Housing Accommodations

Housing Accommodation Deadlines

Supporting documentation for the upcoming academic year should be submitted to the Office of Accessibility Resources by the following deadlines. Please note that current and updated documentation may be required.

• First-year students: Before June 1
• Sophomores, juniors and seniors: Before March 1
• Transfer students/returning from leave:
  • Fall: Before July 1
  • Spring: Before Dec. 1

Note: The University will make every attempt to accommodate a student's housing needs. However, if the request is submitted after the deadline, an accommodation might not be met.

Requesting a Housing Accommodation

Step 1

Complete the Disability Accommodation Request Form. You will be prompted to upload documentation (see Documentation Requirements below). If you do not have documentation available at the time you complete the form, you may email or fax them to:

Office of Accessibility Resources
OAR@bucknell.edu
Fax: 570-577-1826

Step 2

The director will review all information and documentation and assess the status and necessity of the request in approximately 10 business days. You will receive notification regarding your application status to your Bucknell email account. This notification will include instructions regarding the next steps that should be taken to complete registration.

Step 3

To complete registration, you may be asked to attend a meeting or have a phone call with the director of the Office of Accessibility Resources. During this meeting, your needs will be discussed and further information may be requested to help the director determine if an accommodation is reasonable or not.

Step 4

If the request is approved, the Office of Accessibility Resources will notify Housing Services. Housing Services will provide student a housing assignment that meets the accommodation need (if the process was completed within the deadline).

If the requester is a sophomore, junior or senior, the student completes Housing Service's Room Selection process to be placed with friends or select other housing options. If a student selects a space during Room Selection that does not meet their accommodation need, the accommodation may be forfeited. Specific information about how students with accommodations should navigate Room Selection is shared in the Room Selection Guide.

Documentation Requirement

To determine necessary accommodations the Director of OAR considers the following four factors: the student-completed Disability Accommodation Request form, supporting documentation, specific nature of the disability and the functional limitations of the disability. The following information identifies the documentation required to be submitted to the OAR:

Notes for Documenting Professionals

The specific format for reporting information is left to the professional, but the requested information must be clearly presented, easy to discern and mirror the information captured on the Disability Accommodation Request Form. Quality documentation should adhere to the following:

• A qualified professional must conduct the evaluation. The name, title and professional credentials of the evaluator, including information about license or certification as well as the area of specialization, employment and state or province in which the individual practices should be clearly stated in the documentation. It is not considered appropriate for professionals to evaluate members of their own family. Prescription pad notes do not typically provide the information required.
• The documentation must include a clear diagnostic statement that describes how the condition was diagnosed, provide information about the functional impact and detail the typical progression or prognosis of the condition.
• The documentation must include a description of the diagnostic criteria, evaluation methods, procedures, tests and dates of administration, as well as a clinical narrative, observation and specific results. When appropriate to the nature of the disability, having both summary data and specific labs or other such information within the report is essential.
• The documentation must be recent (within past five years) and age-appropriate so as to determine the need for accommodations and/or services based on the individual's current level of functioning. The diagnostic report should include specific recommendations for accommodations and/or adjustments as well as an explanation as to why each accommodation is recommended. The evaluators should describe the impact the diagnosed disability has on a specific major life activity as well as the degree of significance of this impact on the individual. The evaluator should support recommendations with specific test results or clinical observations.
• It is the responsibility of the student to obtain their documentation and to either upload documentation into the Office of Accessibility Resources online Accommodate portal via the Disability Accommodation Request form or submit it directly to the Office of Accessibility Resources. If assistance is needed, please contact the Office of Accessibility Resources. Any correspondence regarding the adequacy of the submitted documentation will be sent to the student's Bucknell email account. It is the student's responsibility to obtain additional information or clarification if requested.

All documentation will be kept in the student's Accommodate portal, which will uphold the student's confidentiality. The Office of Accessibility Resources will share information with University staff only on an as-needed basis. If the documentation is not complete, then the Office of Accessibility Resources may not be able to proceed with a review.