Ponce Health Sciences University (PHSU) is an institution of higher education committed with the well-being of its students in all aspects of their life. Our purpose is to provide student services in accordance with the “Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990”, including changes made by the ADA Amendments Act of 2008, effective January 1, 2009, and in compliance with Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act 1973.
PHSU supports the use of service animals on property or in a PHSU-sponsored event. The Guidelines for Service Animals provide the definition of a service animal, responsibilities of the student, expected animal behavior, and the process for its registration.
This provision is established for faithful compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 including changes made by the ADA Amendments Act of 2008, effective January 1, 2009, and in compliance with Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act 1973.
This policy applies to all Active PHSU students and/or PHSU’s visiting or international students who are assigned to in-person academic activities in Main campus, East Campus, San Juan University Center and St Louis Campus. It also applies to students assigned to rotations/practicums in Allied Clinical Sites, however, health-care facilities have their own guidelines and procedures for the access of service animals. The institution recognizes the importance of providing student services in accordance with the “Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990”, including changes made by the ADA Amendments Act of 2008, effective January 1, 2009, and in compliance with Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act 1973.
Definition of Service Animal by ADA Title II and Title III
A service animal means any dog that is individually trained to do work or perform tasks for the benefit of an individual with a disability, including a physical, sensory, psychiatric, intellectual, or other mental disability. Tasks performed can include, among other things, pulling a wheelchair, retrieving dropped items, alerting a person to a sound, reminding a person to take medication, pressing an elevator button, guiding people who are blind, alerting people who are deaf, alerting and protecting a person who is having a seizure, calming a person with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) during an anxiety attack, or performing other duties. Service animals are working animals, not pets. Generally, Title II and Title III of ADA entities must permit service animals to accompany people with disabilities in all areas where members of the public are allowed to go.
Emotional support animals, comfort animals, and therapy dogs are not service animals under Title II and Title III of the ADA. Other species of animals, whether wild or domestic, trained or untrained, are not considered service animals either. The work or tasks performed by a service animal must be directly related to the individual’s disability. A person may have a note from a doctor stating that the person has a disability and needs to have the animal for emotional support; however, a doctor’s letter does not turn an animal into a service animal.
Examples of Services Animals Under ADA
These service animals have been specifically trained to perform a task for a person with disability.
- Guide Dog: is a well-trained animal to serve as a guide to blind or severely visually-impaired people.
- Hearing or Signal Dog: is a trained animal that notifies a person who is deaf or has a significant hearing loss, when someone knocks on the door, for example.
- Psychiatric Service Dog: can be prepared to perform a series of tasks that help people with the inability to detect the onset of psychiatric episodes and, thus, reduce its effects. The tasks that these animals carry out include: reminding the person under its care to take their medicine; doing security checks, inspecting the house, turning on lights for people with post-traumatic stress disorder; stopping self-mutilation in people with dissociative identity disorders; and keeping disoriented people away from danger.
Rules and Responsibilities Related to Service Animals and Expected Behavior
- Service dogs in training must be identified by vests and under the control of the handler at all times.
- An animal may be denied access to the facility if it can be reasonably determined that the animal poses a direct threat to the health or safety of others. This determination must be based on actual risks and not on mere speculation, stereotypes, or generalizations.
- The student requiring the use of a service animal must clean up after the dog, unless they cannot do so due to the nature of their disability. In those cases, the student is responsible for identifying someone who can assist with the cleaning.
- The student is responsible for the feeding, grooming, and veterinary care of their service animal.
- Service animals must be clean and free of fleas and ticks. The owner is responsible for their proper prevention and control. A veterinary certification may be requested by the Institution to this effect. If the service animal does not comply with this requirement PHSU will require the handler to remove the animal from the facilities immediately.
- PHSU may deny access to a service animal whose behavior is unacceptable (barking uncontrollably, jumping on other people, or running away from their owner) or in situations where the owner is not in control of their animal.
Registration of Service Animal at PHSU
The student must:
- Contact the Rehabilitation Counselor or Student Affairs Office for orientation.
- Complete a Reasonable Accommodation Form stating the need for a service animal.
- Register the service animal in PHSU Service Animal Registry.
- Present the service animal photo, along with evidence of its current vaccinations and immunization, including Rabies and Leptospirosis, upon registration of the service animal.
- Read, sign, and hand in the “Service Animal Handler Acknowledgement of Responsibility and Liability Waiver Agreement”. Once the student has fulfilled the requirements, and access to property is granted for the service animal, the University guard and Academic Departments will be notified.
Renewal Process
Every academic year, no later than one week prior to the first day of classes, the student must renew their PHSU Animal Service Registry with the Rehabilitation Counselor or Student Affairs Office. The student must provide an updated vaccinations and immunization record of the service animal. It can be a veterinary certification indicating that the animal is up to date with its vaccinations and it is in good health.
Service Animal Exclusions
A student with a disability cannot be asked to remove their service animal from the premises, unless the dog is not housebroken, is out of control, or if the student does not take effective action to control the service animal. A student can be requested to remove the service animal form the premises if its in non-compliance with the rules and responsibilities included in this policy.
Fear and allergies are not valid reasons for denying access to a service animal or refusing to provide a service to people using service animals.
It may be appropriate to exclude a service animal from limited-access areas that employ general infection control measures, such as operating rooms and burn units, where the animal’s presence may compromise a sterile field environment.
PHSU may deny access to service animals in such a case where the animal’s presence may compromise a sterile field environment, as some laboratory rooms, including the Anatomy Laboratory, among others.
**Health-care facilities have their own guidelines and procedures for the access of service animals. PHSU is not responsible for the approval of access in clinical or practicum sites. On those cases the student must follow the protocols and procedures established by the Hospital, clinical or practicum site. For more information you can visit the following link: Guidelines for Environmental Infection Control in Health-Care Facilities: https://www.cdc.gov/infectioncontrol/pdf/guidelines/environmental-guidelines-P.pdf
Grievance and Reclamations
A student who has been denied access to PHSU property or its sponsored events because of their service animal can file a complaint at the Office of Student Affairs. Also, the student can file a claim with OCR or file a private lawsuit in federal court. An OCR complaint must be filed within 180 calendar days from the date of the alleged discrimination, unless this has been extended for a good cause.
Before presenting the OCR complaint against the Institution, the potential complainant may want to find out about the Institution’s grievance process and use this process to resolve the complaint. However, the law does not require the complainant to use the Institution’s process of conciliation before presenting the claim with OCR. If the complainant uses this conciliation process and then choose to file this claim, they must do so within 60 days after the last act of institutional conciliation. For more information, contact:
U.S. Department of Education
Office for Civil Rights
400 Maryland Ave. SW
Washington, DC 20202-1100
Customer Service: 800-421-3481 Fax: 202-453-6012 TTY: 877-521-2172
E-mail: OCR@ed.gov
http://www.ed.gov/ocr
Discipline
Students who violate this policy (including lying or misrepresenting information about the requirements for the service animal) may be subjected to disciplinary process according to the Students Manual. If an investigation results in a finding that this policy has been violated, the mandatory minimum discipline is a written reprimand. The discipline for very serious or repeat violations can include dismissal.
Other Available Procedures
The procedures available under this policy do not preempt or supersede any legal procedures or remedies otherwise available under local, state or federal law.
Confidentiality
All complaints and investigations are treated confidentially to the extent possible and information is disclosed strictly on a need-to-know basis. The identity of the complainant is usually revealed to the parties involved during the investigation and the VP of Students Affairs takes adequate steps to ensure that the complainant is protected from retaliation during and after the investigation. All information pertaining to a complaint or investigation is maintained in secure files within the Students Affairs department.
References
- Meeks, L., Jain, N. R., & Laird, E. P. (2021). Equal Access for students with disabilities: The Guide for Health Science and Professional Education. Springer Publishing.
Disclaimer
PHSU reserves the right to interpret and apply this policy in a way that facilitates the operations of the company. This policy will be interpreted and applied in conjunction with the other policies and procedures established by the Company and does not represent a contract between the parties. It is established as a guide to unify the procedures for handling situations with service animals in campus and to prevent situations that could occur. However, nothing prevents PHSU from varying or flexibly applying the provisions of this protocol, at its discretion, when it deems it to be in the best interests of PHSU.
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