Obtaining A Room On-Campus: The First Year and Beyond

The First Year On-Campus:

So, your student is interested in living on-campus. This information has been compiled to help you as a parent or guardian understands the basics of room assignments on a college campus. Although specific guidelines change from institution to institution, basic concepts may apply to a large number of programs that exist nationally. Due to the varying nature of application procedures, please use this information only as a guideline for getting started. Specific information should be made available to you from either the Admissions or Residence Life/Housing staff members at your college/university.

• Starting the Process: The Housing Deposit:
  A housing deposit is typically required upon submission of the application for on-campus housing. Specific policies regarding the payment of the housing deposit vary from institution to institution, however it is fairly normal to have to pay the housing deposit in order to have your application for housing processed. Depending on the institution, the housing deposit is generally either applied directly towards the housing bill, or refunded at the end of the academic year.
  
• Housing Deposit Refund Policies:
  In the event that you or your student decide not to pursue on-campus housing after you have paid a housing deposit, whether you will receive a refund of the deposit or not, will be per the institutional refund policy. Refund policies vary, in that sometimes a deposit will be refunded in full with the decision not to attend the institution, sometimes it will be refunded per a pre-determined cancellation schedule and based on your date of cancellation, and sometimes it will be forfeited. Sometimes you will be required to pay the deposit with admission request materials, and sometimes you will pay it along with the housing request document.
  
• Obtaining and Submitting the Housing Request Document, also known as the Application/Agreement/License/Contract, etc.:
  Although the name of this housing request document changes from institution to institution, it is basically what your student fills out to request a space on-campus. This housing document usually follows your acceptance to the University, which prompts the Residence Life/Housing Office to send this document to you. Your student should fill out the document, as it usually contains information on roommate and residence hall building requests. After completion, the Residence Life/Housing office staff processes the document. It is typical for new student assignment requests and preferences to be made on a first come/first served basis, so it is recommended that you submit this paperwork in as timely a fashion as is possible.
  
• How Roommates are Assigned:
  If your student knows of a specific individual that they would like to live with, they should indicate that on their housing request document. Your student's roommate should do the same, and the Residence Life/Housing staff should work to match them together as roommates. In the event that your student does not have a specific roommate request, many residence life/housing programs will ask a series of questions about your student, which they can then use to attempt to assign them with a compatible roommate. This process will happen either by a computerized roommate matching system if it is available, or manually by the staff working in the Residence Life/Housing program. Some programs will not offer roommate-matching services, and in this case roommates are assigned randomly.
  
• Canceling the Housing Assignment:
  It may not always be easy to cancel a housing assignment, so carefully discuss the decision to live on-campus with your student, prior to submitting the paperwork to obtain a space. Based on institutional policy and procedure:
  
  • Some institutions will not permit the cancellation of an assignment once the housing request document has been received, except for pre-determined reasons such as financial hardship, medical problems or the decision not to attend the institution. Please note that formalized documentation is sometimes required when attempting to cancel your housing assignment, and that simply applying for the cancellation does not mean that it has been approved. Your student should never consider himself or herself released from a housing assignment unless the Residence Life/Housing office has formally notified them of that.
    
  • Some institutions will permit cancellations up to specific dates, as outlined in the housing document, but not after that date.
    
  • Some institutions will permit cancellation at any time.
    
• Notification of Room Assignment:
  Freshman and transfer students are typically notified of where they will live for the upcoming academic year in August prior to the start of the academic year. This mailing usually contains your student's roommate's name, along with contact information. Specific information on checking into the residence halls will most probably accompany this information.

Beyond the First Year

• The Returning Room Reservation Process:
  Room sign-ups for all years following the freshman year are typically held during the late winter and early spring months. The Residence Life/Housing Office works to notify students through ads in the student newspaper, correspondence, and publicity in the residence halls. Many residence life/housing programs hold interest sessions in the residence halls, to educate students about the room reservation process and how it works. In some cases, residence life/housing programs will notify parents and guardians as to the onset of this important process. Unfortunately, due to a hectic schedule, your student might not focus on information from the residence life/housing office. As a parent, you should remind your student about this process and the importance of participation.
  
• Timelines/Deadlines:
  Room reservation processes are structured according to various activities with associated deadlines. For instance, the paying of a housing deposit would be an activity, which is associated usually with a deadline by which the activity must be accomplished. Your student needs to be aware of the activities and deadlines associated with a room reservation process. Failure to participate as instructed and on time can result in a student not obtaining housing initially, and ending up on a wait list for housing.
  
• The Housing Deposit:
  Housing deposit policies vary from institution to institution. Typically, institutions require the payment of the deposit on a yearly basis, and either refund it or apply it to the overall housing cost. Whether the payment of the deposit is required or not will be communicated to your student from the housing office in the literature that they send about the Returning Room Reservation Process. Your student might lose their deposit if they submit a housing request document and then pursue a cancellation of their housing agreement. Although the release request could be approved, it may result in the forfeit of their deposit.
  
• The Housing Request Document as a Binding Agreement
  Before filling out the housing request document, it is important that you understand the cancellation policies as spelled out in the housing request document. You should never let your son/daughter pursue off-campus housing accommodations unless you are sure that they are not bound by their housing request document....Never Never Never! Some programs will require you to pay, regardless of whether your student lives in the room or not, unless they have been approved to be released from the housing request document.
  
• Submittal of the Housing Request Document:
  After the payment of a housing deposit, your student will need to submit their housing request document to the ResidenceLife/Housing office, per the timelines that have been established for the process. In some instances, students may just simply have to drop off their applications, and they are notified at a later date of their room assignments. Through other procedures, students will actually select their room assignment and have it confirmed at the time of submitting the housing request document.

  Priority in the room selection process can take on many forms. It could be given according to class year, with certain class years receiving priority over other class years, according to random lottery numbers, or according to a first come, first served basis. Certain institutions increase or reduce priority according to disciplinary standing, academic achievement, or extracurricular activities.