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East Mississippi Community College seeks to comply with the letter, intent, and spirit of Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) of 1990. Section 504 and ADA require institutions not to discriminate against students with disabilities and to make all offerings and programs of the College accessible. East Mississippi Community College provides reasonable accommodations for students with disabilities through Disability Support Services (DSS). DSS verifies eligibility for accommodations and works with eligible students who have self-identified and provided current documentation.
Students should schedule an appointment with the designated DSS staff member on their respective campus to establish a plan for reasonable accommodations and services.
- Scooba Campus: Dr. Renyetta Johnson - (662) 476-5088 or (662) 476-5000
- Golden Triangle Campus: Dean LeAnn Alexander - (662) 243-1979 or (662) 243-1900
Comfort/Service Animal Policy
PURPOSE
This policy establishes restrictions of pets and other animals in campus housing in order to provide a safe and healthful environment for members of the campus community to study, work, and live.
This is in reference to Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act, Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973.
POLICY/PROCEDURE
Support animals are generally not allowed to accompany persons with disabilities in all public areas of East Mississippi Community College as a service animal is allowed to do, but a support animal may reside in College Housing, including accompanying such individual in all public or common use areas of College Housing, when it may be necessary to afford the person with a disability an equal opportunity to use and enjoy College Housing.
Before a support animal can move into Campus Housing with a person with a disability, a request must be submitted to East Mississippi Community College’s Housing Department and approval must be granted (preferably at least 30 days prior to move in). If the disability is not obvious, the Housing Department will require documentation from a licensed physician or mental health provider, including without limitation a qualified psychiatrist, social worker, or other mental health professional, to provide sufficient information for EMCC to determine:
- that the individual qualifies as a person with a disability (i.e., has a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities); and
- that the support animal is necessary to afford the person with a disability an equal opportunity to use and enjoy College Housing (i.e. that the animal would provide emotional support or other assistance that would ameliorate one or more symptoms or effects of the disability).
- A request for an accommodation to have a support animal must be made with each application for University Housing.
RESPONSIBILITIES OF PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES USING ASSISTANCE ANIMALS
The college is not responsible for the care or supervision of assistance animals. People with disabilities are responsible for the cost, care, and supervision of assistance animals including:
- Compliance with any laws pertaining to animal licensing, vaccination, and owner identification, including where applicable, immunization against rabies, distemper and parvovirus. All dogs must wear rabies vaccination tag.
- Keeping the animal under control and taking effective action when it is out of control; and
- Feeding and walking the animal, and disposing of its waste.
- There may also be additional requirements, as determined by the department of Housing and Residence Life, for animals residing in College Housing for protection, safety and welfare of other students.
EMCC will not require any surcharges or fees for assistance animals. However, a person with a disability may be charged for damage caused by an assistance animal to the same extent that EMCC would normally charge a person for the damage they cause.
People with disabilities who are accompanied by assistance animals must comply with the same college rules regarding noise, safety, disruption, and cleanliness as people without disabilities.
Failure to comply with any aspect of this policy may result in disciplinary action.
Exceptions and Exclusions:
EMCC may pose some restrictions on, and may even exclude, an assistance animal in certain instances. As noted above, support animals are generally not allowed indoors on EMCC’s campus other than in College Housing. Persons with disabilities may request approval to have the support animal accompany them to other campus areas as a reasonable accommodation. Such requests will be considered on a case-by-case basis consistent with applicable laws and should be made to the following:
- Students should make requests for approval of the support animal to be permitted in other campus areas to the Dean of Student Affairs office.
Any animal may be excluded from an area in which it was previously authorized to be in only if:
- It is out of control and effective action is not taken to control it;
- It is not housebroken (or in the case of a support animal that deposits waste in a designated cage or litter box, the owner fails to clean such cage or box such that the cleanliness of the room or area is not maintained); or
- It poses a direct threat to the health or safety of others that cannot be mitigated by reasonable modifications of policies, practices, or procedures, or the provision of auxiliary aids or services.
- It acts in a dangerous or aggressive manner toward people or other animals.
In considering whether an assistance animal poses a direct threat to the health or safety of others, EMCC will make an individualized assessment, based on reasonable judgment, current medical knowledge, or the best available objective evidence, to determine:
- The nature, duration, and severity of the risk;
- The probability that the potential injury will actually occur; and
- Whether reasonable modifications of policies, practices, procedures, or the provision of auxiliary aids or services, will mitigate the risk.
The Director of the Housing shall provide a written statement of explanation to any student with a disability if a determination is made that the presence of the person’s assistance animal would fundamentally alter the nature of a program, service, or activity.
In the event that restriction or removal of an assistance animal is determined to be necessary, the person with a disability will still be given the opportunity to participate in the service, program, or activity without having the assistance animal present.
Guidelines for the East Mississippi Community College Community:
To ensure equal access and nondiscrimination of people with disabilities, members of the EMCC community must abide by the following practices:
- Do not ask for details about a person’s disability(ies);
- Do not pet an assistance animal, as it distracts the animal from its work;
- Do not feed an assistance animal;
- Do not deliberately startle, tease, or taunt an assistance animal; and
- Do not separate or attempt to separate a person from his/her assistance animal.
If you have a disability that may be affected by the presence of animals, please contact the Student Affairs office. EMCC is committed to ensuring that the needs of all people with disabilities are met and will determine how to resolve any conflicts or problems as expeditiously as possible.
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