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Housing Accommodations

Housing Accommodation Request Deadlines (Now passed for Fall '25)

Deadlines for Fall 2025 Housing Accommodation Requests

  • Returning Students: Deadline for ADS to receive requests and appropriate documentation for the fall semester: Friday, March 14, 2025.
  • New Students: Deadline for ADS to receive housing accommodation requests and documentation is Monday, June 16, 2025.
  • For Spring 2026: The deadline for ADS to receive completed requests is Friday, November 14, 2025. 

For housing accommodation requests to be considered before the spring housing lottery takes place, all necessary documentation must be received by the posted deadline. Students are therefore encouraged to ensure that ADS receives supporting documentation of any requests well in advance of the posted deadline, and to contact ADS prior to the deadline to inquire as to whether all necessary documentation has been received. 

These deadlines for housing accommodation requests were established to provide the Housing Accommodation Committee with sufficient time to review requests and all supporting documentation, communicate with care providers as needed, and for consideration to be given to specific disability-related housing needs before the complex housing assignment processes take place.

If you did not meet the request deadline for the Fall 2025 semester, you may still submit a request, but you should plan to participate in the housing lottery. Scroll down to the section on "Housing Accommodation Request Deadline Rationale and Options for Next Steps" for more information about addressing needs that arise after the above-posted deadline.

Dickinson is a residential college and the residential experience is understood to be an integral part of a Dickinson education. Dickinson 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 that 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, a single room accommodation is reserved for individuals whose disability documentation illustrates clear and substantial barriers in the living environment, and for whom a standard housing assignment with a roommate is not viable.  Similarly, an accommodation for a room with access to a semi-private bathroom or a kitchen would be granted to students for whom a dietary accommodation would not suffice in meeting their disability-related needs. Treatment providers should be able to speak to a student's current symptomology and needs and establish a nexus between the student's disability, their treatment plan, and any recommended accommodations. All accommodation requests will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis. 

For detailed information regarding policies and deadlines, please review the Disability Accommodation Request Procedures for College Housing.

Students who are granted an accommodation on a temporary basis who have a repeated accommodation need for subsequent semesters should take note of the guidance, notification information, and deadlines conveyed via email and posted in the above-linked document. 

PROCEDURES FOR REQUESTING A HOUSING ACCOMMODATION: 

A. Complete and submit a Disability Disclosure and Accommodation Request Form electronically through the Forms tab of the Dickinson Gateway.

B. Have your relevant care provider send ADS documentation of the disabling condition for which you are seeking a housing accommodation.

       Instruct your care provider to send ADS the following 2 things:

  1. A completed Disability Documentation Form for College Housing (For ESAs use alternate form specified in NOTE below), and   
  2. Supporting documentation of the disability, such as test results, lab reports, office visit logs, and/or consultation notes. Review our Documentation Guidelines for the requirements for each specific disability. 

     Documentation should be sent directly from the student's care provider to ADS by one of the following means:

           Fax: 717-254-8139
           Email: access@dickinson.edu
           US Mail: Access and Disability Services
                         Dickinson College
                         P.O Box 1773
                         Carlisle, PA 17013

C. Follow up with ADS to ask whether or not we have received the documentation that you asked your care provider to send us.

NOTE:

  • You can instruct your care provider to find this page by going to: www.dickinson.edu/ADS-housing.
     
  • If you are requesting the accommodation of having an Emotional Support Animal (ESA) that would meet the criteria articulated in Dickinson's Animals on Campus Policy, you will need to have your licensed mental health provider complete this Disability Documentation Form for Housing with an ESA (in lieu of the other documentation form).
     
  • Students requesting a housing accommodation based on dietary-related needs must also follow the process outlined at www.dickinson.edu/ADS-dietary. 
     
  • The presentation of documentation and/or the recommendation of a care provider does not automatically guarantee disability status or specific accommodations. See below for more information about the Determination of Accommodations process.

DETERMINATION OF ACCOMMODATIONS

Housing accommodations are determined on a case-by-case basis, according to documented need, and prevailing standards for reasonable accommodations. Guiding questions may include:

  • Does the student have a disability (i.e., a substantial limitation of a major life activity, as compared to the majority of students) that would prevent or significantly impair their participation in Dickinson's standard residential experiences?
  • If so, what barrier(s) does the disability pose, as documented by one or more professionals with expertise in the diagnostic area(s) for which the accommodation is being requested?
  • If relevant, has the treatment provider evaluated the student recently enough to speak to the student's current symptomology?
  • If the student's request is on the basis of an emotional, behavioral, or mental health disability, is the person recommending the accommodation a mental health professional (counselor, therapist, psychologist, or psychiatrist) who has been and is currently treating the student, and has the mental health professional established a nexus between the recommended accommodation and the student's treatment plan?
  • Has the treatment provider provided any alternative options if their primary recommendation is not possible?
  • What reasonable accommodation(s) -- substantiated by the documentation as necessary, and which would not pose a fundamental alteration to core or essential practices – could be granted that might reduce and/or remove the barrier(s) in the residential environment?

The College does not grant accommodations solely on the recommendations of care providers; rather -- in compliance with the ADA and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act -- an accommodation is granted on the basis of a substantiated disability-related functional limitation resulting in a barrier to access that would necessitate an accommodation. Furthermore, students requesting a housing accommodation are not making a request for a specific outcome, but rather a request for an accommodation that would foster access to equitable participation in Dickinson's academic and residential programs and services. The Disability Housing Accommodations Committee will review each student’s request and related documentation on a case-by-case basis and, if warranted, determine a reasonable and appropriate housing accommodation.

HOUSING ACCOMMODATION REQUEST DEADLINE RATIONALE AND OPTIONS MOVING FORWARD

  • The deadline for ADS to receive requests and appropriate documentation for the fall semester was Friday, March 14, 2025.

This deadline was established to provide the college with sufficient time to engage in all steps necessary to consider for whom standard housing would not be a viable option due to the substantiated functional limitations of the student's disability, and to determine how to meet those students' accommodations needs in compliance with Section 504, the Fair Housing Act, and the ADA. The Housing Accommodation Committee therefore allocated a 3-week period beginning March 17, during which to:

  • review all housing accommodation requests and supporting documentation that were submitted by the deadline;
  • deliberate as to whether each request and supporting documentation met the criteria presented, following the "Determination of Accommodations" criteria outlined above;
  • schedule time to communicate with care providers, as needed;
  • review any additional documentation provided; and to
  • ultimately determine whether a request meets the eligibility criteria for necessitating a disability-based accommodation.

After that, additional time is needed for staff in Residence Life and Housing to identify appropriate housing for each student determined to be eligible for a housing accommodation and to make all necessary assignments before the complex housing assignment processes takes place for all Dickinson students (which, in the spring, is the housing lottery). For this reason, requests for housing accommodations and supporting documentation that are not received before the deadline, cannot begin to be considered until mid-April, after the lottery has taken place.

CAN A HOUSING REQUEST BE MADE AFTER THE DEADLINE HAS PASSED?

Yes. Housing accommodation requests can be made at any time, but if done after the deadline and the period allocated for reviewing such requests, students should anticipate that it might take approximately 6 weeks for the request to be processed, reviewed, and determined. When that review does take place, 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 housing assignment process. If a student's housing accommodation is granted, but unavailable, the student will be placed on a priority waitlist until such housing becomes available.

Here, again, are the Disability Accommodation Request Procedures for College Housing.

APPEALS

If you submit a housing accommodation request that is denied (or if you have issue with specific the accommodation you were granted), the standard first step in the appeals process is to respond to your email notification asking that your request be reconsidered. You should provide an elaboration as to why you believe your request to be necessitated on the basis of a disability and provide details as to how the options provided to you pose a substantial limitation to one or more major life activities that cannot be assuaged through reasonable alternative options. If you have care providers who can provide additional documentation to support your request, you should request that they do so. If you are dissatisfied with the results of your informal appeal, or if you wish to forgo the informal appeals process, you can find information regarding the formal appeals process in this Disability-Related Complaints Policy.

Types of Accommodations