Differences Between Housing Preferences and Accommodations Requests

When students first enroll at Marymount, they are encouraged to submit at the same time both their:

  • Housing preferences to Residential Life & Housing – Office of Student Living
  • Housing disabilities accommodation needs to the Student Access Services office.

A housing preference reflects what the student would like to have and what is likely to improve their living space experience even if they have a disability.

  • If a student has a housing preference, they should focus their request with Residential Life & Housing – Office of Student Living (click for more info).

A housing need reflects the necessity for SAS to remove or reduce the impact of a barrier caused by a disability. That barrier prevents the student from engaging in a living space in the same way as a person who does not have a disability. For example, if a student can’t use a standard bathroom shower because they are a wheelchair user, then that shower’s configuration represents a barrier to their being able to wash.

  • If a student has a disabilities-related housing need that modifies aspects of residential life to lessen or eliminate the impact of impairments, then it would be necessary to work with SAS (click for more info).
  • When contacting SAS, the difference between a preference-based and a needs-based request is that a student’s need should be supported by clinical documentation that logically outlines the critical nature of the housing modification proposed.

SAS determines housing accommodations based upon the student’s disability-related needs. Before making a needs-based decision, SAS must first review a student’s clinical documentation and meet with her/him/them to properly frame the accommodations needed. If all is in order and the student’s accommodations requests are SAS approved, then:

  • SAS sends an email to Residential Life & Housing – Office of Student Living, which details the accommodations the student is authorized to use.
  • Residential Life & Housing; Office of Student Living then, in turn, offers the student a suitable room assignment.

Students with SAS housing accommodations are not necessarily guaranteed a location in campus housing assignment if the accommodations approved are not available in that particular location.

  • When a student’s accommodations require a specific type or sized physical space, such as a private/semi-private bathroom, that student is placed in an available housing unit even if it is not in the building the student requested to reside.
  • In rare cases where a student’s space accommodations cannot be met, the student might be released from the on-campus residential housing requirement.