Processes – Page 3 – Your Home at The Hall

Sign up for Easter Break Housing

Residence Halls will close at 10am on Thursday, April 13th for Easter
Break and will reopen on Monday, April 17th at 2pm. For those students who will not be leaving for Easter Break due to work obligations, athletic competitions, or the distance being too far, Boland, Xavier, Ora, and Turrell are available for break housing.

Students who need break housing must apply for break housing through the application in their housing profile which will be available March 20th – March 27th. If you do not live in Boland, Xavier, Turrell, or Ora, you must find a friend who will allow you to use their room during break. Approvals for break housing will be sent via email by March 28th.

If you’re staying in a friend’s room for the break, it is your responsibility to get their key from them before they leave for break. Remember: break housing is a privilege and you are responsible for any damage or theft that occurs from your break housing room during the duration of your stay.

Please keep in mind that SHUFly Shuttle and SAFERide will not operate during break and that campus dining options will be limited. We will also experience a power plant shut down on Thursday, April 13th for most of the day so the campus residence halls will have no electricity besides emergency lighting.

If you are leaving for Easter break, please unplug everything, close your window shades, remember to pack everything you’ll need for the break (including medications and homework materials), and plan to be out of your room no later than 10am on Thursday, April 13th. We look forward to welcoming you back to campus on Monday, April 17th at 2pm.

Wishing you a relaxing and safe Easter Break!

Commuters are welcome, too

If you’re a commuter and want the ability to visit your resident friends between day classes to hang out or collaborate on group projects, SGA and HRL have teamed up with a solution: Commuter Hall Access Privileges.

Commuters who wish to apply for Commuter Hall Access Privileges can complete an application on PirateNet under the Housing Profile (found on the Profile and Finances tab.)

Commuters wishing to have these privileges must agree to the following parameters:

provide accurate emergency contact information on the following screens.
re-enroll each semester to continue Commuter Hall Access Privileges.
leave my SHU ID card at the front desk of the building they are visiting
regularly check my SHU Email for any potential updates regarding this privilege.
maintain a clear balance on my SHU Account.
abide by the hours (9:30am-4:30pm Mon-Fri) of this Access Privilege.

There is no charge for this privilege but students found in violation of any of the above will result in loss of the privilege for remainder of year. Violation of any University or HRL policies, while in the residence hall, will be treated under community standards process.

Preparing for Finals!

To help students better prepare for Finals, Housing and Residence Life is proud to support The Academic Resource Center’s SHU-Tutopia.

On December 14th (Reading Day), from 3 pm to 6 pm in the University Center Main Lounge, tutors will be available for all students to help them prepare for finals.

Starting on Reading Day and lasting until the last day of finals, in the residence halls, HRL staff asks that students maintain 24 hour quiet hours. This is to create an environment conducive to studying and academic success. RAs and professional staff will be diligently enforcing this policy.

Resident students are encouraged to utilize the numerous study spaces available in the residence halls to better help you prepare for your final exams, projects and papers.

Housing and Residence Life wishes all students best of luck on finals!

Not coming back? We’re sad to see you go, but first…

If your plans for Spring 2017 do not include living on campus, it’s time to fill out a Housing License Release Request form. Please email the completed form to SHUHousing@shu.edu.

(This includes those students who wish to student abroad, take a leave of absence, withdraw from the University, or who wish to commute.)

If you are registered as a full-time student, housing and meal plan charges for next semester will be added to your student account the week following Thanksgiving break. If you do not wish to return to housing, please let us know so we won’t bill you for housing you do not wish to keep.

Housing and Residence Life kicks off RA Selection for 2017-2018!

Housing and Residence Life is happy to announce that Resident Assistant Selection has begun for the 2017-2018 academic year.

Resident Assistants are student para-professionals who are trained to offer support to our residents throughout the year. They offer programs, serve as a resource and confront policy violations in the halls. They are an integral part in our office’s mission to provide living and learning communities for our residents.

If any student is interested in becoming a Resident Assistant, they are invited to attend one of the mandatory information sessions listed below. If one of our current Resident Assistants or professional staff members thinks an individual will make a great addition to our staff, our staff are giving out reference cards to encourage attendance at an information session.

Applications, which will be distributed at the information session, will be due January 20th, 2017 at 12 PM.

If you have any questions, do not hesitate to contact Eric Mochnacz, Assistant Director for Training and Development, at eric.mochnacz@shu.edu or stop by 68 Duffy Hall to speak with him.

Staying here for Thanksgiving Break? Don’t forget to request Break Housing!

Residence Halls will close at 10am on Wednesday, November 23rd for Thanksgiving Break and will reopen on Sunday, November 27th at 2pm. For those students who will not be leaving for Thanksgiving break due to work obligations, athletic competitions, or the distance being too far, Boland, Xavier, Ora, and Turrell are available for break housing.

Students who need break housing must apply for break housing through the application in their housing profile which will be available November 1st-November 15th at noon. If you do not live in Boland, Xavier, Turrell, or Ora, you must find a friend who will allow you to use their room during break. Approvals for break housing will be sent via email by November 16th.

Please keep in mind that SHUFly Shuttle and SAFERide will not operate during break and that campus dining options will be limited.

If you are leaving for Thanksgiving break, please unplug everything, close your window shades, remember to pack everything you’ll need for the break (including medications and homework materials), and plan to be out of your room no later than 10am on Wednesday, November 23rd. We look forward to welcoming you back to campus on Sunday the 27th at 2pm.

Happy, safe, and delicious Thanksgiving to all of our Pirates! Safe travels to and from campus!

Academic Resources in the Residence Halls

The Department of Housing and Residence Life provides a living, learning environment that fosters the academic and personal experience for residents, and helps them prepare for the rest of their lives.

To that end, we want to remind students of the academic services that are available on campus.

Tutors in Residence

Tutors in Residence are 6 students who maintain regular office hours in Boland and Aquinas Hall to provide academic assistance to students in a variety of subject areas. Check out the link below for their hours and areas of expertise –

https://www13.shu.edu/offices/housing-residence-life/upload/Tutors-in-Residence-Fact-Sheet.pdf

University Libraries

Students should utilize the University Library as an alternative study space. Below are the hours for the University Library –

http://library.shu.edu/library/library-hours

Academic Resource Center (ARC)

HRL also works in collaboration with the Academic Resource Center to provide even more access to students who need academic support. Please see the link below for their information and hours –

https://www13.shu.edu/offices/arc/index.cfm

Both the TIRs and ARC offer programs and study groups throughout the semester to support and encourage strong academic performance.

Utilizing these resources is important, as Housing and Residence Life requires all resident students to maintain a 1.8 cumulative GPA to remain in housing. Maintaining a strong GPA is important as GPA is a factor in determining your priority points for selecting your housing next year.

HRL’s 1.8 GPA Policy

The Department of Housing and Residence Life believes that living in a residence hall is a valuable educational experience. Students learn and refine life skills in an environment that exposes them to great diversity of lifestyles. The residence hall experience is one that compliments the classroom experience. Students have opportunities to apply what they learn, to question each other, study with each other and attend programs and activities designed to facilitate learning. The students and staff who reside in the halls create the environment. All students have a responsibility to respect and contribute to the learning environment. Behavior that undermines, or that indicates a lack of commitment to the learning environment is not acceptable.

A GPA requirement is a tool used to reinforce the commitment expected of resident students. The department of Housing and Residence Life actively promotes responsible decision making and good learning habits. It is our goal to retain students with a strong interest in contributing to the learning-living environment.

At the beginning of each Spring semester, Housing and Residence Life (HRL) professionals meet with all resident students who have a cumulative GPA of 1.8 or below. During this meeting, the HRL professional helps guide and support the student through creating and effective plan to help increase the student’s GPA by the end of the semester. The professional provides students with resources such as hours and location of the writing and math centers along with the lobby hour schedule of our Tutor in Residences where student are able to drop in for assistance with their academics. Before the conclusion of the meeting, both parties set up a date and time for a follow up meeting to take place in following weeks to ensure the student is successfully reaching their GPA goal.

Occupancy Verifications: Why is my RA asking me to sign this spreadsheet?

Twice in the fall semester and once in the spring semester, your RA will come around to your room and ask you to sign a large roster acknowledging that you are, indeed, living where our software says you’re supposed to be living. But why?

These rosters, called “Verifications” are crucial to assuring accurate billing of your student account. They also serve as a back-up roster to see if anyone has taken it upon themselves to switch rooms without permission. (Note: students who are found to have changed rooms without going through the proper HRL process will be held judicially responsible.) For safety’s sake, it’s so important that we know who’s supposed to be in which bed. If there were ever an emergency in your room, we’d need to know exactly who we’re looking for.

Sometimes there’s a bonus question on verifications. This time we’re asking if you plan to return to housing for the Spring 2017 semester. While your answer to this question isn’t contractual or binding for next semester, it helps us plan for how many vacant beds we can expect to offer to incoming transfers or January admitted students.

Thanks for signing verifications, and thanks to the RAs who get them completed in such a quick turnaround!