Documentation is necessary for DSS to validate a confirmed diagnosis that qualifies as a disability, understand its significant impacts in the campus environment, and make informed decisions about accommodations. 

To have a request considered by DSS, certified documentation from a qualified professional must be provided before a meeting can take place. 

  • What Determines a Qualified Professional? (click to expand)

    • A provider must have comprehensive training and experience in the relevant specialty and hold appropriate licensure and/or certification
    • A provider should have familiarity with the history and functional limitations of the student's condition(s) and ability to provide detailed information about the substantial nature and level of impairment and its impact on major life functions
    • A provider cannot be a family member, relative, or someone with a primarily personal relationship with the student or student's family
    • Providers may be members of a student’s high school education team who have conducted assessments and completed a comprehensive report of findings
    • Generally, documentation of a diagnosis from a pediatrician is not sufficient without additional supporting documentation
 
For Academic, Housing, Dining, and ESA requests, DSS recommends that your provider complete a Clinical Care Provider Form (click to download).
Your provider may write a letter instead, but it must include the information requested on the form and be on official letterhead. 


The Clinical Care Provider Form provides a comprehensive understanding of a student's diagnosed disability or condition; to identify what barriers, challenges, or functional limitations may impact a student's experience; and to comprehend what care and treatment is being provided. This must be completed by a qualified provider and the text must be legible. 

 
For each type of accommodations request, please note the specific documentation requested:

  • Academic Accommodations

    • Prior evaluations, completed by either their school district or private provider within the last three years (ideally) using adult-normed assessments
      • Ex: Neuropsychological, psychoeducational, audiology, etc. 
    • An Individualized Educational Plan (IEP) or 504 plan from a previous educational setting may be submitted as a secondary document.  If the IEP contains recent educational and psychological assessment results, this may be sufficient.

  • Housing Accommodations

    • Documentation that demonstrates the substantial barriers presented by a communal, shared living environment
    • Documentation that provides details about substantial functional limitations to major life activities that may impact their full participation in an on-campus housing program
     

  • Dining Accommodations

    • Documentation that shows substantial barriers presented by a communal dining experience
    • Documentation that clarifies the substantial functional limitations to major life activities or health functions that may impact their participation in a meal plan program
    • For Allergies: a comprehensive food allergy test report and the clinician's interpretation of the report
    • For Special Diets: a comprehensive list of foods/ingredients that they must avoid and a list of foods/ingredients that they should consume to adhere to the parameters of a specified diet
     

  • Foreign Language Substitution

    • Neuropsychological or psychoeducational report, which delineates skill deficites which impact on the ability to learn a foreign language, such as the following assessments:
      • Woodcock Johnson Test of Achievement and Language
      • Comprehensive Tests of Phonological Processing
      • Test of Adolescent and Adult Language
      • Wechsler Individual Achievement Test
    • Documentation to verify the diagnosis of a disability which specifically impacts the ability to learn a foreign language, such as hearing impairment
       

  • Emotional Support Animal

    A certified clinician must specialize in a field consistent with the diagnosis, as well as be familiar with the student and their disability. Documentation from this clinician should include:
    • Documentation that lists any type of training received in the area of human-animal bond in counseling according to the American Counseling Association, Animal Assisted Therapy in Counseling Competencies (ACA AAT-C)
    • Clinician's opinion concerning the necessity of the Support Animal for the Owner to use or enjoy campus housing
    • Clinician's assessment of the relationship between the Owner’s disability and the relief the assistance animal provides
    • Current vaccination and sterilization records
    • Current veterinary information

    Click here to learn more about the Emotional Support Animal process.

  

Updated July 2025