Medical Accommodations

Medical Accommodations

Chatham University students are encouraged to take full advantage of the residential experience by sharing rooms with other Chatham women and first-year students living on campus are required to live with a roommate. However, Chatham does recognize that rare occasions do exist in which students may be faced with extreme conditions in which accommodations are required. In these cases, students can request to be assigned or moved to a single room reserved on campus for students with unique needs, or for other accommodations (i.e. lower floor room, building with an elevator, or exemption from the residency requirement).

Because cases which warrant medical singles are rare and extreme, students will need to follow specific procedures to request a medical single and will need to plan well ahead of their arrival to Chatham University.

The following procedure is in place for students who face life-threatening conditions that require their assignment to a medical single, an exception to the residency requirement, or a release from their yearlong housing contract (Terms and Conditions of Residency) during their study at Chatham University:

• The student needs to provide a written request for a medical single, addressed to the director of residence life. This request must come directly from, and be signed by, the student.
• The students must make an appointment with health or counseling staff at Chatham University to review her request.
• Medical conditions: In addition to submitting the necessary paperwork, students must make an appointment with a physician on staff at Chatham University for an evaluation. It is the students' responsibility to make this appointment early and to arrange for transportation to campus for their medical evaluation. Summer appointments may not be possible.
• Psychiatric conditions: In addition to submitting the necessary paperwork, students must give consent to the director of counseling services to consult with the students' treatment team(s) (psychiatrist, psychologist, therapist or counselor). The director of Counseling Services will then assess the students' need for a medical single. The student needs to provide written documentation to health or counseling staff from the student's treatment team that details the condition. Documentation must include a consent form signed by the student that would allow health and counseling staff at Chatham University to consult with the student's treatment team. Upon complete review, the Director of Health Services or the Director of Counseling Services in conjunction with the Director of Residence Life and the Vice President for Student Affairs will decide if a student's condition warrants need for a medical accommodation. Questions regarding Chatham's Medical Accommodation Policy can be addressed to the Director of Residence Life at 412-365-1518. Students who are living on campus with other or additional accommodation needs should communicate those needs to the director of residence life through the PACE center.