Assistance Animals
In compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and the Fair Housing Act, the University of North Dakota welcomes service animals on campus.
Students with service animals may register their animal with Student Disability Resources, but are not required to do so. Students who wish to bring an emotional support animal to campus due to a disability, are required to apply for services and engage in the interactive process prior to bringing their animal to live on campus. Please see additional information below about these two types of animals and related processes and policies.
Service Animals
The ADA defines a service animal as “any dog that is individually trained to do work or perform tasks for the benefit of an individual with a disability, including a physical, sensory, psychiatric, intellectual, or other mental disability. Other species of animals, whether wild or domestic, trained or untrained, are not service animals for the purposes of this definition.
The work or tasks performed by a service animal must be directly related to the handler's disability…” From: Department of Justice Revised ADA Regulations Implementing Title II and Title III, Federal Register, September 15, 2010 (Volume 75, Number 178).
Emotional Support Animal
An emotional support animal (ESA) is an animal that provides comfort and alleviates one or more symptoms of a person’s disability. ESAs are different from service animals. Unlike service animals, ESAs are not trained to perform specific tasks and are not covered under the ADA for general campus access.
However, under the Fair Housing Act (FHA), students with documented disabilities may request an exception to UND’s housing No Pets policy to live with an ESA in campus housing.
Request Process and Required Documentation
This request must be approved as a housing accommodation through Student Disability Resources. Please note, some certain types of animals may not be permitted on campus as an approved ESA due to the risk they may post to other members of the campus community.
Process When Student Disability Resources Has Approved the Use of an ESA
To request an ESA as a disability accommodation, you must submit your application to Student Disability Resources, submit appropriate documentation regarding your ESA, and attend your initial meeting with your Access Coordinator. If an ESA is approved, it is the responsibility of the student to inform roommate(s), floormates, or suitemates of the presence of an ESA.
Animals are approved on a yearly basis; you may be asked to submit updated documentation.
If you wish to change to a different ESA than the one approved, you must submit a new request for review with additional information from your care provider that verifies the disability-related need for a different animal.
Animals on Campus Policy
If you have questions or concerns about animals on campus, please review the Animals on Campus Policy for detailed information.
Frequently Asked Questions
Please refer to the Animals on Campus policy.
A student with a disability who requires the assistance of a service animal is not required to make an accommodation request to have their service animal present in the classroom, University housing, or in other public areas of campus. There may be areas where a service animal is denied entry due to a substantial and direct threat to health and safety. For more information, refer to the Animals on Campus policy.
The student applies with Student Disability Resources and provides the necessary documentation required to determine eligibility for consideration of an Emotional Support Animal accommodation request.