- 34 - Screen Removal Screens are not to be removed. Damage to window screens caused by opening and closing will be charged as other damages. Replacement costs vary from building to building. Service/Assistance Animal Policy Northern State University residence halls are covered under the Fair Housing Act (FHA) and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (Section 504) in addition to the ADA. The FHA addresses assistance animals as follows: An assistance animal is not a pet. It is an animal that works, provides assistance, or performs tasks for the benefit of a person with a disability, or provides emotional support that alleviates one or more identified symptoms or effects of a person’s disability. Assistance animals perform many disability-related functions, including but not limited to, guiding individuals who are blind or have low vision, alerting individuals who are deaf or hard of hearing to sounds, providing protection or rescue assistance, pulling a wheelchair, fetching items, alerting persons to impending seizures, or providing emotional support to persons with disabilities who have a disability-related need for such support. For purposes of reasonable accommodation requests, neither the FHA nor Section 504 requires an assistance animal to be individually trained or certified. While dogs are the most common type of assistance animal, other animals can also be assistance animals. The Office of Accesibility Services will evaluate a request for a reasonable accommodation to possess an assistance animal in a residence hall using the general principles applicable to all reasonable accommodation requests. Requests must be made in writing at least 45 days prior to the start of classes in order to accommodate the student making the request but also the residents of the building. The following forms and documents are necessary to complete your request: • NSU Service and Assistance Animal Acknowledgement, Information and Registration Form • Sample Letter for Assistance Animal Evaluation is based on the following two questions: 1. Does the person seeking to use and live with the animal have a disability as defined by the ADA: a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activity? 2. Does the person making the request have a disability-related need for an assistance animal? • Does the animal work, provide assistance, perform tasks or services for the benefit of a person with a disability, or does the animal provide emotional support that alleviates one or more of the identified symptoms or effects of a person’s existing disability? Where the answers to questions (1) and (2) are “yes,” the FHA and Section 504 require the university to modify or provide an exception to a “no pets” rule or policy to permit a student with a disability to live with and use an assistance animal(s) in all areas of the premises where students are normally allowed to go, unless doing so would impose an undue financial and administrative burden.
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