GUIDE FOR SUCCESSFUL LIVING

Section Three ~ Residence Hall Assignment Process

Assignment Process

Assignments are processed based on date of prepayment and application. Every effort is made to provide students with a room and/or roommate choice. Students who are currently living on campus receive priority only during the re-application/room selection process in March. Since assignments are made based on date of application, there is no guarantee roommate preferences will be honored when mutually requested. Only the student(s) to whom a room is assigned may reside there.

Cancellation of Housing Application/License Agreement

Written notification is required to cancel an active housing application. Please review the residency requirement information prior to requesting your housing application to be canceled. All such requests for release must be submitted in writing to the Office of Residential Life.

Intent to Return

Resident students will be given an opportunity in November of each year to notify the Office of Residential Life of their plans for the upcoming spring semester. Fall semester only residents can request their agreement to be extended to the upcoming spring semester. This request authorizes the Office of Residential Life to extend your current license agreement and commits you to the paying of rent for the spring semester.

Late Check-In

Upon written request, the Office of Residential Life will hold your assignment for a period of time after the official check-in time period has ended. Failure to notify our office will result in your being counted as a NO SHOW. Refer to NO SHOWS for more information.

License Agreement

Your license agreement is a very important document. Prior to signing your agreement, you should read over the terms and conditions stated. Your license agreement is binding for the entire time period you designate (fall semester, spring semester, academic year, and/or summer semester). Failing to designate a specific time period will result in your agreement to be considered for the academic year. A fall only application can be renewed for the following spring semester.

Students, regardless of class standing, are obligated to fulfill the stated time period of their license agreement. Not checking into your room does not release you from your license agreement. Checking out of your room with a residence hall staff member does not release you from your license agreement. All student communication concerning the license agreement must be submitted in writing to the Director of Residential Life. Once the license agreement becomes effective, a student is released only in emergency situations.

Please read the license agreement carefully. The terms of this license agreement are not modified in any way by the verbal comments of a university employee or student.

You may sign your license agreement for a two-semester or one-semester time period. Signing a license agreement for two semesters commits you to paying rent for your room for two semesters --- even if you change your mind after one semester. Rent is paid for one semester at a time. Rent is due in full at the time you register and pay for classes.

No Shows

Your residence hall assignment will be held until 6:00 p.m. the evening prior to the first day of classes. It is your responsibility to notify the Office of Residential Life in advance if you are unable to check in by this time. Students who fail to notify our office will forfeit the current assignment space and if applicable, have all personal items inventoried and declared as surplus property. Not checking into your room does not release you from your license agreement. You will need to choose a new assignment or submit a request for cancellation of the license agreement.

Overflow Housing

The Office of Residential Life will maintain overflow housing which is used to accommodate late applicants who requested housing after all regular spaces is assigned. On-campus overflow housing refers to temporary assignments in an off-line residence hall requiring relocation to online residence halls as space becomes available. Off-campus overflow housing refers to hotel assignments. Students will be advised of this status and given specific details and policy information at the time of an overflow housing assignment.

Re-Application/Room Selection

Applications to return to the residence hall system for the following semester and/or academic year are available during the reapplication/room selection week held in the spring. All current residents will receive information about reapplication week well in advance through their campus post office box. This is the only time period that returning residents are given priority in the assignment process.

Residency Requirement

The University requires students to live in residence hall units until all available spaces have been assigned beginning with freshmen and proceeding through the academic classification of sophomore, junior and senior. Based on current available space, the University residency requirement places an emphasis on students who have not completed four semesters of college coursework post high school graduation. All requests for a waiver or an exception must be submitted in writing to the Director of Residential Life or his appointed designee.

1. Students who have completed four semesters of college coursework post high school graduation.
2. Students commuting from parent and/or guardian residency which is within a fifty mile radius.
3. Students living with immediate relatives who are permanent residents--specifically identified as grandparents, brothers or sisters who are not enrolled at the university-within a fifty mile radius.
4. Students participating in academic internship programs.
5. Married students.
6. Students with physical and/or emotional disabilities verified by a licensed physician.
7. Emergency release granted by the Office of Residential Life.

PLEASE NOTE: The signing of a housing agreement obligates the student to fulfill the terms and conditions of the agreement for the duration of the agreement. The residence hall agreement can be signed for one semester or the entire academic year. A fall only agreement can be renewed for the following spring semester.

Room Changes and Hall Transfers

As a resident, you will have several opportunities to move from your current room to another room in your same residence hall or transfer to another hall.

In-Hall Room Changes/Hall Transfers

You may request a hall transfer during any point in the semester. To do this you must call 372-3414 and set up an appointment with your area coordinator, Josh Edmonds for Pinketon Quad/Crawford, Andrew Moneymaker for Capital Quad, and Ronald Mezime for Tech Village.

Mediation Changes

If you really try and things just aren't working out let your RA/HD know. He/she will work with you and your roommates through a Roommate Mediation Workshop. While learning to live with differences is an important aspect of college life, we realize that sometimes needs and personalities are just too different. We also realize you may form friendships that result in a desire to change rooms or roommates.

All room changes must be approved in advance by the appropriate housing staff. Violators will be subject to an improper check-out charge and disciplinary action. Residents who change rooms without prior authorization may be required to move back to their original assignment.

Specialty Housing Communities

1. Marshall Hall and White Hall are reserved for engineering majors only.
2. Murphy Hall is honors program housing only.
3. MS Cooper Hall is dedicated as the International Hall.
4. Jobe Hall is reserved for business majors only.
5. New Residence Hall is reserved for first semester freshmen only.

Students who choose to change their major while residing in a specialty area will be required to relocate to another hall the following semester.  The student may be asked to relocate within any given semester at the discretion of the specialty program director.

When applying for specialty housing, please review residence hall rates for additional specialty housing fees.
These rates can be found at www.tntech.edu/bursar/fees.html or at www.tntech.edu/reslife/rao.htm.

Members of the Honors Program must fill out special forms for the Honors program applying for their specialty housing in addition to submitting a housing application and prepayment to the Office of Residential Life.  The Honors Program is responsible for roommate matching and room assignments in the Honors housing areas.  Applicants desiring Honors Housing should choose the Murphy Hall as first preference on the housing application/license agreement.

Specialty housing for Business majors is located in Jobe Hall. An applicant for business specialty housing must submit a housing application/license agreement and prepayment to the Office of Residential Life choosing Jobe Hall as first preference on the housing application/license agreement.

Engineering specialty housing is open to all engineering majors.  An applicant must denote Marshall Hall and/or White Hall as their preferred hall choice when submitting the housing application/license agreement and prepayment to the Office of Residential Life.

Freshman only housing is available in the New Residence Hall.  Freshman only housing is available to freshman in their first academic year of college enrollment. An academic year is defined as Fall and Spring semesters consecutively. An applicant must submit a housing application/license agreement and prepayment to the Office of Residential Life and denote the New Residence Hall as their preferred hall.

For Fall 2005, MSCooper Hall will become the International Hall. This residence hall is not just for international students. Criteria can be found on the Office of International Student Affairs website under "Housing".

Room Consolidation

If a student is not assigned a roommate or thier roommate moves out of the room, the student that is left in the room will undergo a room consolidation process. It is important that we do this for a number of reasons:

• We need to have additional open rooms to allow students that would like to make a room change and/or get a new roommate the opportunity to do so.
• We need to have more open rooms to allow students who want to have a private/single rooms the opportunity to get one.
• We need to be fair to those residents that have paid for a single room versus those that are living in a double room without a roommate and not buying out his/her room.

With this in mind, the student will need to do one of the following:

• Find a new roommate of their choice to move in with them (this can be anyone of their choice or someone else that does not have a roommate).
• Move in with someone else that does not have a roommate (this can be anyone of their choice, provided there is space or someone is willing to trade rooms).
• Buy out their room, a double as a single ($495 per semester traditional hall; $750 per semester New Hall).