Students who would like to request a disability related housing and/or dining accommodation should follow the process outlined below.
Directions for Students
- Complete the standard housing application and pay housing deposit by established housing deadlines through Panther Central.
- Request Housing and/or Dining accommodations by Applying for Services through the online DRS application.
- Provide Housing/Dining Accommodation Request Form and/or Request for Support Animal in University Housing to your provider for completion. The following documentation forms are available as a guide. DRS will review all formats of documentation submitted. The completed documentation can be uploaded directly to your online DRS application.
DRS recognizes there is a wide array of dietary needs of the campus community. As a service to students, DRS, Compass, Pitt Eats, and Student Health Services have collaborated to create a streamlined process to address your dietary requirements without the need to formally apply for an accommodation or submit any related documentation. By completing the Dietary Needs Survey, you will have the opportunity to participate in a personalized meeting with our Campus Dietician to identify safe and healthy food options available at the University.
PLEASE NOTE: this streamlined process is entirely voluntary and any student preferring instead to formally submit a request for a reasonable accommodation through the established DRS process is permitted to do so without first pursuing this streamlined process.
Allergy-Related Dietary Restriction Request for University Sponsored Events/Programs
Students who have an allergy-related dietary restriction and wish to request allergen-free food at a University sponsored event or program (note: this only applies to events or programs that will be serving food to others), please submit the completed Allergy-Related Dietary Restriction Request-University Event/Program form at least 5 business days in advance of the scheduled event date.
Please note that the University will work to provide food adequate to fulfill the request and to work with vendors to minimize the risk of cross-contamination, but the University cannot guarantee that all such risk can be completely eliminated.
Additional Information
- Requests are due February 1 for returning students and June 1 for new students.
- DRS reviews student requests in consultation with Panther Central, Dining Services, the University’s nutritionist and head chef, and appropriate medical/psychological specialists, if needed.
- Decisions are determined on an individualized basis upon review of information provided by the student and their medical provider. DRS reserves the right to request additional documentation and/or meet with the student, if such information is needed to make an accommodation decision.
- The University’s priority will always be to accommodate students’ documented disability-related needs over specific roommate and/or building requests.
- Requests not made within a reasonable time frame may result in the University not being able to provide the requested accommodation.
- All requests will receive a response in writing to the student’s University email address.