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Accessibility Services for Success
2601 Gentilly Boulevard
New Orleans Louisiana 70122
Ph. (504)816-4370
DisabilityServices@dillard.edu
Office Hours:
M-F 8 a.m. – 5 p.m.
Dillard University prides itself on being an inclusive campus that welcomes students from a variety of backgrounds and experiences. Over the past several years, we have worked very hard to ensure that students, guests and staff with disabilities feel at ease here and have full access to our facilities.Dillard has several residential spaces on campus that are ADA compliant and allow for access to students with disabilities. We have also made recent improvements to common areas that allow for students to congregate with their peers in an open and collaborative space.
Across the University, we take particular care to house classes in accessible locations. Through a combination of ramps, elevators and stairs, our learning spaces offer a welcoming environment to all students, regardless of disability status. Any student who finds their class is not in an accessible location can contact the Accessibility Center for Success (504-816-4370) to have a class relocated to an accessible location.
Visit our accessibility map identifying the accessible rooms and entrances on campus as well as the locations where the campus community may find ALD’s.
The college engages in an interactive process with the student and, as appropriate, with professionals documenting the disability and the student’s family. If you have a disability and would like to receive consideration for reasonable accommodations, written relevant documentation from a licensed physician, psychiatrist, psychologist, or other qualified professional is ideal. A high school plan such as an IEP or 504.
Plan may not be sufficient documentation, but can be very helpful. Please submit your high school plan, a completed Disability Services Accommodation Request Intake Form and all documentation to the Accessibility Center for Success (ACS) disabilityservices@dillard.edu.
Feel free to contact us with any questions or concerns you may have. A copy of the Documentation Guidelines can be found at this link and is included in the 2nd page of the Intake Form. The guidelines cover the information and details needed from the medical professional or diagnosing physician.
DisabilityServices@dillard.edu or 504-816-4370 and submitting a completed Intake Form.
Provide documentation as listed in the Documentation Guidelines
Request reasonable accommodations in a timely manner by April 15th for returning students and by July 1st for new students. (Requests at other times will be reviewed for approval but if approved, may not be not be available for the current semester.)
Once approved for accommodations, complete the Accommodations Letter Request Form at the beginning of each new semester to provide your class schedule and faculty email addresses to ACS. This request form is emailed out to all students registered with ACS prior to the start of each new semester. Classroom accommodation letters will be emailed to faculty for each class you agree to have your letter sent with a copy sent to your Dillard email address.
After the electronic letters have been sent, communicate directly with your faculty by introducing yourself at the beginning of each semester and talking about how the accommodations will be implemented in the classroom.
If you have testing accommodations, be sure to make arrangements for each test no less than 5 days in advance. This can be done by sending an email to the instructor and copying DisabilityServices@dillard.edu. ACS will respond to determine, in consult with the faculty, if the test will need to be administered in the ACS Office, Communicate with the ACS Office in a timely manner should any issues with accommodations arise.
Communicate with the ACS Office in a timely manner should any issues with accommodations arise.
EMOTIONAL SUPPORT ANIMALS
If you are a person with a documented disability and wish to seek an Emotional Support Animal as a residential accommodation, you must provide documentation of a disability, information about the animal, proof of liability insurance or Dillard renters insurance, as well as sign the ESA Policy Acknowledgement Form. All of the necessary steps are included in the ESA Packet which also has a checklist. The process can appear overwhelming. To be sure you fully understand what is expected, the approval process, and how we can assure the safety of a potential ESA and our community, please contact ACS (DisabilityServices@dillard.edu or 504-816-4370) to review the process, documentation, and things to consider when seeking approval to bring and ESA to campus. Emotional Support Animals are covered under the Fair Housing Act and not the Americans with Disability Act. ESAs do not have the same privileges as a Service Animal and it is important to understand the difference.
MEDICALLY NECESSARY HOUSING ACCOMMODATIONS
If you are a student with a documented disability and wish to request consideration for a medically necessary residential accommodation, your request, disability services Intake Form, and associated documentation must be submitted to Accessibility Center for Success (ACS) by APRIL 15th for returning students and by July 1st for new students. Please be sure to have the appropriate medical professional follow the Documentation Guidelines. The Mental Health Documentation Form may also be used to provide documentation. All completed requests (forms and documents) submitted on time will be reviewed by the Accommodations Review Committee. Requests submitted after the due date will be considered but are more difficult to accommodate if approved because it is after most housing assignments are made. The Housing Accommodation Review Committee only meets 5-6 times per year. Failing to meet the stated deadlines may create a delay in fulfilling an approved accommodation.
SERVICE ANIMALS
Service Animals are covered by the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and our policy on the presence of Service Animals is aligned with the ADA. Service Animals are trained to provide a specific service or task for their owner. Examples of such work or tasks include guiding people who are blind, alerting people who are deaf, pulling a wheelchair, or alerting and protecting a person who is having a seizure. They may travel freely with their owner throughout most areas of campus and community living spaces although there may be individual exceptions in places where the presence of the animal may compromise a safe or sterile environment. The Service Animal must be controlled by leash or harness when in public, unless doing so would interfere with the Animal’s service to its owner.
Students who require the assistance of a Service Animal on campus or in the classroom are invited to voluntarily notify ACS. Documentation is not required to have a Service Animal on campus. However, by registering a Service Animal in advance, we will be able to alert professors and others on campus with a need to know to plan for the presence of a Service Animal.
MEDICALLY NECESSARY MEAL PLAN ADJUSTMENTS
*Please note that most food allergies, and medically necessary meal adjustments can be handled by SODEXO by meeting with the SODEXO dietitian to discuss individual needs.
Meal plans are mandatory for all residential students. If you are a student who would like to request an adjustment to your meal plan because of a medical necessity, please follow the steps outlined below. Please have your medical doctor complete the Dillard University Dining Request Form and submit it to DiningRequest@dillard.edu by April 15th for returning students and by July 1st for new students.
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