All residence halls and college owned fraternities will close for Thanksgiving break on Wednesday, November 21st at 10:00 a.m. Residence halls and college owned fraternities will re-open on Sunday, November 25th at noon.  Residence Life will accommodate students who plan to stay on campus during the Thanksgiving break period.  Depending on where you live and the demand for housing, students may either be:

• permitted to remain in their own room, or
• required to move temporarily to another building for reasons of safety, security, and energy conservation

Because this is generally  a low occupancy period, the College restricts access to many halls.  Halls that will close for break include: Apple, Hanson, Huber, Musselman, Patrick, Paul, Rice, Stevens, Stine, and Quarries (Corkran, Haaland, Hazlett, West).    All other halls are subject to remain open (to students registered for break housing) based on the number of student requests submitted for that building.
 
Students who must stay on campus for ANY PART of Thanksgiving break must register through CNAV/myHousing.  The Thanksgiving break request page will open for individual requests on Monday, November 5th at 8:00 a.m. and close on Monday, November 19th at 9:00 a.m.

Please note: If you are part of an athletic team or group from a department that is required to be here over break, DO NOT submit a Break Housing request. Your coach or department will submit the request for you.

MyHousing Instructions:
If your residence hall is open:

• Complete the information on the myHousing site (note your hall and room numbers).

If your residence hall is not open:

• It is YOUR responsibility to make alternative housing arrangements with someone who lives in an open hall.
  
  • You should then submit a break housing request and list the hall and room you have secured for this break period.
    
  • You will need to arrange to borrow the key from the resident of the room you will be using.
• If you do not know anyone who lives in an open hall, you must submit the myHousing request by selecting the building "Unknown." The Office of Residence Life will then work with you to provide temporary housing during the break period.

Break Housing approvals will be sent to students via email from Danielle Phillips; Associate Director of Residence Life.

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All residence halls and college owned fraternities will close for winter break on Sunday, December 16th at 10:00 a.m. Residence halls and college owned fraternities will re-open on Saturday, January 19th at noon. Residence Life will accommodate students who plan to stay on campus during the Winter break period.  Depending on where you live and the demand for housing, students may either be:

• permitted to remain in their own room, or
• required to move temporarily to another building for reasons of safety, security, and energy conservation

Because this is generally  a low occupancy period, the College restricts access to many halls.  Halls that will close for break include: Apple, Hanson, Huber, Musselman, Patrick, Paul, Rice, Stevens, Stine, and Quarries (Corkran, Haaland, Hazlett, West).    All other halls are subject to remain open (to students registered for break housing) based on the number of student requests submitted for that building.
 
Students who must stay on campus for ANY PART of Winter break must register through CNAV/myHousing.  The Winter break request page will open for individual requests on Monday, November 26th at 8:00 a.m. and close on Thursday, December 13th at 8:00 a.m.

Please note: If you are part of an athletic team or group from a department that is required to be here over break, DO NOT submit a Break Housing request. Your coach or department will submit the request for you.

MyHousing Instructions:
If your residence hall is open:

• Complete the information on the myHousing site (note your hall and room numbers).

If your residence hall is not open:

• It is YOUR responsibility to make alternative housing arrangements with someone who lives in an open hall.
  • You should then submit a break housing request and list the hall and room you have secured for this break period.
  • You will need to arrange to borrow the key from the resident of the room you will be using.
• If you do not know anyone who lives in an open hall, you must submit the myHousing request by selecting the building "Unknown." The Office of Residence Life will then work with you to provide temporary housing during the break period.

Break housing approvals will be sent to students via email from Danielle Phillips; Associate Director of Residence Life.

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During the winter break period the Department of Public Safety will conduct life safety inspections of residence hall rooms. This is a reminder that possession of any prohibited items will result in a life safety violation (consequences most often include a fine and required removal of the item). The Thanksgiving break period is an ideal time to permanently remove prohibited items from the halls.  Please see our website for a detailed list of prohibited items. Also, remember that smoke detectors and other life safety equipment must never be covered or tampered with.

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As the semester comes to a close many room changes will begin to occur for the Spring 2013 semester. For those looking to change rooms for spring semester, your requests must be submitted to the Office of Residence Life by Friday, December 7th. Those doing a room change at the end of the semester must vacate their current room and return the key to that room prior to departure for winter break (no later than 10:00 a.m. on Sunday, December 16th).

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As a new member of a fraternity you may now be obligated to fill a vacancy in your fraternity house for the spring semester. Please check with your house president to review your eligibility and the requirements pertaining to this process. Should you be selected to move to your fraternity the following will occur:

• You must vacate your current room and return the key to that room prior to your departure for winter break (no later than 10:00 a.m. on Sunday, December 16th).
• Communicate with your current roommate(s) that the vacancy you are creating will be filled for Spring Semester. The roommate(s) has the option to find a friend to fill this vacancy but will need to do so prior to the start of winter break. The student changing rooms into the space you are vacating will need to do so prior to leaving for winter break as well.
• Any space left open will be filled by the Office of Residence Life.


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The Office of Residence Life is currently working with the Off-Campus Studies Office to confirm students planning to study off-campus for the spring semester.  All students who have applied to study off-campus for the spring semester will be removed from their housing assignment for the spring semester on Friday, November 9th.  If your plans change and you will not be studying off-campus in the spring, you must notify the Off-Campus Studies Office prior to November 9th.  Students remaining on the Spring Off-Campus Study List after November 9th should review the following information:

• You must vacate your room and return your key prior to leaving for winter break (no later than 10:00 a.m. on Sunday, December 16th).
• Communicate with your current roommate(s) that the vacancy you are creating will be filled for Spring Semester. The roommate(s) has the option to find a friend to fill this vacancy but will need to do so prior to the start of winter break. The student changing rooms into the space you are vacating will need to do so prior to leaving for winter break as well.
• Many students have already signed room switch agreements for a friend to take their space in the room. Students are encouraged to check with Residence Life to make sure this information is received for their room. Please note that no new room switch agreements will be accepted after Friday, November 16th.
• Any space left open will be filled by the Office of Residence Life.


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Before students left to study off-campus, everyone was asked to submit a Housing Intent Form that notes housing preferences for the spring semester.  If you were planning to be involved in a room switch, you were also asked to complete a Room Switch Agreement Form.  The Office of Residence Life is currently reviewing housing preferences for all students who are currently studying off-campus.  If you did not submit this paperwork, you should have received an email from Sharon Fissel (sfissel@gettysburg.edu) with the housing preference form attached to complete and return. Please note that no new room switch agreements will be accepted after Friday, November 16th. The timeline for spring housing placements will proceed as follows:

Week of December 10th:

• Students with room switch agreements will be assigned to their spring housing.
• Room and apartment vacancies will be reviewed for possible consolidations among remaining students.
• Room changes will be finalized.
• The remaining students not yet housed will be assigned to a “Pending Housing Assignment” so that student financial bills can be posted to student accounts. All students will be billed the Plan 2 amount of $3,550. If necessary, room bills will be adjusted as assignments are made in January.

January 2nd through January 11th:

• Housing assignments will be determined for students without room switch agreements (by class year/lottery number) based on building preferences and roommate requests noted on the Housing Intent Form.

Week of January 14th:

• During this time period, CNAV/MyHousing will be available so that students can view their spring housing assignment and roommate information.


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Application Process

There are several attractive options for theme housing:

• Joining one of the established houses on campus
• Applying as a group with a new idea or as a returning house and interviewing for placement

The Theme House selection process is conducted each spring semester for the following academic year.

Established Houses
The following is a list of the established houses on campus. If you are interested in joining one of these houses next year, contact the House Leaders indicated below. If you have any questions, email Scott Wojciechowski, Residential Life Coordinator for Sophomore Resources and Theme Housing. For more details about established theme houses, please visit our website.

• Allies House, Bregenzer House: Ann Sasala
• Blue Note Jazz House, Lau House: Matt Carlson or Keith Gromis
• Civil War Era Studies House, Appleford Inn and Appleford Carriage House: Lauren Roedner
• Diaspora House, 102 W. Water St.: Charrisha Watkins or Taurean Nelson
• Farmhouse, Corner Cottage: Michaela Sweeney or Rebecca Taormina
• FUNK House: Connecting Campus Communities, Albaugh House: Sara Putnam or Julian Weiss
• German House, 43 W. Middle St.: Leanne Woehleke
• Hillel House, Smith House: Lee Richlin
• Peace House, Carlisle House: Candice Lopez
• Spanish House, Corkran Hall: Yulaikis Garcia

If you are interested in the following houses, please contact Scott Wojciechowski.

• Eisenhower Institute, Eisenhower House (157 N. Washington St.)
• Honors House, 215 N. Washington St. and Hutchison House
• R.I.S.E. House, Quarry West
• Writing House, 133-135 N. Washington St.

Group Applications
The selection process for one-year houses begins with an idea or brainstorm from a group of students. These ideas then take form in a theme house application, a proposal written by group members outlining the goals and direction for the theme house. For a list of current theme houses, please visit our website.

One-year house applications are reviewed by the Office of Residence Life and select groups are interviewed by the review committee. Theme house selection is based on the quality and strength of the application, the commitment and organization of the house members, the needs of the college community served by the theme house, and the group interview. Current one-year groups reapplying for theme houses will also be rated upon past performance and future plans. You may provide the Office of Residence Life with your group's building preference, but there is no guarantee that you will receive your preference.

Applications for new and returning one-year theme houses will be available in the Office of Residence Life CUB 250) beginning January 2013. The application for one-year houses is due Friday, February 1 to the Office of Residence Life (CUB 250). Established houses undergo a different process to ensure their continued presence.

The Office of Residence Life will assign housing based on group size. Placement of theme housing is concluded prior to spring break, so if you are not selected to participate in theme housing, you will receive a lottery number for online housing selection beginning in March.

Please send questions regarding theme housing to Scott Wojciechowski, Residential Life Coordinator for Sophomore Resources and Theme Housing. Theme Housing applications are due to the Office of Residence Life on Friday, February 1, 2013, by 5:00 p.m.

Please visit our website for more specific information about Theme Housing. The Office of Residence Life is committed to the diversification of house themes. For more information on the selection process, please contact the Office of Residence Life in CUB 250 at 717-337-6901.

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FYE Components and Expectations

Every first-year student is involved in either the Burg FYE program or the Traditional FYE program. The components and expectations for each program are listed below.

Burg FYE
All students in the Burg FYE program participate in four different components:

• Their first-year seminar
• The Thursday 11:30-12:30 meetings with their seminar
• The Burg gatherings that bring all the seminars together
• Monthly community meetings with their residence hall floor

Burg FYE students can earn up to 11 points through their participation:

• 5 points by meeting the expectations set by their professor and administrator for participation in the seminar, Thursday meetings, and Burg gatherings. Each session is not worth a particular number of points; you are assigned points based on your overall engagement.
• 6 points by attending monthly floor community meetings (August through January – 1 point per meeting).

Traditional FYE
All students in the Traditional FYE program are expected to attend every session that is offered in order to benefit fully from the First-Year Experience (FYE) program. They can earn up to 11 points through their participation.

The program consists of the following three components:

• Five Core Sessions (one point per session)
  • Library Orientation
  • Diversity Discussion
  • Paul Wesselmann Presentation
  • Academic Life Session
  • Fall Convocation
• Six Community Meetings (one point per meeting)
  • Monthly floor meetings August-January)
• Elective Sessions
  • Numerous sessions on various topics of interest that students can attend in order to make up a point for a session missed earlier in the semester or that may miss later in the semester. The list of electives can be found on the FYE website.

The expectations outlined above are designed to reflect the fact that Gettysburg College values engagement and personal accountability. The more engaged you are, the more you are rewarded. With regards to FYE, your reward is both intangible, becoming better integrated into the community, and tangible, earning the opportunity to select housing earlier in the lottery process. At Gettysburg, housing is guaranteed for everyone but where you are housed depends on various factors. Your level of participation in FYE is one of these contributing factors.

Here’s how it works:

As stated, both FYE programs consist of 11 points that can be earned. The more points you earn, the more likely you are to receive a better lottery number for your sophomore housing. Lottery numbers will be assigned based on both the number of FYE points earned and GPA.

• Students who receive all 11 points will be grouped together and divided into GPA subgroups, and then housing lottery numbers will be randomly assigned within these groups.
• Students who receive 10 points will be grouped together.
• Students who receive 9 points will be grouped together.
• Students who receive 8 points will be grouped together.
• Students who receive 7 points will be grouped together.
• Students who receive 6 points will be grouped together.
• Students who receive 0 to 5 points will be grouped together and select housing at the end of their class.

Theme housing, which is a popular housing option for sophomore students, is not selected through a lottery system. However, completion of FYE, along with academic and student conduct records, is a factor in determining eligibility for this housing option. Students who receive zero to five FYE points will not be eligible to participate in theme housing.

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The following information applies for the 2013-2014 academic year.

Our office receives many questions from students who are hoping to live off-campus during their senior year. The following information restates the College’s policies and procedures related to off-campus living.

Gettysburg is a residential college. By policy (see page 19 of the Student Handbook), all undergraduate students are required to live on campus, or in a College-related fraternity house, unless they receive approval to reside off-campus. Permission to live off-campus is determined through the Off-Campus Housing Application Lottery held each February.

Each February, the college evaluates enrollment needs and determines how many students will be released from their obligation to reside on campus. For this reason, students are forewarned against signing a lease for an off-campus accommodation until they receive approval (in writing) through the off-campus application process. If you do not have written permission to reside off-campus, you are obligated to reside in, and pay for, college housing. Once the maximum off-campus approval number is reached, any remaining students are placed on a waiting list.

In order to be eligible to reside off-campus, students must have a cumulative GPA of 2.00 (or higher) and have a clear judicial record (no conduct probation, less than 5 points on behavioral record at time of application). Students should be current junior standing at the time of application. While sophomores may apply for off-campus approval, they will not be considered until all junior applicants are approved.

The College considers permission to live off-campus to be a privilege. Each student interested in living off-campus is required to attend one of the two orientation meetings as part of the application process. These meetings will be held on Wednesday, January 30, 2013, at 7:00 p.m. and Thursday, January 31, 2013, at 11:30 a.m. in Mara Auditorium (Masters Hall). This presentation includes the approval procedures, standards of behavior that are expected of students living in the Gettysburg community, and some information on the rental process. Applications are distributed at this meeting and will be reviewed and authorized in lottery number order.

Fraternity houses must be at capacity for the following Fall Semester before fraternity members will be authorized, by the College, to live off-campus. The Office of Residence Life will work in coordination with the Office of Greek organizations to ensure that this criteria is met.

Students who will be abroad at any time during their senior year and plan to reside off-campus (even if their plans are only to live in the community for one semester), must attend this meeting. Those students who are abroad at the time of this process must have “proxy” representation both for the meeting and the application.

Once approval has been granted, the responsibility for securing suitable accommodations rests entirely on the student. The College is not involved in inspecting non-College facilities and therefore cannot ascertain whether such facilities are safe, sanitary, or in compliance with local ordinances. The College does not provide residential services (including Safety and Security) for those living off-campus. Individual students’ landlords and the Borough Police are among the many resources available to students living off-campus.

Students residing off-campus are still subject to the College judicial procedures and to the sanctions of local authorities. Students living off-campus who are cited by the local authorities for disorderly conduct, excessive noise, drinking underage, public intoxication, etc. may be required to return to campus housing regardless of financial hardship or lease commitments. All occupants of the house or apartment may be subject to the same requirement.

If you have any further questions about this process, please contact the Office of Residence Life (CUB 250).

Important Dates to Remember for Off-Campus Housing

Students must attend ONE of the following two orientation meetings. Both meetings will be held in Mara Auditorium (Masters 110).
January 30, 2013 Mandatory orientation for off-campus living at 7:00 p.m.
January 31, 2013 Mandatory orientation for off-campus living at 11:30 a.m.

February 22, 2013 Applications for off-campus living due to Residence Life
March 6, 2013 Notification of application status (approved, declined, waitlist)

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As a reminder for any student who has a special need for housing for the 2013-2014 academic year, information about the process and the forms can be found at the following website:

Special Needs Housing Information and Forms

On the website there are links to two forms. There is a Special Needs Housing Request Form that students need to fill out every year and there is also a Disability Documentation Form for the physician to usually complete only once in a student's four years.

There are two deadlines for special needs housing materials:

• Students with disabilities who require accommodations for the 2013-2014 academic year that may include but are not limited to air conditioning must return forms to Residence Life by March 8, 2013. All forms received after this date will be reviewed, but accommodations cannot be guaranteed after housing selection begins on March 24.

• Students with disabilities that only require air conditioning will participate in the regular housing selection process and will be required to submit the above mentioned forms by July 12, 2013.

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