Housing Accommodations

The Center for Accessibility Resources & Disability Services works closely with Residential Life & Housing to respond to the individual needs of Barnard students with disabilities. Students who have been invited back to campus for Spring 2021 are welcome to submit a disability-related housing request; however, please review our Spring 2021 Information below carefully before submitting.

New admitted transfer students (Spring 2021 start):  the priority deadline for housing accommodation requests is Monday, December 21, 2020.

Housing options for Barnard students include rooms in traditional corridor-style and apartment suite-style residence halls in the neighborhood surrounding campus. All residential Barnard students are expected to follow College policies as well as College housing policies and procedures developed by Residential Life & Housing. Please note that students who have a guarantee of housing from Residential Life are prioritized for housing; however, students who do not have a guarantee of housing may apply for a housing accommodation and will be housed based on availability. 

All students are expected to evacuate immediately upon the sounding of the building fire alarm. Students with disabilities who need assistance evacuating from their residence hall are asked to self-identify to CARDS by filling out our Disability Evacuation Assistance Registration Form.

If you do not have a physical, visual, or hearing disability, but also still have a need for assistance in an emergency situation (i.e. unable to hear fire alarm as a heavy sleeper), please contact CARDS to discuss. Students with temporary disabilities are also strongly encouraged to fill out the Disability Evacuation Assistance Registration Form if there is any anticipation of difficulty with exiting the residence hall in the event of an emergency.

All students unable to self-evacuate will be required to meet with Barnard Public Safety for an individual training and drill. In an emergency situation, students unable to evacuate must call Barnard Public Safety at (212) 854-3362 at the sounding of a fire alarm and provide their name and location. In the event of an actual life-safety emergency which necessitates total evacuation, trained New York City Fire Department (NYFD) personnel will be dispatched and take responsibility.

CARDS will honor any summer housing accommodation requests for students who have had housing accommodations for the 2021-22 academic year approved through the prelottery process. 

The summer application will open March 8th, and all disability-related housing accommodation requests and supporting documentation for the Summer semester needs to be received by the CARDS priority housing accommodation deadline of March 22nd. Please note students must be registered with CARDS in order to be eligible to receive housing accommodations. 

Please note you do not need to submit an application if you are only requesting a single, kitchen access or air conditioning. All summer housing assignments will be singles with kitchen access and air conditioning. If you have other housing accommodation needs such as an accessible bathroom, please submit an application once it opens March 8th. 

RETURNING STUDENTS:

Please note CARDS will honor any previously approved housing accommodations for the 2020-21 academic year (e.g. those approved either during the 2020-2021 pre-lottery process or those approved over the summer for Fall 2020 housing). In these instances, you do not need to submit an additional request or documentation.

Registered students who previously made requests can verify which are approved by logging into your AIM profile and checking what is listed under the Housing Accommodation tab for 2020-2021. CARDS will make sure that Residential Life is informed of all current approved housing accommodations and that room assignments are made that meet approved accommodations. Building preferences may be noted in your Res Life Spring Housing Application in the StarRez portal.

Please also note that in light of current circumstances, all students will be assigned to singles. If a single is the only housing accommodation you had planned to request, it is not necessary to submit the request form or updated documentation for the Spring 2021 semester.

For new requests ONLY:

• The Spring housing accommodation request process is detailed below. Please read this carefully as our process has been updated.
• The priority deadline for all new requests and supporting documentation is November 10th. Requests and/or documentation submitted after this date will be considered strictly on a space-available basis.
• For newly admitted transfer students (Spring 2021 start);  the priority deadline for housing accommodation requests is Monday, December 21, 2020.
• For registered CARDS students:  please follow the process outlined below to request a new housing accommodation.
• For students not yet registered with CARDS: to request housing accommodations, please note you must be registered with CARDS. If you are not currently registered, please submit a CARDS application and a housing accommodation application, as well as supporting documentation that speaks to your diagnosis and functional limitations. Then schedule an intake appointment with your coordinator as soon as possible. 

Students who wish to apply for Spring 2021 housing must submit the Spring Housing Application on the Housing Portal by the November 5 priority deadline. If you are a newly admitted transfer student, the priority deadline is December 21, 2020. Note: the Housing application must submitted in addition to (not in place of) submitting the CARDS Housing Accommodation Application (below).

Spring 2021 Request Process:

• Submit the Spring 2021 Housing Accommodation Application in AIM.

• Submit supporting documentation from your medical provider that meets our documentation guidelines and that speaks to the disability-related housing need(s). Requests must be submitted via email to cards@barnard.edu.

• PRIORITY Deadline for Spring 2021 requests and supporting documentation: November 10th, 2020. Please note that any requests submitted after this date will be considered strictly on a space-available basis.

• For newly admitted transfer students (Spring 2021 start): the priority deadline for housing accommodation requests is Monday, December 21, 2020.

The CARDS Housing Accommodation Pre-lottery Process is NOW OPEN for 2021-2022 housing placements, with the expectation that the 2021-2022 housing lottery will take place as usual this coming March. Please note that while we anticipate being able to conduct the pre-lottery and lottery process as usual, these procedures and/or eventual room assignments may end up needing to shift in accordance with the College’s yet-to-be-determined plans for the 2021-2022 academic year.  

Pre-Lottery Process (January-March)

This is the earliest priority process, as students have not yet gone through housing selection for the next academic year. Pre-Lottery Housing Accommodation Applications are due February 3rd, 2021 and require an annual request along with updated annual documentation. We encourage all returning students to participate in this process as we are best able to accommodate specific needs through this process (as all students have not yet been assigned housing for the upcoming year). CARDS will review all housing accommodation applications with the Housing Accommodation Committee and relay all approved accommodations to Residence Life. Pre-Lottery placement offers are made on or before March 1 as the Housing Lottery will take place in April.

Timeframes for Pre-Lottery CARDS Review and Room Selection Guidelines

1. CARDS staff to review the request and schedule Disability Housing Accommodation Committee Meetings (2 weeks).
2. Disability Housing Accommodation Committee Meetings (2-3 weeks to review all requests).
3. CARDS staff/Res Life staff meet to finalize placements (1-2 weeks).
4. Placement decisions to be sent to students by end of February 2021
5. Students who are granted a Pre-Lottery assignment will have a designated deadline to submit a form to accept or decline the placement (in order to participate in the Housing Lottery instead).
6. Room Selection Registration takes place. ALL STUDENTS SEEKING CAMPUS HOUSING FOR ACADEMIC YEAR 2021-2022 MUST REGISTER FOR ROOM SELECTION, including students participating in the Housing Lottery and students who accepted an CARDS Pre-Lottery assignment or are planning on applying at a later date for a Disability Housing Accommodation through CARDS.
7. Housing Lottery for students who did not accept an CARDS placement or who did not apply for an accommodation prior to the Pre-Lottery deadline (specific dates pending -usually follows spring break).

Please note that we will review your building preferences when determining placement upon eligibility for housing accommodations, however, we cannot guarantee that we will be able to place you in your preferred building as placements are determined based on a variety of factors including types of requested accommodations, which may not be available in all buildings.

Forms submitted without proper documentation will not be eligible for housing accommodations. If you'd like to schedule a meeting with your CARDS Coordinator to discuss your specific situation or concerns regarding access to updated documentation, please do so at your earliest convenience.

Pull-ins and CARDS Group Clarifications (Pre-Lottery Requests Only)

When submitting Pre-Lottery Accommodation Requests, students who are Room-Selection eligible may request 1 pull-in (either roommate or suitemate). Students requesting accommodation may also mutually request to be grouped together for their assignment. This means that if you are going through CARDS housing and want to have a non-CARDS student as your pull-in you, may also request to live in the same group as a CARDS student who is going through CARDS housing as well. You may not select more than 1 pull-in but may form a group with another CARDS student going through CARDS housing with their pull-in.

Students who are opting to group themselves should discuss building preferences and their accommodation needs ahead of time as we will review any buildings selected by either CARDS student going through CARDS housing as applicable for the group. We may not be able to accommodate both CARDS students' needs within the same building, and in that case we would not be able to group you together. CARDS students who are not eligible for housing accommodations may not be selected as a suitemate unless that student is the only pull-in.

The selected pull-in or  CARDS grouping request must be requested when submitting the form; permission for a specific roommate or suitemate cannot be provided after accommodations have been granted and/or room assignments made.

In addition to filling out the Housing Accommodation Application linked above to request an accommodation, students must register with the Center for Accessibility Resources & Disability Services by having an intake meeting and supplying CARDS with supporting documentation of their need for a housing accommodation from a current doctor or treatment provider prior to their respective deadline. 

Students must submit disability documentation that follows the CARDS Disability Documentation Guidelines (DDG) requirements. Please remember that documentation must meet the guidelines to be accepted.

• Documentation should be submitted to CARDS@barnard.edu or faxed to 212-280-8768, Please know that while we are operating remotely any documentation faxed or mailed to our office will have a delay in processing. We highly recommend scanning and/or emailing documentation to cards@barnard.edu.
• Documentation must be recent within the past 4 months for housing applications
• Updated and/or additional documentation may be required on a case by case basis
• It is important that the documentation establish a direct connection between the disability and the requested housing accommodation(s).
• Students with Service Animals or requesting permission to have a Support Animal within their designated housing assignment should refer to our Service Animal Policy or Support Animal Policy. 

Note: accommodations must be re-requested each academic year and/or summer. Previously approved accommodations are not automatically renewed (unless they have been previously approved for the same academic year). Updated documentation may be required.

The Disability Housing Committee evaluates housing applications and the necessity of the requested accommodations(s). The Committee includes staff from the Center for Accessibility Resources & Disability Services, Counseling Services, Residential Life & Housing and Primary Care Health Services.