Dining Accommodations
Dining Accommodations support your dietary needs. Examples may be modifications to the on-campus meal plan or allergy management.
Dining Accommodation Guidelines
The information that you provide regarding any need for accommodation(s) will be shared only with those individuals involved in the coordination and facilitation of services and accommodations that are required to make our programs accessible to you.
All students who live in residence halls at Luther College are required to select a dining meal plan for each academic term in residence.
Learn more about Luther’s Dining Services
Please note that exemptions from the meal plan are rare. They are made solely on documented health conditions that require special diets that cannot be accommodated by the college’s dining services provider. If you are requesting a release from the meal plan requirement, you should be aware that dietary restrictions do not always constitute a valid reason for cancelling your meal plan contract.
Lastly, as shown below below, the process for dining accommodation requests are more lengthy than other accommodation request types. The Dining Accommodations Process will also be used for specific housing accommodation requests (i.e. specific food appliances/equipment stored in dorm room to be used in dorm kitchens, housing with separate kitchen) to determine what is considered a reasonable request for the residential campus. Please note that these requests do take longer than other types of accommodation requests. The process may take more than 60 business days from the initial request to the finished result to be completed.
Directions for submitting an accommodation request:
Click on any of the links related to requesting an accommodation.
You will land on the Luther 360 Launchpad.
Click on “Ask for Help”
Click on “Accessibility – Accommodation Request – Request for Accommodation”.
Dining Accommodations for Medical Reasons
Food allergies may constitute a disability and reasonable accommodations related to the meal plan may be possible. If seeking a dining accommodation for medical reasons, such as food allergies or other disabilities related to eating on campus, students must submit a request and documentation that supports the requested accommodation to Disability Services.
Guidelines for dining accommodation requests are as follows:
- March 1 for current students for the fall semester
- December 1 for current students for the spring semester
- July 15 for incoming new and first-year students for fall semester
Dining Services provides dietary accommodations to students with medically-indicated special diets that are difficult to self-manage. It is the student’s responsibility to initiate a dietary accommodation request so disability services can determine what is a reasonable accommodation based on additional documentation. The student is required to follow the steps below and meet with the Dining Dietitian to complete the request.
- Complete the Dining Accommodation Request Form
- Student will then meet with Accessibility Services as part of the Interactive Process.
- Luther College Dining Accommodation Request Form should be submitted to disabilityservices@luther.edu or faxed to 563-387-1411. Submit the form and supporting documentation from a qualified, licensed medical provider to assist in determining how to proceed with your dietary accommodation request.
- Accessibility Services staff will review the documentation sent from the student’s medical provider
- If Accessibility Services determines that sufficient information has been provided to proceed with the dining accommodations process, they will initiate contact between the student and the Bon Appétit Dining Management team. This team includes General Manager Nic Supercynski, Assistant General Manager Leah McCrea, and Registered Dietitian Leslie Mathiasmeier. Disability Services will inform the student that they must engage with the Bon Appétit team before the process can continue.
- The Bon Appétit team will schedule a meeting with the student to explore available dining options and assess whether the café can fully support the student’s nutritional needs. Following the meeting, the team will provide Accessibility Services with a summary of the discussion and any relevant recommendations. These may include suggestions for meal plan modifications, housing accommodations, or other reasonable adjustments based on the student’s identified barriers. Multiple meetings may be required to determine the most appropriate accommodations.
- Disability Services Staff will review all of the documentation from the entire interactive process a final time and determine what is a reasonable accommodation due to the barriers the student is facing from their disability. Disability Services will then provide the accommodation request to the necessary staff on campus.
Dining Accommodations Documentation
The following questions should be answered in the provider documentation:
- What is the problem/diagnosis?
- How was the condition assessed?
- What date(s) was the assessment/treatment provided?
- What is the history? How long has this been going on?
- How long will it continue?
- How does the condition manifest?
- What aggravates the condition?
- What food items need to be avoided for health reasons?
- What makes the condition better?