Housing and Residence Life is committed to ensuring that, to the greatest extent possible, housing facilities, programs, and services are available for as many students as possible. It is important to note that housing is not guaranteed for any student.
If a student needs housing accommodations, it is the student’s responsibility to make their disability known to UCF Housing and make the appropriate request via the Medical Accommodation Request form in the Housing Portal as early as possible in the process.
Reasonable accommodations are considered for disability reasons when the accommodation would reduce/eliminate barriers that prevent residents with disabilities from fully participating in housing opportunities or residential activities. It’s important to be aware accommodations for academics and housing are coordinated separately. Academic accommodations are coordinated through Student Accessibility Services.
When approved, accommodations are only for the Housing Agreement period in which the request was submitted. For example, an approved accommodation request for Fall 2023/Spring 2024 is approved for the Fall 2023 and Spring 2024 academic terms only. A request for housing accommodations must be submitted for each future academic year for consideration and approval.
Students must first apply for housing via the housing application located in the Housing Portal (myUCF >Student Self Service > Housing > Housing Portal).
On the “Important Information” page of the housing application, students should select “Yes” to the question regarding housing accommodations. They will then be prompted to provide additional information including what accommodations they are requesting and what needs they may have in an evacuation or severe weather situation.
There are three types of housing accommodation requests: 1) Housing Floor Plan Accommodation; 2) Assistive Animal Accommodation; and 3) Housing Process Exemption Accommodation. The process for each option is different with steps outlined below. For any option, healthcare provider documentation must be submitted.
The student will also complete the required medical documentation by submitting the Healthcare Provider Information Form provided, a letter from a healthcare provider outlining the housing accommodation request, or existing healthcare provider documentation that addresses the information in the Healthcare Provider Information Form.
A medical professional who currently treats and is familiar with the student’s disability/medical condition should complete the medical provider form. For example, an allergist must document an allergy; a psychologist, psychiatrist or social worker must verify a psychological disability; an audiologist must verify hearing impairment. Documentation from a family member or family friend is not acceptable.
Completion of this process does not guarantee accommodations will be provided.
Examples of housing floor plan accommodations include, but are not limited to:
Specific roommate preferences are not considered housing accommodations.
Consideration for accommodation requests is given based on the date of the request, receipt of all required information, identified connections between a resident’s disability and the need for a specific housing accommodation request, and space available within the residential buildings. The university has a limited supply of each different room type, bathroom type, residential area, etc. Students are strongly encouraged to submit all appropriate documentation prior to room selection. After room selection, accommodation requests become difficult to approve and implement due to limited space availability.
The purpose of this request is to give the Housing Assignments staff information on both your personal condition/disability, and what accommodations you may require. It will be confidentially reviewed by a member of the Housing Assignments staff.
Documentation for a housing floor plan accommodation may be provided on the Healthcare Provider Form downloadable in the Housing Portal, or on a letter from the provider on the provider’s letterhead. Documentation should include the following:
More information about Assistance Animals is located below. Accommodation requests for Emotional Support Animals (ESA) and Service Animals should be requested through the Assistive Animal Request Form under Housing Forms in the Housing Portal.
Documentation for an Emotional Support Animal accommodation may be provided on the ESA Healthcare Provider Form downloadable in the Housing Portal, or on a letter from the provider on the provider’s letterhead. Documentation should include the following:
For all requested animals who must be taken outside of a student’s assigned housing unit for natural relief (such as a dog), the student must provide a behavioral assessment from a veterinarian, animal trainer, or other animal expert indicating that the particular animal requested is suitable for the high-density residence hall living environment where the student may have assigned roommates and where the animal will regularly be in close contact with other individuals unknown to the animal. DHRL provides a form for this purpose. However, the animal expert can provide the same information in their own format.
Students requesting to bring a service dog into housing will be asked whether the dog is required due to a disability, what tasks the dog is trained to perform, and whether the dog is fully trained.
Due to limited housing capacity, not every student who applies for housing will receive a space. For example, current residents who wish to return to campus housing participate in a lottery process, or waitlist procedures are enacted for incoming freshmen once freshmen spaces are full. Students who are seeking exemptions to processes such as the lottery or waitlist due to their disability will make that request via Student Accessibility Services (SAS).
If the student has not previously connected with SAS, then the student will need to submit an application and follow the steps listed within this link: https://sas.sdes.ucf.edu/get-connected/
If the student has previously connected with SAS, then the student should email sas@ucf.edu and request an Additional Accommodation meeting to discuss consideration of exemption from the housing lottery or waitlist process.
Students are encouraged to provide as much detail as possible in writing, as a meeting with the student is not a standard part of the process. All requests are reviewed individually, and decisions are based on the reasonableness of the request and floor plan availability. Housing accommodation application requests are reviewed by UCF Housing and may include Student Accessibility Services as needed.
Students will receive an email with further details on the decision.
UCF recognizes that despite its good faith and reasonable efforts to provide fair accommodations to its policies, practices, and procedures for students with disabilities, students may ultimately disagree with the determination made by DHRL. In the event of contention, the student may request a review by Student Accessibility Services and DHRL. Appeal requests should be submitted in writing via email to housing@ucf.edu. The appeal will be reviewed by the Student Accessibility Services Director and a Housing designee. If the student disagrees with the decision made by SAS and DHRL, a final appeal can be submitted in writing via email to the Office of Institutional Equity (oie@ucf.edu).
Assistance animals require approval and documentation of need. Before contacting us 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.
Begin the process by completing the medical accommodation request process or by emailing housing@ucf.edu to request information about an assistance 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.
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), which 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.
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 update their preferred name via myUCF > Student Self Service > Preferred Name.
For additional resources and campus support for transgender students, please contact UCF Civil Discourse and Engagement.