Students who want to live in the residence halls again next year will begin the first round of the housing reapplication process Monday.
Before being eligible for reapplication, students who live in University residence halls and apartments must submit an “Intent to Return” form online with the department of Housing and Residential Life, said Mannix Clark, the department’s associate director.
Students who intend to return must sign up by March 9 with their University Internet ID, a $25 nonrefundable application fee, a $100 refundable deposit and their choice of meal plan, Clark said. Students will also be asked to take a short survey that helps the department forecast application rates and hall choices.
The department is using a new online system for the reapplication process this year, and it has inconvenienced some students this week, Clark said.
“We had a glitch with the new system and how it took the money, so we took the site down, and we’re going to make it easier for students,” Clark said.
He said the system is being fixed this week so things can run smoothly during the five rounds that make up the reapplication process.
In the first round, most students in residence halls will be eligible to remain in the same room next year. But because Frontier Hall and Territorial Hall are reserved for first-year students only, students in those halls must move if they want to live in University housing again.
First-year student Rebecca Agnitsch said that she decided she wants to return to her Pioneer Hall room next year because she wanted to become more-acquainted with living away from home.
“My first semester, I was really homesick, and so it was hard,” she said. “So I’m still kind of adjusting to being here, and I think living in the dorms helps (you) make friends.”
The convenience of residence hall life encouraged first-year student Jessika Higganbotham to reapply for on-campus housing, she said.
“I think it’s the easiest thing to do Ö because with an apartment, you have to buy your food and make it, and with this, it’s just so much easier – you’re right on campus,” she said.
Higganbotham said she was unable to apply for “Intent to Return” because the housing Web site was down but plans on trying to apply again Friday.
Clark said the system should be working fine when the actual process begins Monday, and department staff will be available for questions from students throughout the five rounds.
On-campus housing must accommodate all incoming first-year students who apply for housing by May 1, Clark said, so it is important that reapplication numbers are consistent with past years.
The “Intent to Return” system historically shows that approximately 2,700 of the 6,300 students in the residence halls will return, Clark said.
By the time the reapplication process ends May 1, that number usually drops to approximately 2,000, as students find other accommodations, Clark said.
