Animals on Campus Policy
National Louis University has a general no pet policy campus-wide, including affiliated 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 and sanitation reasons, pets are not allowed in affiliated housing, except for a certified service animal and appropriate emotional support animals if required and approved in advance by the Director of Residential Operations and Auxiliary Services and the appointed Disability and Access Services 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.
Emotional Support Animals
An Assistance Animal is an animal that can be kept lawfully and is required by an individual with a disability as a reasonable accommodation to afford them an equal opportunity to use and enjoy affiliated University Housing. The individual’s disability and the accommodation of an Assistance Animal must be documented by an appropriate healthcare or mental health professional in accordance with university policies and procedures.
Determination
The determination of whether an Assistance Animal will be permitted in affiliated Housing is made on a case-by-case basis, through an interactive process involving the individual requesting the accommodation and relevant university personnel. All requests for Assistance Animals are subject to annual review.
In all cases, the needs of the individual are balanced with the impact of an Assistance Animal on other campus residents and patrons.
In order for an Assistance Animal to be considered a reasonable accommodation in affiliated Housing, there must be a current verification of need for the accommodation from a physician, psychiatrist, licensed clinical social worker, or licensed psychologist, provided to Disability and Access Services which:
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Verifies that the student has a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities;
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Describes the need for the requested accommodation;
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Identifies the relationship between the student’s disability and the need for an Assistance Animal.
The question in determining if an Assistance Animal will be allowed in affiliated housing is whether or not the Assistance Animal is necessary because of the individual's disability to afford the individual an equal opportunity to use and enjoy affiliated Housing and its presence is reasonable. However, even if the individual with a disability establishes necessity for an Assistance Animal and it is allowed in affiliated Housing, an Assistance Animal is not permitted in other areas of the University (e.g. dining areas, library, academic buildings, classrooms, labs, etc.).