Many of you have had questions regarding what it means to be on the waiting list for off campus housing. To answer a few of the most commonly asked questions:

Q: What do I do now?

A: Please plan on participating in the April room selection process. This only helps you in the long run – you get to choose your room and roommate (rather than the Office of Residential Life placing you), and it really does help us further determine how full our residence halls will be. While not a guarantee, it is a possibility that if we are too full we can try to let off a few more students.

Q: Where am I at on the waiting list?
A: We do not give out information about specific placement on the waiting list as it is constantly changing. We will contact you via email if the waitlist moves and we are able to approve your request.

Q: What is an appeal and how do I file one?

A: A letter of appeal may be written if you feel there are extenuating circumstances that warrant our attention to re-review your off campus petition. We carefully read each letter submitted, and when there is definite need, we do try to help (for instance severe financial troubles, medical conditions, etc.). We may also require additional documentation along with your written letter, such as a financial budget worksheet or American Disabilities Act paperwork from your physician. We do not consider being a junior or senior or feeling you are ready to live on your own an extenuating circumstance that requires reconsidering our original decision to make a university policy exception on your behalf.

Your letter of appeal must be submitted in writing, signed and turned in at the Office of Residential Life. If your parents would like to submit a supplemental letter as well, they may do so, however the actual appeal letter must be from you.

Q: How do you judge financial need?

A: Part of the financial appeal process is to fill out a 2008/2009 Budget Worksheet for Financial Appeal for Off Campus. This form is available in the Office of Residential Life, and requires a student to meet with a Student Financial Services advisor to go over their account and any financial aid – as well as requires the student to put together a budget of anticipated off campus expenses.

We review each worksheet for those with serious financial need, and try to help these students as much as we can. Please note that we do not consider a slight savings each month to be a serious financial need. Nor do we consider the ability to pay bills monthly rather than each semester a serious financial need as Student Financial Services will often work with students to help them with their payments.

Q: Why has the university’s policy regarding off campus housing changed without anyone letting us know?

A: The university’s housing policy has not changed. We are considered to be a residential university. All students are required to live on campus, however we do allow upperclassmen to petition for an exception to the university’s policy. As stated above, the only fluctuating piece from year to year has been the number of students we can approve to live off campus.

Q: I applied to live off campus with a group of friends, but only a few of us were approved. How can you split us up?

A: We review each off campus petition individually. We check first to see if those who applied met the eligibility requirements, we then review for automatic exceptions (married, over 23 year old, living at home with a parent) or any with documented medical or financial need. And then we simply sort the list by housing points and approve as many as we can going down the list from the highest to lowest points. We don’t cross reference roommates or base any decisions on school involvements. (We ask the roommate question on the application only to help us administratively over the summer when we usually are trying to resolve billing issues – it is sometime beneficial for us to know who you are living with in case we need to double check addresses, etc.)

Q: Can my parents give you a call to straighten everything out?

A: We would like to consider you as an adult, and as such, prepared to handle the responsibility of managing your own housing. If your parents are concerned with the housing process, please forward them our notification emails and the link to the housing pages. If they still have questions, then they may contact the Office of Residential Life, however please let them know that due to the large volume of phone calls our office receives, it is likely they will have to leave a message and we ask for patience as we return calls in the order received as quickly as we can. Please note: unless you have given us permission to discuss your student account and other items with your parents via permissions on the portal, we cannot share any specific information with them regarding your account or housing status.