Housing Accommodations

All Williams students are expected to utilize the College’s regular housing assignment processes, and are expected to abide by all College policies and procedures having to do with housing. However, if a student has a significant diagnosis, condition, or situation that cannot be addressed via the regular processes or within College policies, they may submit a Housing Accommodations request via the Housing Portal & follow the process. Except as necessary to the decision-making process, all student information will be maintained as confidential.

Students should never request a Housing Accommodations request lightly. This process is intended to support students who have true and significant needs that cannot be accommodated through regular processes or within the college’s policies. It is not intended to provide an “easy-out” for a student to avoid participating in a regular process, to be exempted from housing policies for convenience, or to simply secure for oneself a better room than one already has. Any student who is found to have misrepresented their situation in a Housing Accommodations request may be denied by OCL from inclusion in a correlated regular housing assignment process, and may be referred for disciplinary action.

Please note:

  • Deadlines are important and students are expected to adhere to them.
  • Because the Williams campus is relatively small and general proximity from one side of campus to another is typically a 15-minute walk or less, close proximity to a campus resource as a request holds a very high bar for consideration, typically only for significant mobility issues.
  • Housing processes will not be delayed due to pending housing accommodation requests.
  • For a request having to do with the upper-class lottery process, the student requestor may choose to reject an assignment made by the Housing Accommodation Review Team (HART) and instead participate in a correlated lottery process. This does not apply to first-year assignments.
  • For upper-class requests that result in a pre-assignment, the student requestor may bring up to two friends, referred to as ‘pull-ins’, with them if the specific housing assignment allows it. The pull-ins must be actively enrolled and eligible for participation in the general lottery. The pull-ins will also be assigned by the housing team, based on the requesting student’s submitted preference(s) for their own placement. Additional pull-ins may be considered if HART determines that the specific situation requires them.
  • Once first-year housing assignments are made and conveyed to students, they are NOT eligible to be considered for an assignment change until at least the second full week of fall semester classes. Students who are considering a request regarding their first-year housing assignment after the second full week of fall semester classes are expected to have spoken with their JA’s and/or their Area Coordinator prior to submitting the Housing Accommodations request form.

Housing Options for Transgender, Nonbinary, and Gender Nonconforming Students

Students who identify as transgender, nonbinary, gender nonconforming, or do not wish to prescribe to gender classifications are able and encouraged to fully participate in the College’s routine Housing processes. You can find more about gender inclusivity in College Housing here. For students who feel that their individual housing needs related to their gender identity require special accommodations, we invite you to utilize the accommodations pathway that will best address your particular needs (see below).


Requesting a Housing Accommodation, Gathering Information

1. The student submits the online request form in the Housing Portal. (Log in, choose “Forms” in the purple bar, then select “Housing Accommodations” & follow the instructions. If the request involves any sort of documentation (i.e., medical, etc.), the student should contact their provider to ensure the documentation will be conveyed immediately to the correlated college administrator noted in #2d below.

2. After submission, the Residential Life & Housing Coordinator will review the request and will notify the Housing Accommodations Review Team (HART), consisting of:

a) the Director of Residential Life & Housing,
b) the Assistant Director for Housing Operations,
c) the Residential Life & Housing Coordinator,
d) the correlated Class Dean, and
e)
the college administrator that corresponds with the housing accommodation pathway selection made on the form:

3. After the request has been forwarded by housing, the college administrator from 2.e. above will reach out to the student to schedule a time to discuss the specifics of the request, with an expectation that the meeting between the student and the administrator will take place promptly following the student’s submission.

4. After the college administrator from 2.e. above has met with the student, the Housing Accommodations Review Team (HART) will make a decision on the request, and the decision will be conveyed to the student by the housing team.

5. The student will have the opportunity to review the HART decision. At this point, the student can choose to accept or appeal the decision. When they accept, the student will be provided the opportunity to identify preferences for their final building placement and any applicable pull-ins.

6. The housing team will use the student’s HART approval and preferences to determine and offer a final housing placement to the student.


Option to Appeal HART’s Decision

If the student believes HART’s decision does not meet their needs, they can opt to appeal the decision within 48 hours of the conveyance of the decision.

  1. The student must complete the online appeal submission through their Housing Portal. The link to this form is delivered via the student’s decision letter.
  2. Housing will notify the college administrator from 2e above about the filed appeal.
  3. After receiving the appeal narrative, the college administrator from 2.e. above, will work with the Senior Associate Dean of Campus Life and the Senior Associate Dean of Students to evaluate the appeal and make a decision, which housing will convey.
  4. Decision is final.

Please note – if no appeal of the decision is made by the student within 48 hours of the notification, the HART decision is final.


Option to Appeal Housing Placement (Upper-Class Process(es) Only)

If the student believes Housing’s room placement does not meet their needs, they can opt to appeal the decision within 48 hours of the conveyance of the placement.

  1. The student must complete the online appeal submission through their Housing Portal. The link to this form is delivered via the student’s placement letter.
  2. Housing will notify the Director of Residential Life and Housing and the Senior Associate Dean of Campus Life about the appeal submission.
  3. The Director of Residential Life & Housing and Senior Associate Dean of Campus Life will review the placement decision and Housing Accommodation criteria. The Director and Sr. Assoc. Dean will make a decision on the appeal, which will be conveyed by housing.
  4. Decision is final.

Please note – if no appeal of the placement is made by the student within 48 hours of the notification, the HART decision is final.