Accommodations requests are determined by Student Accessibility Services in connection with Housing and Residence Life. To start the process visit SAS’s website: https://sas.sdes.ucf.edu/get-connected/
Assistance animals require approval and documentation of need. Before contacting Student Accessibility Services for approval, it is very important to review the information below:
Pets are not permitted at UCF or in student housing accommodations, except as authorized by the University. UCF will consider requests for a “reasonable” accommodation from a student with a documented disability to permit the presence of a an emotional support assistance animal if the animal is both necessary because of a student’s disability and reasonable under the circumstances.
Under the ADA, a service animal is defined as a dog that has been individually trained to do work or perform tasks for the benefit of an individual with a disability. The task(s) performed by the animal must be directly related to the person’s disability. Housing and Residence Life requests that residents notify them of the intended presence of a service animal in housing prior to the animal’s arrival.
Under the Fair Housing Act, an ESA is an animal that an individual with a disability utilizes in the housing environment solely for emotional support, well-being, or comfort, such as alleviating or mitigating one or more identified symptoms or effects of a person’s disability. While dogs are commonly used as emotional support animals, other types of animals may serve a person with a disability as an emotional support animal.
Important information to know: Service animals and emotional support animals are not the same and are assessed differently. Emotional support animals describe animals that provide comfort just by being with a person. Because they have not been trained to perform a specific job or task, they do not qualify as service animals under the ADA. Consequently, the ADA does not require covered entities to modify policies, practices, or procedures if it would “fundamentally alter” the nature of the goods, services, programs, or activities provided to the public. Nor does it overrule legitimate safety requirements. If admitting service or emotional support animals would fundamentally alter the nature of a service or program, service and emotional support animals may be prohibited. In addition, if a particular animal is out of control and the handler does not take effective action to control it, or if it is not housebroken, that animal may be excluded.