Get Started with Accommodations

Different student types have different deadlines for requesting housing accommodations. Please see the table below for housing deadlines for the current academic year.

After these deadlines, we will still work with you on a housing accommodation request. However, approved accommodations may be limited and/or subject to the housing accommodation waitlist. 

To receive academic accommodations for a given semester, you must complete the accommodation request process before the last day of classes for that semester.

Please also note that to use accommodations for a given exam, faculty should be notified about the exam accommodations at least 1 week in advance of the exam. Therefore, any exam accommodations should be approved at least 1 week before the exam takes place.

All StAAR Center staff are mandated reporters. This means that any disclosure of sexual misconduct (including in a request form or documentation) involving a Tufts student must be reported to the Tufts Office of Equal Opportunity (OEO). Once a student’s name has been shared with OEO, they will reach out to the student in question by email with resources that may be helpful. The student may choose to ignore their outreach.

For confidential support, CARE at Tufts can be reached by email at care@tufts.edu or by phone at 617-627-3752. They also have an appointment scheduling feature on their website.

In addition, any disclosure of a student being in immediate danger to themselves, or others, will be escalated to emergency channels.

Otherwise, anything you submit to the StAAR Center, including your request, your documentation, and if you are a student with accommodations, is completely confidential.

Please include information about all accommodations you are interested in pursuing on the same request form.

Documentation can come in different forms, depending on your disability. You should have your clinician complete our Health Disability Provider Form to get started.

If applicable, you are also encouraged to submit any additional clinical documentation (such as a neuropsychological report, a doctor’s note, or a health summary) or previous accommodation plans (such as an IEP, 504, or accommodation letter/plan from a previous institution of higher education).

The clinician who submits the form should be a medical professional who you have worked with in the past 6 months – 1 year, and who can both speak to your disability and provide accommodation recommendations. This does not need to be the clinician who diagnosed you.

Some examples of clinicians who may be able to complete the form for you include:

• Pediatrician or primary care provider
• Therapist or psychologist
• Psychiatrist
• Physical therapist
• Neurologist
• Audiologist
• Allergist
• Other medical or mental health specialist

You can absolutely still make an accommodation request. First complete Step 1 of the Accommodation Request Process, and let us know that you don’t have access to any documentation. We will connect with you about your situation, and see what kind of resources and support may be possible.

During the intake appointment, you’ll meet with a StAAR team member to go over your request, and any next steps. The conversation will primarily focus on getting to know you, and how your disability/ies impact your life. You don’t need to prepare anything ahead of time, though you are encouraged to bring any questions you have.

There are a number of factors that can change how long it takes from submitting an initial accommodation request to having accommodations approved and implemented. One common hold-up is getting documentation from your clinician. Once you think you’d like to request accommodations, please connect with your clinician as soon as possible to get your documentation submitted.

After we receive your request and documentation, we’ll always schedule your intake as soon as we can. However, some times of year are busier than others (such as the beginning of the semester, or during midterms), and we may have longer wait times for intake appointments. After your intake, it typically takes a few days for our office to approve and implement any accommodations.

If your accommodation request is time sensitive, for example, if you have an exam coming up that you’d like to use accommodations on, please let us know.

To receive accommodations at Tufts, you’ll need to complete the regular accommodation request process. Please include your previous or current accommodation letter/plan from your previous or current institution as an attachment to your request.

If you have any food allergies or other medical dietary restrictions, you can request dining accommodations through the StAAR Center. 

Before requesting your accommodations, please review Tufts Dining Food Allergy Info page to learn about allergen labeling, the Gluten-Free Pantry, the Alternative Meal Program, and more. If after reviewing this page, you'd like to request dining accommodations, please begin the Accommodation Request Process.

Submitting the Accommodation Request Form automatically creates an account for you in our Accommodate Portal, so you cannot submit the form again. If you have submitted the form in the past, and try to submit it again, you will receive an error message. Please note that this is true even if you don't have approved accommodations.

Instead, you will need to complete a slightly different process to request accommodations. Please see the Requesting Additional Accommodations process below.

If you already have accommodations, and need to request new accommodations (typically due to an update in your health or disability), you will need to follow a slightly different process. Please see the Requesting Additional Accommodations process below.