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Housing and Residential Experience

Requests for ADA Accommodations and other Special Requests

Vanderbilt University is a residential campus for undergraduates and the residential experience is understood to be an integral part of a Vanderbilt education. This commitment to residential education is clearly expressed in the University’s residential requirement:

“All unmarried undergraduate students must live in residence halls on campus during the academic year, May session, and Summer sessions. Authorization to live elsewhere is granted at the discretion of the Director of Housing Assignments in special situations or when space is unavailable on campus.” (Student Handbook)

Housing and Residential Experience partners with Student Access (SA) to ensure consistency in evaluating requests for reasonable accommodation in housing. Students with physical, psychological, or other disability-related limitations who would like to be considered for reasonable accommodations under the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 and/or Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, will need to submit a request to Student Access via the Commodore Access Portal. Student Access will review all ADA requests and share approved student accommodations with Housing Assignments. Students with approved ADA accommodations will be offered a housing assignment that meets the documented and approved need, as determined by SA. The SA website provides information for students regarding reasonable accommodations, documentation guidelines, and other information about the office.

All students who request reasonable accommodation in housing due to a physical, psychological or other disability impairment must submit documentation to the SA office. SA documentation requirements are provided on the SA website. Housing Assignments does not accept any documentation or housing requests regarding a student’s physical, psychological or other disability-related condition.

If SA determines that a student is eligible for reasonable accommodation in housing, Housing Assignments will contact the student about their assignment. Housing Assignments makes every effort to make appropriate and reasonable assignment as recommended by the SA.  To ensure SA approved accommodations are met, please be sure to submit required documentation by the deadlines provided below.  Late requests will not be considered until the housing assignment process is complete.

All students with temporary accommodations should follow up with SA by the deadlines below if an accommodation is needed for future housing.

Key Dates:

  • November 1, 2024 – Deadline for students returning to Vanderbilt for the spring 2025 semester (fall 2024 study abroad participants, internship participants, and students on a leave of absence) to submit requests for a reasonable accommodation.  Students residing on campus for the fall of 2024 do not need to resubmit documentation for the spring 2025 semester.
  • December 1, 2024 – Deadline for all continuing students to submit requests for reasonable accommodation for the 2025-2026 academic year.
  • Early February 2025 – Students with APPROVED 2025-2026 housing accommodations will be contacted by Housing Assignments. Unless otherwise noted, all previously approved accommodations are for a student’s housing tenure and students do not need to reapply for housing accommodations.
  • June 1, 2025 – Deadline for all incoming fall 2025 first-year and transfer students to submit requests for reasonable accommodation for the 2025-2026 academic year.