Corning Community College recognizes the importance of service and assistance animals to individuals with disabilities and has established this policy to ensure that such individuals receive the benefit of the work/tasks performed by these animals or the therapeutic support they provide.
This policy applies to all members of the campus community, individuals doing business with the College, and any persons utilizing campus facilities. It is intended to comply with the relevant provisions of Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) of 1990, the Fair Housing Act (FHA), and any other relevant federal or state legislation. The College reserves the right to amend this policy as the law and circumstances may require.
The Director of Human Resources, who also serves as the College’s ADA Coordinator, has developed procedures about the appropriate use of and protocols associated with service and assistance animals and is charged with ensuring compliance with these procedures. Although the College does not permit pets on campus or in its residence hall, exceptions may be made for service and assistance animals according to this policy and these procedures.
Definitions
Service Animals are dogs (and sometimes miniature horses, if permitted by 29 C.F.R. §36.302 (c)(9)), that are individually trained to do work or perform tasks for the benefit of individuals with disabilities, including physical, sensory, psychiatric, intellectual, or other mental disabilities. Examples of such tasks include, but are not limited to: guiding blind individuals, alerting deaf individuals, pulling a wheelchair, retrieving items (such as medication or a telephone), alerting and protecting an individual who is having a seizure, reminding an individual with a mental illness to take prescribed medications, calming an individual with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) during an anxiety attack, or performing other duties directly related to the individual’s disability. Service Animals are generally permitted to accompany individuals with disabilities to all areas where members of the public are allowed to go. Animals whose sole function is to provide comfort or emotional support do not qualify as Service Animals.
Assistance Animals are animals that do work, perform tasks, or provide emotional support which reduces or alleviates one or more identified symptoms or effects of their partner’s disability. An individual with a disability may keep an Assistance Animal in his/her dwelling unit as a reasonable accommodation if there is an identifiable relationship between the disability and the assistance the animal provides.
An Assistance Animal is not a Service Animal. Unlike Service Animals, an Assistance Animal may not accompany an individual with a disability to all places on campus where the general public is permitted to go. Assistance Animals may be allowed in the College’s residence hall as a reasonable accommodation, but they are not permitted in other areas of College property, such as classrooms, Learning Commons, dining areas, etc.
Pets are animals kept for ordinary companionship and are not considered Service Animals or Assistance Animals. Pets are not permitted to be kept on College property. Leashed dogs may be allowed on Spencer Crest Nature and Research Center trails, but owners must clean up after their dogs