Accommodations and Support Services
Support services are provided on an individual basis and the types of services provided depend on the student’s documented needs.
The accommodations and support services may include:
- Academic Advising
- Adaptive Equipment
- Alternative Format Materials
- Assistive Listening Devices
- Emotional Support Animals
- Housing Accommodations
- Note-Taking
- Parking
- Real Time Captioning
- Sign Language Interpreters
- Testing Accommodations
- Sensory Assistance
- Testing Room Assistant Aids
To obtain these services, students must complete a number of steps which include:
- Identify as a student with a disability – Once a student identifies as having a disability this initiates the process for receiving accommodations
- Gather documentation of identified disability from a qualified professional ex; detailed letter from physician describing diagnosis and recommended accommodations on the practitioners office letterhead
- Meet with the Associate Director of the office of Accessibility Resources and Services to submit documentation
- Complete required forms to request accommodations
Housing Accommodations
Students that require a single room and/or a single bathroom in one of the residence halls must contact the Office of Accessibility Resources and Services to make a formal request. There will be an additional cost for a single room.
The Office of Accessibility Resources and Services in partnership with Residence Life provides reasonable accommodations for on campus university housing for students with documented disabilities. Students needing the housing accommodations must indicate the need on their housing application or by contacting the Office of Accessibility Resources and Services at 973-596-5417 or via email oars@njit.edu The student that is requesting accommodations will be required to provide medical documentation from an appropriate medical, psychological or other professional health care practitioner.
When the request is processed, the student will be notified of the status and if approved, will be notified of an appropriate housing assignment based upon vacancies available at that time. Please note that all requests for housing accommodations for the academic year must be submitted by July 1st. The deadline for housing accommodations requests to begin in the spring semester is December 1st. If a student is in need of an over night single room/bathroom accommodation for New Student Orientation (NSO) please call the Office of Accessibility Resources and Services at 973-596-5417.
Emotional Support Animals
An Emotional Support Animal (ESA) is prescribed or otherwise documented by a healthcare practitioner as part of treatment or recovery for an individual with a disability. Students who desire to bring an ESA to live with them in one of the residence halls must contact the Office of Accessibility Resources and Services, schedule an appointment and provide required documentation from the healthcare practitioner and veterinarian. All applications for ESA's to reside in the residence halls will be reviewed on a case by case basis by the Office of Accessibility Resources and Services in consultation with the Office of Residence Life. The request for an emotional support animal must be renewed each academic year. Please contact the Office of Accessibility Resources and Services for further information regarding ESA's.
Service Animals
Per the Americans with Disabilities Act a service animal is defined as: A dog that is individually trained to do work or perform tasks for people with disabilities
Responsibilities of Owner
- To attend to and be in full control and custody of the service animal at all times
- A service animal must have a harness or leash
- Can be required to pay for any damages the service animal causes
- Responsible for removing any waste from the service animal
- If a student is training an animal, he/she must register with the Office of Accessibility Resources and Services. In addition, the student must provide documentation of licensing, vaccination of the animal and information regarding the training organization. It is strongly recommended that students contact a reputable training organization to begin training and to ensure that the animal is indeed ready to meet and exceed behavioral expectations.
- Service animals in training have the same rights as service animals. Service animals in training are expected to behave on the same level as an already trained service animal and abide by all campus.
Owners must adhere to the New Jersey laws regarding licensing
https://www.nj.gov/health/vph/dog-licensing/
University Community
- Must allow service animals in all buildings on campus except where there is a health, safety or environmental hazard
- Contact the Office of Accessibility Resources and Services if there are questions or concerns
- Report any service animals that exhibit inappropriate behavior or owners that mistreat their service animals to the NJIT Department of Public Safety
- There are only two questions that can be asked regarding service animals: Is the service animal required because of a disability? What work or task is the dog trained to perform?
- Please do not ask questions about the owner's disability
- Please do not approach or attempt to pet the service animal as they are working and this could interfere with their task of assisting the owner
Placement Testing
Students are to email OARS for assistance prior to the exam if they require accommodations for Placement Testing.