UWRF-SA-Housing Procedures

Room Charges

The charge for your residence hall room appears on your university account. If you change rooms where your billing amount would be different (for example, moving from a double room to a suite) or leave campus, the weekly prorated amounts appear on your university account. Further information about university accounts is available on the Accounts Receivable and Cashiers Office site. Academic year and semester contracts begin on the announced move-in date for each student.

Requesting an Exemption from the Two-Year Residency Requirement

Carefully read pages 1-3 of the housing contract.
If the request is to commute from the home of a parent or legal guardian living within an approved commuting district, pick up a commuter request form at the Department of Residence Life in University Center. If you are an incoming student, a commuter application is also available online. You may only commute from the home of a parent or legal guardian, not a sibling or other relative. The completed commuter request must be signed by the student and a parent. However, the parent's signature must be notarized and submitted to the Department of Residence Life, University Center. If you currently have a housing contract and are approved for commuting, the $100.00 housing deposit will be forfeited.
All other requests for exemption from the two-year residency requirement must be submitted in writing (hard copy or email, but not handwritten) and addressed to: Director of Residence Life, University Center. Email messages should be addressed to: housing@uwrf.edu. Requests must include student name and student ID number. After carefully reviewing the exemptions section of the housing contract mentioned in step 1, the student must provide in detail the reasons for requesting exemption consideration.
A decision will be returned to the student by letter. If the request is approved, the student may move out of university housing with forfeiture of the $100.00 housing deposit.
If the request is denied, the letter will outline the appeal process, including how to contact the Chair of the Residential Living Committee, a student committee that hears all exemption appeals. The student will be required to schedule an exemption appeal before a regularly-scheduled Residential Living Committee meeting, normally held every two weeks. The decision of the committee will be returned to student by letter.
Incoming students not yet living on campus and students requesting an exemption after the final Residential Living meeting of the year may direct appeals to Gregg Heinselman, Associate Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs, University Center.

Extended Housing

At the beginning of each fall term we anticipate having over 100% occupancy. When all of our regular residence hall rooms are filled, we place students in extended (temporary) housing. Students placed in extended housing will receive adequate furniture (one bed per person and shared dressers, desks, tables and chairs) for their needs. Extended housing spaces may be in lounges or other locked and secure areas of residence halls that comply with living regulations. We realize this is a slight inconvenience and you will receive a small credit back to your university account for time living in extended housing. Find out more about extended housing.

Leaving Mid Year

Before leaving the residence halls, it is important to know that the two-year housing requirement remains in effect and enforced. Exemptions to the policy are clearly explained in our housing contract. It is important to review this document, especially as it relates to housing exemptions and commuter policies.

Unfortunately, some of our current freshmen and sophomores enter into lease agreements with off-campus landlords. They do this without first requesting and receiving approval for exemption from the university housing requirement. They later apply for an exemption and their requests are denied because they do not meet the requirements outlined in the contract. The majority of housing exemption requests received are denied. We caution students not to place themselves in such situations.

If you meet the requirements, you must contact your hall manager, who will provide paperwork explaining the process of checking out of the residence halls. Your housing deposit will be forfeited if you break an annual housing contract, and you will receive a pro-rated amount back on pre-paid housing fees in your university account.

Consolidation

A single room is only available after the four week freeze on room/hall changes and after all extended housing is empty. If a student residing in the residence hall loses his/her roommate during the year, he/she has the following options depending on available space:

Participate in the consolidation process within the hall.

Individuals may choose their own roommate and must inform the hall manager within two days so they are not put in the consolidation process (this move must take place within seven working days).
Individuals who have not notified the hall manager of a roommate choice will receive a letter informing them they are in the consolidation process. This letter will have a list of individuals who have also lost their roommates. An Occupancy Status Change form will be attached.
Individuals will have two days to search for the roommate of their choice and submit the completed Occupancy Status Change form to the hall manager.
If the individuals cannot reach a decision on who will room with whom, the hall manager will make the room assignments.
Depending upon the waiting list to get into that hall, a roommate from another hall may be assigned to them.
This process takes place even when there are no individuals waiting for a single room within a hall. Philosophically, it is only fair that if there are individuals within a hall paying for a single room, then others should not live in a single room for double room rate.
Any individual refusing the hall manager's assignment will be billed for a single room according to the week their roommate initially moved out or the week the halls opened (if roommate was a no-show).
All moves must take place within seven days from the date on the Occupancy Status Change form.

If all extended housing is empty, individuals may keep the room as a single and pay the adjusted rate. The individual will be billed for the single room from the week his/her roommate checked out or the week the halls opened (if roommate was a no-show).
Find another roommate or move to another room within a seven-day period. If after seven days the individual has not found a roommate or moved to another room, that individual will be billed for a single room until he/she finds one according to the week their roommate initially moved out.
If a student's roommate moves out of the room after the eighth week of the Spring term and another roommate cannot be assigned to the room, the student will have the option of remaining in the room and will not be charged the single room rate. This provision is made as long as the roommate moved out of the room through no fault or cause of the student remaining in the room. Whatever option the individual wishes to take, he/she must inform the hall manager two days after his/her roommate vacates the room.
Medical and Disability Single Rooms - A very limited number of single rooms will be available to accommodate medical and disability circumstances. Requests for these singles must be submitted as early as possible with required documentation to the Disability Services Office: 102 Chalmer Davee Library . Contact Disablitity Services at (715)425-3531 or asc@uwrf.edu. The Disability Services Office will render a decision and notify the student and Residence Life.

End of a Term

You must attend the end of term meetings to receive information from your resident assistant.
If you plan to return to the residence halls, you will need to prepare your room by closing windows, locking the door, and unplugging appliances that will remain unused during winter break.
If you are leaving the residence halls, your room must be back to its original condition, clean, and ready for another person to move in. You must check out with a resident assistant and follow check-out procedures (including the return of your key) to avoid additional charges.

Summer Break Housing

If you are working full-time for a university department or enrolled as a student during the summer months, there is university housing available for you!

The Department of Residence Life oversees summer housing and will be happy to work with you. Simply contact Residence Life at (715)425-4444 or housing@uwrf.edu to request summer housing. Residence Life summer staff will assign you a residence hall room and take care of all check-in/check-out procedures.

Summer housing is billed at a weekly rate. Summer 2008 rates are $112.00/week for a single room and $85.00/week per person in a double room.

If you are a UWRF student taking summer classes, summer housing is available only during the summer session that you are taking classes. Summer housing is not available (unless you are working full-time for a university department) if you are not taking summer classes.