Housing Selection Q&A
Today’s Daily Deac is sharing information from Residence Life & Housing about the housing selection process for current students (note: no action needed for incoming first-years in the Class of 2023 – their process takes place in the summer). There is also good info in here for families of students who will be abroad in Fall ’19.
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Good Evening!
We, in the Office of Residence Life and Housing, know that many parents have lots of questions about Housing Selection. As we get into the selection process for 2019-20, we wanted to provide an overview of the process and try to address some FAQs.
This year, we’ve tried to communicate the process for continuing students (i.e. rising sophomores, juniors, and seniors) in three simple steps – APPLY, GROUP, and SELECT.
APPLY – Beginning February 25, continuing students can update their profile information and sign their Housing and Dining Agreement in our Housing Portal. In the portal, they will also find their selection time and eligible students may express their intent to live on or off campus.
GROUP – Next, students will need to decide who they want to live with. The first student to apply can begin to set-up the group and will by default be the group leader. The group leader role can be passed to another member via the Housing Portal. It is important to note that the group leader has to do the selection for the group. Most housing options are open to groups of two, four, or six students. Based on the Room Availability List, students should decide as a group on their top three communities (residence halls, apartments, etc.). Group sizes must match the listed occupancy of the apartment, block, or room.
SELECT – At the earliest selection time among group members, your student’s group leader will log in to the Housing Portal and complete the selection process online. Group members will be prompted to confirm the selected housing and their own meal plan for the year.
For example, let’s assume Sam, John, Luke, and Ryan want to live together. Their respective selection times were 9 a.m., 10 a.m., 11:15 a.m., and 1:30 p.m and Luke was the group leader. Luke would be able to log in at 9 a.m. to select for the group, as that is the earliest time among their selection times.
Current students have received the following communications from the Office of Residence Life and Housing related to Housing Selection:
Below we will address some FAQs related to housing selection:
Q: How are selection times determined?
A: Students are given credit for each semester they live on campus. Study abroad and transfer housing are included; summer sessions and semesters away from the University are not included. Based on the number of semesters in housing a student has, they are randomly assigned times for housing selection. Other factors such as GPA, etc. do not influence selection times.
Q: What if my student is in a fraternity/sorority or Residential Engagement Community (i.e., Global Village, Sustainability House, Casa Latina)?
A: These groups manage their own spaces. The Office of Residence Life and Housing designates a set number of spaces to each organization or community and the group then completes a roster of those spaces. This process occurs prior to housing selection, but often demand for these spaces is high. It is important to encourage your students to think about back-up options for their housing.
Q: My student doesn’t have a roommate or group in mind – can they still select a room? Does Wake have any way of helping unpaired students find roommates?
A: Students who are not a part of a roommate group have the opportunity to search for roommates in our Housing Portal. This search is based off our Roommate Matching Questions, so it is important for students to be as honest as possible when answering those questions. If your student is looking to live in a single, they may have that option at their selection time, based on availability – but please note that singles are limited and in high demand. If your student doesn’t find a roommate group and there are no singles available, then your student will automatically move to our second round of housing selection, which takes place over the summer, as we don’t allow students to select from individual beds during our first round of housing selection.
Q: What is this second round of housing selection? Isn’t my child guaranteed housing?
A: Yes, all undergraduate students in good standing are guaranteed housing for eight semesters, unless they petition and are released to live off campus. Our second round of selection takes place each summer in July and can offer a better option of spaces to students. During the spring semester and early summer, students decide not to return, to go abroad, etc. and that creates additional availability from what was open in March. We understand that going to the second round can be scary, but this is a normal part of our process and all students will receive a room assignment.
Q: What about Deacon Place? Can my student live there?
A: Deacon Place is an apartment complex adjacent to campus, it was purchased by the University earlier this year and will be treated as on-campus housing beginning in Fall 2019. The complex has a total of 328 spaces, which will include Resident Advisers. Because this is the first year of Deacon Place being in housing selection, it is hard to anticipate demand how quickly these spaces might be selected. Deacon Place will be selected the same way our other communities (residence halls, apartments, etc.) are in terms of selection times and will allow roommate groups across class years. Those things said, we expect that the spaces will fill during rising senior selection, or perhaps during early times of rising junior selection.
Q: What if my student is going abroad for the Fall?
A: Students going abroad for the Fall do NOT participate in housing selection; instead, they will select their housing for Spring 2020 while abroad. This process typically takes place in early December, to allow for the maximum number of spaces to be available. Students will receive information from the Office of Residence Life (via their WFU email) about this process as well as the process to petition to live off-campus for Spring 2020 during the fall semester. It is important that students pay attention to deadlines and that they NOT sign any off-campus lease until released in writing from the residency requirement. It is also important for students going abroad in the Fall to understand that there will be a limited number of double rooms open for the Spring. It is more likely that they will have to fill an empty bed in a double room with a student who did not go abroad in the fall.
Q: My student has a need for a disability-related housing or dining accommodation. What do they do?
A: Students who would like to request a disability-related accommodation must submit a completed Request for Disability-Related Accommodations in Housing or Dining form. In addition, a Documentation for Disability-Related Accommodations in Housing or Dining form must be completed and submitted by your licensed, clinical professional or health care provider. For the Fall term, current students should have provided complete documentation for consideration by February 1st. If your student missed that deadline, they can still submit documentation and their accommodation will be considered during the second round of housing selection in July.
Q: What if my student still has questions or needs help?
A: Staff in the Office of Residence Life and Housing are happy to talk with students and answer any questions about the process prior to housing selection. Students will receive a number of emails over the coming weeks about the timeline and housing selection process, including step-by-step videos. During housing selection (March 25-29), there will be a help desk in the Angelou Parlor from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. each day.
— by Betsy Chapman ’92, MA ’94