Returning Student Housing Selection Process

Choosing where to live is an important decision. Please take the time to thoroughly read this guide through each step of the process. As you read the information provided, please be sure to let us know if something does not make sense, or requires further clarification. Direct questions to your Resident Assistant (RA), the Community Director or Area Coordinator of your residential community, or the Department of Residence Life and Housing (email rwuhousing@rwu.edu or call (401) 254-3161). It is important that you thoroughly understand the housing selection process in order to make the most informed choice based upon the options presented to you during your designated day, date and time of online selection.

Pre-Housing Selection Community Forum (recording)

Housing Contract

Once you electronically sign your housing contract (as part of your housing application), you will enter into a binding contract and you will be financially responsible for all costs associated with the 2023-2024 academic year: You cannot just move off campus. This is a binding contract, similar to that of a Landlord/Tenant lease agreement. Download the 2023-2024 Housing Contract.

• Timeline at-a-Glance
• Pay Housing Deposit & Clear All Holds
• Room & Meal Plan Rates
• SAS Approved Accommodations Process
• Continued Occupancy (CO)
• Online Housing Selection
• All Residence Halls Are Smoke-Free

Housing Selection 2023 Process Timeline At-A-Glance

Pay Housing Deposit & Clear All Holds

Before students can participate in the Housing Selection process, they must complete two important steps:

Step 1: Housing Deposit payable online through the Student Accounts Center on Roger Central.
Under the "Deposit" option, select the Fall 2023 term and "Housing Deposit Fall 2023" as the deposit type. 

Instructional Video - How to make a Housing Deposit online

The priority deadline for Housing Deposits are due by Thursday, March 9th. The Extended deadline for Housing Deposits is April 2nd. 

Families can submit a deposit for their student if they have been added to their student's account, Family SAC Login. Information on granting access can be found here.

Step 2: Be Financially Cleared & Remove All Bursar Holds
Students must be financially cleared by Tuesday, April, 11 2023. Financial clearance means that students do not have an outstanding balance on their student account. 

Students will not be able to participate in Housing Selection if these two steps have not been completed.

Room & Meal Plan Rates

Students who complete a housing application and contract but do not select a room during the Housing Selection time period will be placed on a Pending Assignment List and assigned to any remaining spaces, including temporary assignments, after all new students have been placed.

Please refer to the following Rates & Fees pages for the room and meal plan rates: https://www.rwu.edu/who-we-are/administrative-offices/bursar/tuition-fees-2023-24 

Student's living in traditional halls are required to be on a full meal plan. Meal plans are not required but are optional for those areas designated as apartment style (Bayside, Almeida, or the apartments in the North Campus Residence Hall). Please refer to the Campus Dining page for more information.

SAS Approved Accommodations Process

All students who are seeking accessible housing accommodations for the 2023-2024 Housing Selection must submit the appropriate paperwork directly to the Student Accessibility Services (SAS) office by March 3rd, 2023. Students who submit requests to SAS after the advertised deadline may be waitlisted for the approved accommodation. SAS Forms: Request for Accessible Housing Accommodations & Treating Practitioner's Verification.

Here’s what takes place once the documentation is reviewed and approved by SAS:

• Students receive an e-mail from SAS containing the specific accommodation(s) that has been approved.  
• The approved accommodation information will be shared with the Department of Residence Life and Housing.  
• Students will be placed in an assignment that meets the criteria of the approved accommodation.  
• Students will receive an email from Residence Life and Housing notifying them of their assignment on a rolling basis and at latest March 15th. Students will have the opportunity to decline the placement and at that time they will need to select a space through the Housing Selection Process or through the CO process (below).
• Students who are seeking shared accommodations will be able to pull-in one (1) friend.
• Students who are seeking a single occupancy accommodation will be able to pull-in up to two (2) friends to fill a double occupancy room in their unit. 
   

Continued Occupancy (CO)

Students who want to remain in their same room/apartment for next year will need to complete this process. It is important to note that all of the students who currently live in the unit and who complete a Continued Occupancy Application must be approved for the CO process to ensure all current residents agree for whom will be occupying the space for the 23-24 academic year.  

Pulling-in new roommates: If there will be empty spaces within the unit and a returning student within that unit wants to pull-in new roommates to the unit for next year, they are permitted to do so if all students wishing to live in the unit have completed the Housing Contract by the priority deadline of March 10th

If the room/apartment (unit) is not filled after the CO process, the space(s) will be the first to be occupied during Housing Selection. 

Please follow these steps to Participate in the CO Process for 2023-2024: 

1. Pay your $350 Housing Deposit and Complete your Housing Contract (Fall 2023).

2. Complete the Continued Occupancy Application by March 3rd. Students can access the application via Housing Self-Service. You can only see the application if you have completed the 2023-2024 Housing Contract by the priority deadline and you do not live in a first year designated room, Baypoint, or Almeida.  

3. Receive your Continued Occupancy Agreement through your RWU email on Monday, March 6th    

4. Print and complete your Continued Occupancy Agreement and return to the Department of Residence Life and Housing by Monday, March 20th

 If it is determined that the CO process is being completed in an effort to manipulate the housing selection process (i.e. the student who CO's the room/apartment withdraws, etc.) then the entire room/apartment will be relocated in any available space(s) after the housing selection process concludes. 

If there is a disagreement, no one will be able to participate in the CO process and all of the roommates will need to go through the housing selection process and pick a space based on their selection timeslot. 

Potential Housing Assignment Relocation 

If your current unit is needed for other housing needs, the Department of Residence Life and Housing will assign you and your requested roommates to another room/unit that is comparable to your current room/unit. For example, if you currently live in a quad apartment on the first floor of the Bayside 100s, we will relocate your group to another Bayside quad apartment on the 1st floor. 

Online Housing Selection

Please review the important information to remember regarding the online housing selection process:

• Remember, you must pay a housing deposit AND be financially cleared (no outstanding balance with Bursar hold) in order to be eligible to participate in the Housing Selection Process. Spaces will not be held.
• You will receive important housing selection information via your university email account. As outlined by the university, students are responsible for checking their RWU email account for important university information.
• Your selection timeslot will be computer generated based upon your class year according to university records. This means that residents who are Rising Seniors will choose first, then Rising Juniors, then Rising Sophomores.
• If you know the person or persons you want to live with, you will form a group during Roommate Matching and Group Formation.
  • If you successfully matched with your group prior to April 7th, your Timeslot will be averaged between all members of the group
  • If you successfully match after April 7th, you will need to wait until all roommates' timeslots are active to choice a space.
  • Once your group is confirmed, only one group member will need to sign on to the system during Housing Selection to select your room for next year.
• Please refer to the Bursar's Office Rates & Fees pages for the room and meal plan rates.
  • Remember that singles cost additional money.
• If you are interested in a single room, you will need to follow the Single Room Selection Process; outlined in timeline above
• If you are interested in a triple room, you will need to follow the Triple Room Selection Process; outlined in timeline above.

Partially filled apartments or rooms

If an apartment/room is not at full occupancy after the CO process, the space(s) will be the first to be occupied at Housing Selection. Students who are looking for one space or going through housing selection on their own will not be able to sign into a completely empty apartment/room as long as there is a similar space available in a partially occupied apartment/room. The same is true for a group of students that are not completely filling a room/apartment. Students are directed to these partially filled rooms/apartments (e.g. one Junior CO’ed into a Bayside apartment by themselves because their three roommates graduated - three other students are looking for a Bayside apartment – they will automatically be directed to this apartment).

Smoke-free

Please note that all residence hall rooms and apartments are smoke-free. Residents who smoke in the residence halls will be referred to the Student Conduct Office which may result in educational and punitive sanctions. Smoking is only permitted in designated gazebos.