National Louis University has a general no pet policy campus wide, including university housing, but recognizes that service and assistance animals provide individuals with disabilities enhanced independence and support.
Animal Guidelines
The guidelines ensure that students with disabilities who require the use of a service animal are accommodated, and that animals are cared for in a manner that is consistent with community standards. Animals that are ill or in poor health should not be brought to campus. It is the responsibility of the animal’s owner, referred to as a Partner, to ensure the animal’s behavior is appropriate and to arrange for any necessary cleaning. National Louis reserves the right to require an unclean or unruly animal to be removed from campus.
Animals in Campus Housing
For health & sanitation reasons, pets are not allowed in student housing, except for a certified service animal if required and approved in advance by the Residence Life & Housing Manager and the appointed ADA Office representative.
Service Animals
National Louis complies with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (Section 504). Among other things, the ADA and Section 504 require the University to make reasonable modifications to its policies, practices, or procedures to permit the use of a Service Animal by a student, faculty, staff or visitor with a disability.
The ADA defines a Service Animal as “any dog that is individually trained to do work or perform tasks for the benefit of an individual with a disability, including a physical, sensory, psychiatric, intellectual, or other mental disability.” Importantly, other species of animals, whether wild or domestic, trained or untrained, are not Service Animals for the purposes of the ADA. However, under certain conditions, NLU will make reasonable modifications for a miniature horse that has been individually trained to do work or perform tasks for the benefit of the individual with a disability.
The work or task a service animal has been trained to provide must be directly related to the person’s disability.
Assistance Animals
“Assistance Animals” are a category of animals that may work, provide assistance, or perform physical tasks, for an individual with a disability and/or provide necessary emotional support to an individual with a mental or psychiatric disability that alleviates one or more identified symptoms of an individual’s disability, but which are not considered Service Animals under the ADAAA and NLU’s Service Animal Policy. Assistance Animals may also be known as Emotional Support Animals (ESA). Some Assistance Animals are professionally trained, but in other cases Assistance Animals provide the necessary support to individuals with disabilities without any formal training or certification.
Verification of Service Animal
The University will not ask about the nature or extent of an individual’s disability. However, when it is not readily apparent that the dog identified by the individual with a disability is trained to do work or perform tasks for him or her, the Office of Learning Support's Representative for ADA compliance may ask the individual with the disability if the dog is required because of a disability and what work or task the dog has been trained to perform. However, the University will not require documentation, such as proof that the dog has been certified, trained, or licensed as a Service Animal.
Animals and Campus Events
Animals may be allowed on campus for events sponsored by the Office of Student Experience or other university departments with the approval of the Vice Provost and Registrar.