Accommodation Requests

Medical Accomodation
Assistance Animals
Dietary Restrictions
Transgender Students

Medical Accommodations

In accordance with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), the University will provide reasonable accommodations for a student residing in University housing who has a qualifying physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities and has a record of such impairment or is regarded as having such impairment.

Housing and Residence Life is committed to ensuring that, to the greatest extent possible, housing facilities, programs and services are available for all students. Reasonable accommodations may be requested to meet an individual’s accessibility needs.

  • Room with wheelchair-accessible features, such as roll-in shower, lowered closet rods, etc.
  • Room or building with power door
  • Avoid stairs and/or must be on lower level
  • Room with hearing-impaired features, such as a doorbell with light and fire alarm with strobe
  • Arrangements to have an assistance animal in your living space
  • Arrangements to have personal care attendants in your living space
  • Apply for housing via the housing application located in myUCF (Student Self Service > Housing > Housing Portal).
  • On the “Important Information” page of the housing application, select “Yes” to the question:
    • “Do you need a housing accommodation because of a medical condition or disability? Examples include but are not limited to severe food allergies, mobility restrictions, service animal assistance, autism spectrum disorder, hearing/seeing impairment, etc.”
  • On the “Additional Information” page complete the requested information, including a brief description of the condition(s) for which you are requesting accommodations, what specific accommodation(s) you are requesting, and what needs you may have in an evacuation/severe weather situation.
  • Complete the required medical documentation by submitting one of the following (as outlined in the form): the Healthcare Provider Information form provided, or a letter from a healthcare provider, or indicate that you have already submitted documentation to Student Accessibility Services (we will verify documentation with that office).
  • Documentation should be typed or printed on letterhead (or the provided form), dated, signed and legible with the name, title and professional credentials of the evaluator or medical provider. Most importantly, the documentation should clearly spell out why it is essential that the accommodation be granted as it pertains to housing.
  • Housing and Residence Life reserves the right to request additional documentation if the information does not address the student’s current level of functioning, or substantiate the need for modifications or accommodations.
  • We strongly encourage students requesting accommodations to register with Student Accessibility Services and/or Counseling and Psychological Services.
  • We are typically able to honor most requests that are submitted each year, and we do our best to work with each student on an individual basis. We will notify you ahead of time in the event that we believe we are not going to be able to provide the requested accommodations.
  • The earlier you are able to submit your request, the more likely it is we will be able to reserve the appropriate space for you.

Assistance Animals

A student who wishes to bring an assistance animal to live in student housing must make a request to Housing & Residence Life with documentation of need. This information will allow the university to assess the request. Begin the process by completing the medical accommodation request process or by emailing housing@ucf.edu to request information about an assistance animal. Before contacting the department, 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 service animal or an emotional support assistance animal if the animal is both necessary because of a student’s disability and reasonable under the circumstances.

Assistance animals can be either a service animal or an emotional support animal.

Under the ADA, a service animal is defined as a dog that has been individually trained to do work or perform tasks for an individual with a disability. The task(s) performed by the dog must be directly related to the person’s disability.

Under the Fair Housing Act, an ESA is a companion animal in the housing environment that provides emotional support or other therapeutic benefit to an individual with a disability, such as alleviating or mitigating one or more identified symptoms or effects of a person’s disability. While dogs are commonly used as service animals, other types of animals may serve a person with a disability as an emotional support assistance animal.

  • Complete the Medical Accommodation process detailed above, and indicate within the Medical Accommodation form that you require a Service Animal or would like to request an Emotional Support Animal.
  • Please keep in mind registration of the animal with any national organization is not necessary and will not suffice for appropriate documentation or circumvent the DHRL emotional support animal process.Additional documentation will be needed to review the request.

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 assistance animals would fundamentally alter the nature of a service or program, assistance animals may be prohibited. In addition, if a particular assistance 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.

Students with Dietary Restrictions

In order to provide the most healthy environment possible for our residents, we do offer housing room assignment consideration based on dietary restrictions resulting from religious beliefs (ex. Kosher or Halaal) or lifestyle choices (ex. vegetarian or vegan). Specific accommodations may include apartment style housing with a kitchen, access to a community kitchen, or roommates with similar dietary restrictions.

Students who have specific dietary restrictions should answer “Yes” to the question “Do you have a dietary restriction that may require a specific housing accommodation?” on the “Important Information” page of the online housing agreement. You will then be prompted to enter additional information about your dietary request on the “Additional Information” page.

Submitting the Dietary Accommodations Request form does not guarantee a space in housing, or the specific accommodation requested, but we will do our best to honor as many requests as possible. Our ability to honor the dietary accommodation requests depends on the space available and the number of students requesting accommodations.

Please note that the Dietary Accommodations form is NOT intended for students with life-threatening or very severe food allergies or sensitivities (ex. peanut allergy resulting in anaphylaxis, diabetes, celiac disease). If you have a condition that requires dietary restrictions and can be verified by a healthcare provider, you should complete our Accommodations Request Form instead.

Students Who Identify as Transgender

UCF Housing strives to make each of our communities safe and inclusive of all students including LGBTQ identified students. On the “Basic Information” page of the housing application, you may answer ‘Yes’ to the question “Does your gender identity differ from the listed gender marker on myUCF/Atlas and/or do you identify as transgender?” The gender marker as listed on your admissions application is shown on the page. Students checking “Yes” will be prompted to select how they would like identity for the purposes of Room Selection and Roommate Matching and enter any additional information regarding their identity or concerns.

Roommate Matching and Room Selection separates male, female, and neutral students. All of our housing facilities default to single gender suites or apartments, meaning all roommates within a suite are of the same gender identity. Each applicant has the opportunity to create a profile for roommate matching purposes. Students are assigned a screen name based upon their last name only. While there are no sexual orientation or gender identity questions, students are able to write a short description of themselves for potential matches to see. Additionally, there is a message function on the Housing Portal so they may screen potential matches before selecting them. UCF Housing is not able to screen potential matches on behalf of students, however, if a student already knows people with whom they would like to be placed, they may request them specifically. To request roommate groups of mixed gender identity, please email Housing and Residence Life.

Trans-identified students are not required to live in any particular community or room style. If you are eligible for Room Selection, you will be able to select your own room as an individual or as a member of a roommate group. Room types are limited by availability and eligibility based on classification. To review eligibility, please see our website under Apply> Eligibility.

UCF Students may provide a preferred name to be used for Housing communication and various parts of the University through the Registrar’s Office. If you have questions, contact the Registrar’s office at roenrollment@ucf.edu.

For additional resources and campus support for transgender students, please contact UCF Social Justice and Advocacy.