Fall Housing Newsletter

Welcome to the Fall 2019 Newsletter from the Office of Residential Education (Res Ed). The information included here will inform you about current housing information, and it will assist you in planning for your housing next semester and through next year. We encourage you to read through the entire newsletter to be best informed about upcoming housing information. The newsletter is separated into sections to aid you in navigation towards the information that is most pertinent to you. If after reading the information in this newsletter, you have any questions, please feel free to contact the Office of Residential Education at 717-337-6901.

Break Housing:

Thanksgiving, Winter, and Spring Breaks

Life Safety Room Inspections

During the winter and spring break periods 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.

Semester Closing Action Items:

Please be sure you and your roommates are aware of this information.

During the break period some room changes may still occur and, in some cases, students make decisions not to return for the spring semester. As a result, it is possible that when you leave for break your room/apartment/suite does not have a vacancy but one is created during break. We will need to be able to use all vacancies, therefore, all rooms/apartments/suites must be left in “move in condition” prior to leaving for Winter Break (even if there is no known vacancy in your living space at this time). We will be using these vacancies to house students returning from study abroad programs, readmissions, and room changes.

Your room/apartment/suite should be set to “move in” condition before leaving for winter break because the new resident(s) who move into your space may arrive on campus before you return in January. It is important that the room and common spaces be ready for a new roommate before you leave for break. If the living spaces are not in “move-in” condition, students will be asked to return to campus to clean and prepare the space and may be subject to an administrative fee up to $500.

Action items: What does “move in” condition mean for my room/apartment/suite?

Kitchens: All dishes cleaned, kitchen counters cleared/cleaned and floors swept/mopped.
Living rooms: clean and swept/vacuumed.
Bathrooms: All personal items removed from counters and tub area as housekeeping will be cleaning all private bathrooms over break.
Hallways: Must be cleared and swept/mopped/vacuumed.
Remove all trash from your room/apartment/suite.
All furniture must be present and assembled and available for use.

At the conclusion of the semester and during Winter Break, room inspections will be conducted by the Residential Education professional staff in order to assess whether rooms and common spaces are prepared for occupancy. All students will be contacted via email the week of January 13 to inform you that CNAV/MyHousing is open to view your roommates for the second semester.

Planning Now for Spring 2020 Housing:

End of Semester Room Changes and Consolidations

As the semester comes to a close, the Office of Residential Education will be working with students with vacancies in their spaces to consolidate. This is in preparation for spring housing placements for students returning from study abroad programs, readmissions, and new student transfers. Students with a vacancy in their spaces will be contacted to participate in a Room Consolidation meeting on Wednesday, November 13.

For those looking to change rooms for spring semester, your requests must be submitted to the Office of Residential Education by Friday, December 6. 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 15).

New Greek Members and Room Changes to Their Fraternities

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 15).
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 by Friday, December 6. 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 Residential Education.
Please check room rates for your fraternity.

Studying Off-Campus in Spring 2020

If you have applied to study off-campus during the spring 2020 semester, your "housing assignment" for the spring semester has been changed to "Study Abroad/Off-Campus." If you decide to remain on campus for the spring semester, please contact the Center for Global Education (CGE) to make them aware of your decision. CGE will then notify the Office of Residential Education of this change and your housing will be reinstated for the spring semester.

Before you leave for the semester:

Vacate your room and return your key prior to leaving for winter break (no later than 10:00 a.m. on Sunday, December 15). Failure to return your room key will result in an automatic lock change and your student account will be billed a minimum of $150.
Many students have already signed room switch agreements for a friend to take their space in the room. Students are encouraged to check with Residential Education to make sure this information is received for their room. Please note that no new room switch agreements will be accepted after Friday, November 8.
If you have not signed a room switch agreement, you should 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 by Friday, December 6. 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 Residential Education.

PREPARATION FOR 2020-2021 HOUSING SELECTION

Students who will be studying off-campus during the spring 2020 semester should complete the electronic Housing Proxy Form, which can be found online in CNAV/MyHousing/Applications. The information you provide on this form will be kept on file in our office in the event that your proxy needs to participate in housing processes that require applications or your physical presence at housing selection. We will also use this form should we have any questions on your housing should we not be able to reach you by email.
Residential Education (Res Ed) Staff Selection: Want to be on RFYP student staff? Even though you will be studying off-campus when the selection process for Residential Education (Res Ed) student leaders is happening you don't need to miss out on these opportunities! The following positions will be available: Resident Assistant (RA), Community Advisor (CA), Orientation Leader (OL), Orientation Coordinator, CYC Coordinator, Housing Coordinator, and Special Projects Coordinator. Applications are available on Friday, November 8 and are due by Sunday, November 17 at 5:00 p.m. for those students who will be studying off-campus during the spring semester. Questions related to staff selection should be directed to Allison Schofield, Associate Director of the Office of Residential Education.
Please refer to the Housing Selection 2020-2021 portion of this newsletter for more information on housing selection.

Returning from an Off-Campus Study Program

Last spring students who were planning to study off-campus during the Fall 2019 semester were asked to submit a Spring 2020 Study Abroad Housing Form that notes housing preferences for the 2020 spring semester. If you are planning to be involved in a room switch, you will need to have the Room Switch Agreement Form completed by Friday, November 8. The Office of Residential Education 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 the Office of Residential Education with the housing preference form attached to complete and return. Please note that no new room switch agreements will be accepted after Friday, November 8.

Housing Assignment Timeline for Spring Semester 2020

Friday, November 1st:

Remove all students not returning for spring 2020 from their housing assignments in the spring semester timeframe.

Wednesday, November 6:

Spring Greek Rosters are due. New Greek members will know whether they will be required to live in their fraternity house for the spring semester.

Friday, November 8:

Complete spring assignments for students with room switch agreements
Last day to submit room switch agreements

Wednesday, November 13 at 9:00 p.m. in CUB 260:

Room consolidation meeting for those have currently have a vacancy (affected students received an email with details about this process)

Monday, November 18:

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 with this assignment will be billed at the Plan 2 amount of $4,540. If necessary, housing bills will be adjusted as assignments are completed in January.

Wednesday, November 20:

Room and apartment vacancies will be reviewed for possible consolidations among remaining students.
First student billing file for housing for spring semester sent to Financial Services

Friday, December 6:

Last day to submit paperwork for a room change (for both fall and spring semesters)

Thursday, January 2 through Friday, January 10:

Housing assignments will be determined for students without room switch agreements (by class year/lottery number) based on building preferences, roommate requests, and available vacancies on campus.

Week of January 13:

No later than Wednesday, January 15 CNAV/MyHousing will be available so that students can view their spring housing assignment and roommate information.

Housing Selection for 2020-2021:

Preparing for the 2020-2021 Housing Selection Process

HOUSING SELECTION PHASE I:

This phase includes the following processes which take place before spring break.

Greek Housing: Please be aware of what your Greek housing obligations are for Fall 2020.
Approval to Live Off-Campus
Housing Accommodations: Students must apply with the Office of Academic Advising for approval of housing accommodations for students with disabilities. For more details, see "Housing Accommodations" section further below or contact Academic Advising directly.
College Houses: College Houses provide a wide range of living options. All selection processes are conducted in the spring semester during the months of February and March for the following academic year (see timeline below). College Houses are academically integrated residential options that serve as social and intellectual hubs for students, faculty, and staff.
- Monday, February 17: College House application opens
- Wednesday, February 26: College House Fair
- Friday, February 28: College House locations finalized - College House application closes
- Sunday, March 1: College House room selection night
- Wednesday, March 4: College House final room rosters due
Students who have signed up to live in College Houses will not receive a lottery number for the online housing selection process. If a student relinquishes their housing in a College House after the final roster is turned in, they will be placed in PHASE III of the Housing Selection Lottery Process.

If you are interested in learning more about the College Houses or in joining one of these houses next year, contact the House Leaders listed on the College House directory. If you have any questions, contact Andrew Hileman, Assistant Director.
Residential Education (Res Ed) Staff Selection: Applications for Resident Assistant (RA) and Community Advisor (CA) will be available online in early-December. You will receive an email from Allison Schofield, Associate Director of the Office of Residential Education, when online applications are available. Applications for RA and CA positions are due by Tuesday, February 4 by 5:00 p.m.

HOUSING SELECTION PHASE II:

Online Housing Selection Process

Lottery numbers will be posted on CNAV/MyHousing on Monday, March 16 for current juniors and current sophomores with online housing selection occurring on Sunday, March 22.
Lottery numbers for current first-year students will be posted on Wednesday, April 1 with online housing selection occurring on Sunday, April 5.
Students will receive an email when lottery numbers are available.
The Guide to Housing Selection will be published online in February and will outline more details about the online housing selection process.

HOUSING SELECTION PHASE III:

This is a three month Housing Selection process which begins in May and continues through the end of July. This phase consists of the follow processes:

Waitlisted Housing Accommodations (requests received after March 6 deadline)
Student room changes
Housing waitlist applications (students housed but desire different housing than chosen in the selection process)
Room consolidations from withdraws and dismissals
Housing Preferences forms (students not housed yet)
Upper class readmit housing placements

First-Year CYC Participation — Impact on Housing

Charting Your Course (CYC) is our extended orientation program designed to empower first-year students to be Gettysburg Great as they learn about, engage in, and plan their Gettysburg experience. The program offers meaningful sessions of various styles and topics that are designed to engage first-year students both inside and outside of the classroom. Many of Gettysburg College's values are articulated through the CYC sessions, including the development of a safe and healthy community; intellectual engagement; leadership; and diversity, equity, and inclusion.

Most first-year students have completed a significant portion of the program so far, including the Honor Code Tutorial, an orientation to Musselman Library, sexual misconduct and Title IX training, the Nafissa Thompson-Spires public presentation, small group discussions of the novel "Heads of the Colored People," Violence Prevention Programs, g-chats, and a number of community meetings.

First-year students' participation and engagement in CYC impacts their housing for their sophomore year. The lottery system for the upcoming year for Rising Sophomores will utilize CYC Credits to provide the most equitable lottery system for housing selection. We believe in an engaged and active community of students, which is the focus of this lottery number structure that encourages participation in the CYC Program.

There are a total of 22 possible CYC sessions: 17 required and 5 electives. The more sessions students attend, the more options they will have for their housing for next year. Rising sophomores will be grouped based on CYC credits earned. Lottery numbers will then be generated at random within each group. For example, all students who complete all required events and the maximum elective events will receive the top lottery numbers at random. The second group of lottery numbers will be generated at random of the group of students who complete all required events and who have missed one elective. This pattern will continue, emphasizing CYC required events first and elective events second.

Please look for more details about CYC and your housing lottery number in spring 2020. In the meantime, please continue to engage in and attend CYC sessions and monitor your attendance on Moodle.

Sophomore Success Program — Impact on Housing

Sophomore year is a great time for students to focus on academic achievement, engaging in high impact volunteer opportunities, and preparing for future career aspirations. Developing a clear path toward graduation and future goals becomes easier once students declare their major, so students are asked to declare their major by the end of their sophomore year. Encourage your student to connect with their academic advisor, a staff member in Center for Career Engagement, and their Residential Life Student Staff member early in their sophomore year to help them thrive during their sophomore year. In addition, we want to emphasize that building relationships with faculty members will help increase students' GPAs, provide opportunities for research with a faculty member, and improve students' satisfaction while in college. An hour of time with a faculty member can make a big impact on a student’s experience.

The Sophomore Success Program is comprised of six events, and students' participation in these events is tied to housing for their junior year. Read more about the Sophomore Success Program.

Signing Off-Campus Leases

Housing Accommodations (including air conditioner requests)

Gettysburg College provides reasonable housing accommodations for students with disabilities. The Office of Residential Education will collaborate with other relevant staff at the College (including the Office of Academic Advising, Health Services, and Counseling Services) to determine the most appropriate housing accommodations. Housing accommodations are determined on a case-by-case basis according to documented need and prevailing standards for reasonable accommodations. Please visit Academic Advising’s website for more specific details on the policies, procedures, and all forms related to Disability Accommodations.

Students desiring to request housing accommodations are required to submit the Housing Accommodation Request form and the Housing Accommodation Acknowledgement form. Any student who has a diagnosis for which housing accommodations are appropriate can request accommodation from the Office of Academic Advising and Student Support Servcies. Students wishing to request accommodation or to know more about the College's policies should review the information available in the Handbook for Students with Disabilities.

New Housing Accommodations Requests

Requests for 2020–2021 are due to Academic Advising and Student Support Services by Friday, March 6, 5:00 pm.
Students seeking housing accommodation for a documented disability/condition must fill out and return the Student Housing Accommodation Request form and the Student Housing Accommodations Acknowledgement form, along with appropriate supporting documentation.

Existing Housing Accommodations Requests

Requests for 2020–2021 are due to Academic Advising and Student Support Services by Friday, March 6, 5:00 p.m.
Students seeking to renew housing accommodations for a documented disability must fill out and return the Student Housing Accommodations Acknowledgement form. If you have not completed the updated version of the Student Housing Accommodation Request form which includes verification and acknowledgement by Dining Services you must complete and submit this form as well. No new supporting documentation will be required.

Late requests (anything submitted after March 6) will be reviewed and, if approved, accommodated as availability/space permits. No guarantee of accommodated housing can be made for the start of the Fall term if the request is received after March 6.

Students will be contacted within one week after documentation for accommodation requests are received in the Office of Academic Advising and Student Support Services. Please call the office at 717-337-6579 if you are not contacted in that time frame.

Students requiring an air conditioner must submit the following forms: Housing Accommodation Request, Housing Accommodation Acknowledgement, and Medically Necessary Air Conditioner (which must be signed by their licensed healthcare provider). This information must be submitted to the Office of Academic Advising and Student Support Services (Phone: 717-337-6579 or Fax: 717-337-6245). Once the form is submitted, there will be an approval process conducted by the Office of Academic Advising, and the student will be notified regarding the status of his/her request.