Having an Emotional Support Animal (ESA) on campus requires clear communication between yourself, our SSD office, and housing.
There are a few steps in order to get an ESA accommodation.
- Step 1. Complete an interest form with SSD and be registered with our office. Meet with your SSD counselor specifically about an ESA as an official accommodation to engage in the interactive process.
- Step 2. Provide a letter from your medical provider. SSD may seek additional documentation from your doctors or medical providers clarifying the need for an ESA as an accommodation. There are important items needed in your ESA. Please see more information about emotional support animal letters. Essentially we will need a letter signed by a licensed attending medical provider for more than 3 months, who can tell us how the animal helps to address your functional limitations and a little bit more on the animal too, what kind of animal it is.
- Step 3. If granted, a housing accommodation letter that includes an ESA as an accommodation will be provided to both you and housing. You will meet again with an SSD counselor to go over expectations of ESA animal care and maintenance. You may also be asked to provide health records for the animal to ensure that it is healthy and safe to be in the residence halls.