2014-2015 ROOM SELECTION INFORMATION

Office for Residential Life and Housing Services
PO Box 270468
020 Gates – SBA Hall
Rochester, New York 14627-468
FAX # 585-276-1886
2014-2015 ROOM SELECTION INFORMATION
FOR STUDY ABROAD, ART NY, AND WASHINGTON SEMESTER STUDENTS
Dear Study Abroad, Art NY, and Washington Semester Students;
Email has proven to be a very effective means to communicate with students who are studying abroad,
participating in Art NY and Washington semester. Please remind other students who are in your location to
view their UR student email account to receive this information – we always have a number of students who
don’t check email for weeks at a time and miss deadlines. All our information is available to you at:
http://www.rochester.edu/reslife/upperclass/abroad.html
The entire housing application, housing selection and meal plan selection is on-line. Students who are not
in Rochester will be able to participate as if they were here on campus. Most of you have experienced the
room draw process several times before. The process this year is entirely new – you should forget everything
that you ever knew about room draws!
Here are five documents that will help you to understand the process and get you started:
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Getting Started
2014-2015 Room Selection Information
2014-2015 Residential Life/Dining Services Contract Language booklet
Meal Plans and Dining Plan Pricing (see Commuter Dining Contract as needed)
2014-15 Housing Selection Newspaper
IMPORTANT: In order to login from outside the University, University IT has indicated that you will need to
set up a VPN. This can be done at http://rochester.edu/its/vpn/ Follow the instructions provided on the site.
The first step: Submitting a housing application.
If you are planning to live on-campus next year (2014-2105 academic year), you will need to carefully read all
the information about this new process and how to designate roommates. Remember to secure a VPN prior to
trying to submit an application from abroad. For information about remote access to UR’s VPN, go to:
http://rochester.edu/its/vpn/ Once you had made that secure access, proceed as directed to the log-in page
https://odyssey.reslife.rochester.edu/webpatron to submit the online application. Application dates: March 21 –
April 9 (ends at 5pm, EDT)
The second step: Selecting a room/suite/apartment
You will be notified of your selection day and time on the webpage where you submitted your application and
via an email. There are not separate drawings – it is one unified drawing. Each student receives a day and time
to login and select housing. In the case of groups, the student with the best day and time will select the housing
and pull all the designated group members into the housing selected. It is very, very important that you
communicate with students you hope to live with – you will be each other’s double checks: did you submit your
housing contract? Did you indicate that you want to live with me (and any others in a suite/apartment)? Who
got the best selection date/time? Did you select for us?
Selection dates: April 14 - 18 – dates and times as assigned by lottery, 9am-5pm daily EDT. Remember: all
Selection times are EASTERN DAYLIGHT TIME – you’ll need to account for this if you are selecting the
room.
The third step: Selecting a Dining Plan
Your choices are tied to the building in which you select a room. Review the Meal Plans and Pricing – there
have been some changes made for plans for 2014-15.
Living with a Special Interest Housing Group, Academic Living Center or Greek Group: if you are
planning to live with a special interest housing group (Greek, non-Greek, Academic Living Center) – you DO
need to submit a housing application. Read the information about which application option to select. Your
group/house manager will designate a housing assignment for you; you are exempt from the second step of this
process and do not need to pick a room, Residential Life will assign you based on the information your
group/house manager provided. You will receive a confirmation informing you of your assignment. You will
then need to submit a meal plan.
If you are planning to live off-campus, you do not need to submit a housing contract. You do need to
choose a dining plan. Click the Commuter Dining pdf. You will have to print the form, complete it, and send
the meal plan selection portion via fax or email to Dining Services:
Fax to: 585.276.0143
Email to: [email protected]
Calendar of Important Dates
March 21
On-line contract submission begins
March 26
RA, CA, D’Lion and Freshmen Fellow applications due – complete at Residential Life Office
April 4
SIH, Academic Living Center & Greek member lists due to Reslife
April 9
Contract deadline—on-line submission process closes 5 pm
April 11
Selection dates and times distributed to students – found on RL and Housing Services Students homepage
April 14-18 On-line Room Selection (8am—6pm daily)
April 21
First Day to submit Room Change requests
FINANCIAL HOLDS: Students who have an outstanding balance on their term bill will not be allowed to
submit an application – you will get a message about the financial hold. You must be clear by April 10 to
submit and application.
It is critically important that you review all the materials to understand the process. Please let me know if you
have questions or email us at [email protected]
Sincerely,
Karen E. Ely, Ed.D.
Director of Housing Operations
Study Abroad Letter 1415 – students.doc