If you have special housing needs due to a disability or documented medical condition, or if your spouse, partner, or child is disabled, you can apply for early assignment. The deadine to submit the disability accommodation request and your housing applicaiton is April 17, 2009. We place students with special needs in housing before beginning the regular assignment process.

You should file a Disability/Medical Accommodation Request if your disability or medical condition requires:

• A particular housing assignment that the regular assignment process cannot ensure.
• A special room type or location (i.e., for instance, a room accessible by ramps or elevator, or a room on the first floor).
• Special accommodations such as strobe lights, door openers, and rails in the room.

Submitting a Disability/Medical Accommodation Request does not automatically guarantee you a space in University housing. You must submit a request annually since housing policies and medical conditions may change from year to year.
To be considered for a disability/medical exemption, be sure to:

1. File a Disability Accommodation Request with the Office of Accessible Education by the application deadline.
2. Specify in your housing application that you are willing to live in any residence or room that meets your medical needs.

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In some cases, you may need to participate in the regular housing assignment process. However, you will be given a priority that will ensure your assignment to a particular type of housing space that meets your documented medical needs.

If you are assigned to University housing after you submit an application with a Disability/Accommodation request, you relinquish your right to participate in other assignment rounds.

Generally, the same policies that govern standard assignments also govern Disability/Medical Accommodation assignments. Visit: How graduate housing is assigned.

In addition, Housing Assignments staff bases Disability/Medical Accommodation assignments on the recommendation of the Office of Accessible Education. Final accommodation decisions rest with the University.

In order to receive consideration for auxiliary aids, services, academic or housing accommodations based on a disability, you must submit information documenting the disability to the Office of Accessible Education (OAE).

Documentation contents
The documentation must be written on the professional’s official letterhead, with the professional’s license number. The report must include the following information:

1. Specific diagnosis and description of the disability, including an indication of the duration of the disability.
2. Names of any tests that were given to determine the disability.
3. Description of any treatment that the student is undergoing or has undergone related to the disability.
4. Description of the probable impact of the disability in a university setting. It is not necessary to make recommendations about a specific accommodation.

To protect your privacy and ensure confidentiality, all professional documentation is kept at all times in a locked, confidential file at the OAE. The OAE will never send a professional report without your signature on a form titled, “Release of Information.”

Your Program Coordinator will work with you to determine what information needs to be shared with University staff and faculty, on an “as needed basis,” in order to assess and/or facilitate academic accommodations or other services. Occasionally the OAE needs clarification and will request additional information.

University employees have an obligation to maintain confidentiality regarding a student’s disability, including a student’s housing assignment based on documented medical needs. To that end, the Office of Accessible Education will provide information to University staff only when necessary in evaluating and/or facilitating accommodations, auxiliary aids, and/or services. Except where provided by applicable law, disability information will not be shared with non-employees without the student’s express written permission.

If you are granted an exempt assignment, Housing Assignments notifies your new residence office only of your assignment and the physical amenities needed in your new room/apartment.

If you study abroad, stop out, or take a planned leave of absence, you must:

1. File a Termination of Occupancy form by the deadline listed in your Residence Agreement.
2. Inform Housing Assignments.
3. Inform the Office of Accessible Education.

If you plan to return to campus during the year, contact Housing Assignments by the deadline to join the appropriate Waiting List.

If your disability accommodation request was approved in May and you are guaranteed housing, Housing Assignments will meet your documented needs when you return to Stanford. However, there is no guarantee that you will be assigned to the same residence, room, or room type you vacated. Also, if you originally were assigned to housing with a group, you very likely will not be assigned to the same residence after you return.

If you live on campus and have a newly-diagnosed condition or changes to a previously-documented condition, you may request reassignment to another type of room or residence. Reassignments are made on a space-available basis and only for the student whose disability needs change—not for a group.

By filing a request for reassignment, you are indicating that:

• It is medically necessary for you to be reassigned.

• You are willing to live in any residence that meets your disability/medical needs.

Therefore, if your request is approved and you are reassigned, you may not refuse it by deciding to remain in your previous residence.