Talking Stick - March/April 2012 - 50

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SPECIAL FOCUS

“We have to try and negotiate. I can’t see why the student with the allergy has to always be the one to move.” Though the issue of defining what can be categorized as a service animal is now looming large throughout the higher education community in the United States, the international community remains unaffected – for now. At the University of Alberta in Edmonton, Canada, service animals are always allowed and usually without problems, according to Christopher Fukushima, residence area coordinator of Lister Centre. The university even takes a step further by ensuring that students with animals live in a single unit without a shared bedroom or common space. “Typically we take students at their word that their animals are service animals. If there was any concern, like they said they had a service boa constrictor, we would ask for a physician’s note or that they go to the Specialized Support and Disability Services Office on campus to verify the need,” he says. Hall directors are allowed to have pets on a case-bycase basis, and students are allowed to have fish and small birds, depending on residential space. Fukushima says the bigger problem is when students who live in the various residential homes and apartments break their lease agreement and sneak in pets. In Australia, few residential officials recall a time when there was a problem allowing a service animal. However, there is still potentially discrepant legislation, as in the U.S., regarding campus housing. Australia’s national Disability Discrimination Act (DDA) affects higher education institutions and accommodation providers, both public and private. The act defines disability and assistance animals much as the ADA does. However, the South Australian Equal Opportunity Act (EOA) refers to a different class – therapeutic animals – which are similar to the emotional therapy animals referred to under the FHA. The EOA defines a therapeutic
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animal as “an animal certified by a medical practitioner as being required to assist a person as a consequence of the person’s disability.” This definition could apply to a variety of animals previously regarded as pets. Given the discrepant guidelines, could a case similar to that in Nebraska arise in South Australia? “To refuse a therapeutic animal, I believe, would be well within our rights under the DDA,” says Melissa Suckley, associate dean of Flinders Living at Flinders University in Bedford Park, South Australia. “However, from discussions with staff and colleagues I believe we would consider it as best we could rather than refusing it outright, and we would require that it be properly defined as a therapeutic animal within the EO Act before we made any agreements with regard to housing.” Jane E. Jarrow, disabilities and higher education consultant and former AHEAD (Association on Higher Education and Disability) executive director, told Inside Higher Ed that there have been more requests for service animals recently, but not all are grounded in real need. For now, when reviewing requests for any type of service animal the best action may be to review each on a case-by-case basis instead of immediately dismissing requests for emotional therapy animals. Evaluate how significant the need is for a specific animal versus the resulting complications, and proceed from there. Colleges and universities may soon be required to allow emotional therapy animals within their accommodations, but that may be just the first step. “Fair Housing is bigger than just the service animal issue, and that may just be the tip of the iceberg in terms of the government enforcing all Fair Housing Acts in on-campus housing. This includes all parts of the non-discrimination policies, which include steering,” Hallenbeck says. Steering is the act of directing,

guiding, or encouraging people to rent certain accommodations based on discrimination, and it is illegal action under the FHA. To avoid steering, staff members should not make discouraging statements and should not direct anyone to a specific type of housing that was unrequested; Hallenbeck and Luskin recommend showing all housing units and options. Nebraska’s defending counsel believes that the Department of Housing and Urban Development has overstepped its bounds by applying FHA regulations to university housing. Ada Meloy, counsel for the American Council on Education, told Inside Higher Ed that student housing is not the same as an apartment, and higher education institutions would have to completely revamp their established disability policies in order to comply with both ADA and HUD guidelines. According to Luskin, however, the issue is simple: Fair housing does not stop at the campus gates. “Many schools think that HUD does not apply to them. In my mind, that’s a time bomb waiting to explode,” he says. In the future, colleges and universities may be held to a higher standard of nondiscrimination in housing based on other FHA factors like familial status, which protects adults with children under 18. “I’m just concerned that if we shake the tree too hard then people are going to be looking at other aspects of fair housing. It’s easier for us to comply as a profession on an equitable basis,” Luskin says. ts
Kristen Lott
is the editorial intern for Talking Stick.



Talking Stick - March/April 2012

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Talking Stick - March/April 2012

Talking Stick - March/April 2012
Contents
New Member Highlight
Vision
Just In
Your ACUHO-I
Transitions
Res Life
Special Focus
Regroup
Calendar
Building Retention
Locker Room Talk
Conversations
First Takes
Reporting Out
Welcome
Snapshot
Talking Stick - March/April 2012 - BB1
Talking Stick - March/April 2012 - BB2
Talking Stick - March/April 2012 - Talking Stick - March/April 2012
Talking Stick - March/April 2012 - Cover2
Talking Stick - March/April 2012 - 1
Talking Stick - March/April 2012 - 2
Talking Stick - March/April 2012 - Contents
Talking Stick - March/April 2012 - New Member Highlight
Talking Stick - March/April 2012 - 5
Talking Stick - March/April 2012 - Vision
Talking Stick - March/April 2012 - 7
Talking Stick - March/April 2012 - Just In
Talking Stick - March/April 2012 - 9
Talking Stick - March/April 2012 - 10
Talking Stick - March/April 2012 - 11
Talking Stick - March/April 2012 - 12
Talking Stick - March/April 2012 - Your ACUHO-I
Talking Stick - March/April 2012 - Transitions
Talking Stick - March/April 2012 - 15
Talking Stick - March/April 2012 - 16
Talking Stick - March/April 2012 - 17
Talking Stick - March/April 2012 - Res Life
Talking Stick - March/April 2012 - 19
Talking Stick - March/April 2012 - 20
Talking Stick - March/April 2012 - Special Focus
Talking Stick - March/April 2012 - 22
Talking Stick - March/April 2012 - 23
Talking Stick - March/April 2012 - Regroup
Talking Stick - March/April 2012 - 25
Talking Stick - March/April 2012 - 26
Talking Stick - March/April 2012 - Calendar
Talking Stick - March/April 2012 - Building Retention
Talking Stick - March/April 2012 - 29
Talking Stick - March/April 2012 - 30
Talking Stick - March/April 2012 - 31
Talking Stick - March/April 2012 - 32
Talking Stick - March/April 2012 - 33
Talking Stick - March/April 2012 - 34
Talking Stick - March/April 2012 - 35
Talking Stick - March/April 2012 - Locker Room Talk
Talking Stick - March/April 2012 - 37
Talking Stick - March/April 2012 - 38
Talking Stick - March/April 2012 - 39
Talking Stick - March/April 2012 - 40
Talking Stick - March/April 2012 - 41
Talking Stick - March/April 2012 - 42
Talking Stick - March/April 2012 - 43
Talking Stick - March/April 2012 - Conversations
Talking Stick - March/April 2012 - 45
Talking Stick - March/April 2012 - 46
Talking Stick - March/April 2012 - First Takes
Talking Stick - March/April 2012 - Reporting Out
Talking Stick - March/April 2012 - 49
Talking Stick - March/April 2012 - 50
Talking Stick - March/April 2012 - 51
Talking Stick - March/April 2012 - 52
Talking Stick - March/April 2012 - 53
Talking Stick - March/April 2012 - Welcome
Talking Stick - March/April 2012 - 55
Talking Stick - March/April 2012 - Snapshot
Talking Stick - March/April 2012 - Cover3
Talking Stick - March/April 2012 - Cover4
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