are the only college or
university in your state not allowing therapy animals, it
will be harder in a court of law to justify not doing so.

Talking Stick - March/April 2013

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