Common Accommodations

Examples of academic accommodations include, but are not limited to:

• Note takers
• Allowing extended time to complete exams (usually time and a half)
• Providing readers or qualified interpreters (this is a difficult service to provide and takes months of planning). If readers or interpreters are not attainable, then comparable arrangements will be made.
• Quiet, non-distracting area to take tests and quizzes
• Alternative tests and quizzes such as oral, dictated, or typed
• Allowing use of tape recording during class
• Use of a laptop to write out exams and papers or take notes
• Use of relaxation devices to decrease anxiety during tests and quizzes (e.g. listening to music)

Please note that colleges and universities are not required to alter admissions requirements, nor are they required to alter programmatic requirements for students with learning disabilities once they have been admitted. If a course in question is found to be an essential element to the your course of study or degree sought, it is unlikely that a waiver or a substitution will be granted. In addition, colleges and universities are not required to provide personal care assistants (PCAs) for students.

Start an Academic Accommodations Request

Additional Resources

• Learn more about common learning disorders
• Get online learning disorder resources
• Find a tutor
• Sign up for academic coaching
• Check out some helpful websites related to accessibility

Examples of housing accommodations include, but are not limited to:

• Animal-free Housing: A room in our animal-free section of the ELLC (we can not fully guarantee an animal-free experience due to service animals and law enforcement K-9 units)
• Medical Single Room: Private room that may or may not be a physical single room
• Private Bathroom: Room with a private or more private bathroom than communal facilities
• Specific Type of Housing: Potentially a room on a first floor near an exit for mobility concerns
• Temporary Housing: A relocation due to a surgery or another medical need for a short period of time

Start a Housing Request

All meal plan accommodation requests involve collaboration with dining services. Examples of meal plan accommodations include, but are not limited to the following:

• Adjustment in meal plan options available
• Assistance with dining options
• Exemption from having a meal plan
• Modification of meal needs

Start a Meal Request

We recognize that for some individuals, service animals fulfill a crucial role in removing barriers necessary to achieve equal access to our programs, activities, and facilities. In compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), Northland College service animals are welcome to accompany their handler in most facilities on campus. As the health and safety of all those who access Northland College is also important, only service animals that meet the guidelines outlined below will be exempt from College policies that otherwise prohibit the presence of animals.

‘Service animal’ describes an animal (usually a dog) that is individually trained to do work or perform tasks for the benefit of an individual with a disability, including a physical, sensory, psychiatric, intellectual, or other mental disability.

Examples

The examples below are not meant to serve as an exhaustive list, but do indicate specific work or tasks performed by a service animal that directly relate to specific disabilities (thus meeting the broad definition of service animal).

• Guide Dog: A carefully-trained dog that assists persons with severe visual impairments or who are blind to navigate and travel.
• Hearing or Signal Dog: A dog that has been trained to alert and assist persons with significant hearing loss or who are deaf to respond to specific sounds such as emergency alarms, doorbells, phones, and alarm clocks.
• Sensory or Social Alert Dog (Ssig): A dog that has been trained to assist people with autism to avoid sensory overload, remain calm when in environments where sensory overload is high, and alerts the handler to distracting and repetitive movements. Ssig dogs may also provide support similar to hearing or signal dogs.
• Seizure Alert Dog: A dog that has been trained to alert persons with seizure disorders of impending seizures and to assist their handler during and after a seizure by standing guard or going for help.
• Mobility Dog: A dog that has been trained to assist people with severe mobility challenges by pulling wheelchairs or by providing physical support for balance and stability.

*Under particular circumstances, a miniature horse may qualify as a service animal. All other species of animals, whether wild or domestic, trained or untrained, are not service animals for the purposes of this definition.

Qualified Individuals

For an individual to qualify for using a service animal on campus, they must:

• Have a disability as defined by the Americans with Disabilities Act; and,
• The service animal must be trained to do specific tasks for the qualified individual.

Institutional Inquiry

If and only if the work or tasks a service animal provides to a handler are not readily apparent, Northland staff may inquire of the qualified individual:

• Whether the animal is required because of a disability; and,
• What work or tasks the service animal has been trained to perform.

Staff cannot ask about the person’s disability, require medical documentation, require a special identification card or training documentation for the service animal, or ask that the service animal demonstrate its ability to perform the work or task.

Staff or students may contact Campus Safety if any questions or concerns arise relating to the presence of a service animal or to report service animal misbehavior or mistreatment of a service animal. If living in a Northland residential hall, College personnel may require proof of compliance with local animal licensing ordinances.

Responsibilities of the Handler

Unless such devices interfere with the service animal’s work or the individual’s disability prevents using them, service animals must be harnessed, leashed, or tethered. In all cases, the handler must maintain control of the animal through voice, signal, or other effective controls.

The expense and responsibility to feed, provide healthcare, and necessary bathing and grooming of service animal is the sole responsibility of the handler. Service animals must comply with local licensing laws.

The handler is responsible for removing or arranging for removal of animal waste.

The handler is responsible for damage or injury caused by the service animal.

College personnel may only ask service animal handlers to remove their service animal from College premises or from the immediate area as follows:

• If the service animal is not under the owner’s direct control or the service animal is disturbing or disrupting the normal administrative, academic, or programmatic routine, then the handler must first be given an opportunity to get the animal under control. If the disruption or disturbance continues, then the handler may be asked to remove the animal; or
• If the presence, behavior, or actions of the service animal constitutes an immediate risk or danger to people or property, the handler can be asked to immediately remove the animal and 911 (emergency assistance) may be contacted.

If asked to remove the service animal, the handler must be offered the opportunity to return to the College premises or the immediate area without the service animal and be provided with reasonable assistance at that time to participate in the College service or program.

Depending on the seriousness of the animal’s conduct or repeated conduct, service animals may be excluded from College property temporarily or permanently. If a service animal is excluded, the designated accessibility office is available to assist in evaluating reasonable accommodations for the owner.

Owners who violate this policy or disregard an instruction to remove or exclude a service animal from College property may be subject to additional penalties, including banning from any College property or other fines or penalties under applicable city, county, or state rules, regulations, or laws. Violations of this policy by a handler who is a College student or employee may be referred for corrective or disciplinary action.

Restrictions on Access for Service Animals

A service animal may be restricted from specific areas of the College when consistent with other College policies, state, and/or federal laws/regulations. Examples of these areas may include:

• Food preparation areas;
• Animal research facilities and grounds; and
• Biologically-sensitive or hazardous research sites.

If a service animal is restricted from certain areas, the designated accessibility services office is available to assist in evaluating reasonable accommodations for the owner.

Registering a Service Animal

• Students with service animals are not required to register with the Office of Accommodations. The Office of Accommodations maintains a voluntary Service Dog Registry to support students on campus who use service dogs by informing appropriate residential and facility staff of the animal’s presence, informing first responders, and to assist with situations in which the animal’s access is challenged by College community members. The service animal and the student handler are expected to adhere to the rights and responsibilities outlined in this document.
• Service animals accompanying visitors to campus are permitted access, under the ADA, and do not have to formally notify the campus of the animal’s presence. Visitors and their service animals are expected to adhere to the rights and responsibilities outlined in this document.

Step 1: Fill out the request for accommodations form below.
Step 2: Complete the student portion of the Disability Verification and Accommodations Request Form and give the auto-generated URL to your health care provider so they can complete and return the remainder of the form. The form can be completed and submitted online or downloaded and returned to the College by mail.

Step 1: Fill out the request for accommodations form below.
Step 2: Complete the student portion of the Disability Verification and Accommodations Request Form and give the auto-generated URL to your health care provider so they can complete and return the remainder of the form. The form can be completed and submitted online or downloaded and returned to the College by mail.

Step 1: Fill out the request for accommodations form below.
Step 2: Complete the student portion of the Disability Verification and Accommodations Request Form and give the auto-generated URL to your health care provider so they can complete and return the remainder of the form. The form can be completed and submitted online or downloaded and returned to the College by mail.

Step 1: Complete and submit the request for accommodations form below.
Step 2: Read and sign the ESA Annual Policy Agreement.
Step 3: Have your licensed health care provider complete and return the ESA Accommodation Student Verification Form (you can provide the following URL for them to submit the form online or download the form and mail it in: my.northland.edu/esa-verification/)