PLU Accessibility and Accommodation Housing

Changes to the Accessibility and Accommodation Application (for academic year 2024-2025)

Beginning the 2024-2025 academic year, students will not be required to submit an Accessibility and Accommodation Application to renew previously approved accommodations. Students who are currently approved for specific housing accommodations through the Accessibility and Accommodation process will be approved indefinitely upon their initial approval by Campus Life. However, students who are qualified for Emotional Support Animals (ESA) will be required to renew their ESA Agreement and submit updated vaccination records each year to be fully approved to have their animal on campus. Students who fail to complete an ESA Agreement for the academic year will not be permitted to have their ESA on campus with them upon move-in.

Students submitting an Accessibility and Accommodation application for Spring 2024 should use this link to apply. Please continue reading below for instructions for applying for new or additional accommodations for the 2024-2025 academic year.

Pacific Lutheran University encourages students to plan for housing that will help them achieve their academic goals and learn the responsibilities of living in a community. While many students perceive a benefit from having a single room or apartment, PLU has limitations on housing space that impact the number of single living options available at any given time. Because some students have unique medical or psychological needs that may impact on-campus living options, a process is in place to assist them with requesting special need-based housing arrangements.

Students who wish to apply for a need-based housing accommodation must submit the following information through the Accessibility and Accommodation Application through eRezLife. The information and documents described below will be submitted/attached through this online application. Please read through the information below before starting your online application:

The medical documentation must:

1. be prepared by a licensed professional (e.g., nurse practitioner, physician, psychiatrist, psychologist, ophthalmologist, etc.). The documentation must be on professional letterhead, signed, dated, and include the licensed professional’s title, address, and phone number. It must provide a range of dates for which care was provided relating to this diagnosis.

2. be current. The documentation should be recent, preferably within the last 3-6 months, depending on the nature of the condition.

3. present clear and specific evidence which identifies:

a. the student’s needs;

b. their present level of functioning; and

c. how the student’s health, academic performance, and/or activities of daily living may be impacted if the request is not met.

The relationship between the student’s needs and the requested action must be identified. Specific needs related to single rooms, bathroom facilities or location within a building should be specifically addressed in this documentation.

Please note: Even if the committee finds a student qualified for their requested accommodations, Pacific Lutheran University can only offer the student spaces that are currently available at the time the application is submitted and approved.

FAQ for Accommodations (beginning 2024-2025)

How Do I Request Accommodations for the 2024-2025 Academic Year?

If you are planning on living on campus for the 2024-2025 academic year, you must complete the 2024-2025 Learning Community Housing Application. This will notify our office that you plan to live on campus and our office will automatically apply any previously approved accommodations to your housing request.

Please note the following deadlines for housing applications

  • Upper Division Housing Applications must be submitted by February 15, 2024 at 11:59PM
    • Applications received after this deadline will not receive priority for either assignment or waitlist consideration regardless of accommodation approval. If you would like to live in either Harstad Hall or South Hall for the 2024-2025 academic year, you must complete this application by the February 15th deadline.
  • Traditional Hall Housing Applications must be submitted by March 21, 2024 at 11:59PM

I am currently approved for housing accommodations (academic year 2023-2024). Do I need to renew my accommodations through eRezLife?

Students who are approved for accommodations for the 2023-2024 academic year will be qualified for their same housing accommodations for the 2024-2025 academic year, and will not need to apply for a renewal of accommodations, if they are requesting the same housing accommodations as they are currently approved for.

If you would like to request additional accommodations, you will need to complete a new Accessibility and Accommodation Application through eRezLife that includes updated documentation from your provider recommending the additional accommodations you are requesting.

What do additional accommodations include?

Additional accommodations may include but is not limited to:

  • Requesting a private bathroom or kitchen to a previously approved single room accommodation
  • Requesting an ESA accommodation to a previously approved single room accommodation
  • Requesting a single room accommodation to a previously approved ESA accommodation

Please note that all new accommodations requests will require updated documentation from your provider recommending the additional accommodations you are requesting.

Emotional Support Animals: How do I renew the ESA Agreement?

The ESA Agreement is a yearly agreement that must be renewed each year, along with updated vaccination records [for animals that receive vaccinations], even if you are bringing the same animal as previous years. Campus Life has moved to making the ESA Agreement a digital form for students to complete on eRezLife. Students can complete this form by selecting “Completing or Renewing ESA Agreement” in the Applicant Status field.

The ESA Agreement is the same form as the previous physical form students completed and allows students to upload vaccination records for those that require them. Students will also be able to name any known roommates with instructions for how to complete the Roommate Agreement. As a reminder students with roommates will be required to have roommate consent for the ESA before being fully approved to have the ESA on campus.