The University of Evansville recognizes the value and need of service animals to assist some students with disabilities. Service animals can be defined as a dog or miniature horse that are trained to do work or perform tasks for people with disabilities. Service animals are working animals, not pets. The work or task that the animal has been trained to perform must be related to the person’s disability. Animals whose sole function is to provide comfort or emotional support do not qualify as service animals under the Americans with Disabilities Act.

Students enrolled in classes may voluntarily register their service animal with Disability Services. While this is not required, it may aide the student in accessing the University premises and will allow our office to prepare a safe and healthy environment for the student, their service animal, and others.

Students must give Disability Services at least a 30-day notice if they intend to have a service animal with them in campus housing so that appropriate arrangements regarding placement and roommates can be made.

Service Animal Protocol and Agreement

It is recognized that emotional support animals can provide valuable support to students with properly documented disabilities. Since the animal is not a service animal as defined by the Americans with Disabilities Act, the University needs to review documentation to determine if the request for this accommodation is a reasonable and appropriate accommodation under the Fair Housing Act.

The University will work with students to help define the role and the place of emotional support animal(s) at the University of Evansville. A requesting individual should provide our office with appropriate documentation for the emotional support animal at least 30 days before housing will be needed. Written requests should be submitted to Debbie Brenton, Coordinator of Disability Services.

Process for Requesting an Emotional Support Animal

Emotional Support Animal Protocol and Agreement

Attendance is an important component of the learning process in higher education. In most cases, class attendance is critical to the student’s mastery of the knowledge and skills that are taught in a specific course. Recognizing that some students with disabilities may have difficulty attending class occasionally due to conditions that are chronic and episodic in nature, Disability Services has established the following procedure for evaluating requests for modified attendance as an accommodation.

Modified Attendance Accommodation