Residential Life FAQ

Each of our residential hall rooms has the following accommodations provided:

• 2 loftable or bunkable twin beds
• Mattresses for each bed (see question #3)
• Mattress pads for each bed
• 2 Desks w/chairs
• 2 Five drawer dressers
• 1 waste paper basket
• Telephone with personal voicemail
• Free Cable access through the campus cable network
• Free Internet Access

In addition, each residential floor has the following:

• A furnished floor lounge
• A microwave
• A vacuum
• An Ironing Board

A complete list of items of suggested items to bring and items that are not allowed in our halls can be found on the Packing Checklist page.

Our mattresses are 36”x80” and require extra long twin sheets.  We recommend that you purchase your sheets and other bedding needs at:

• www.rhl.org/cui

• Brohm and Krauss halls are both a part of the Freshman Residential Experience.  Each hall has one third floor housing unit, with administrative and academic offices on the first and second floors and are attached to Addison Hall.  They are standard halls; 15-40 residents per floor, with a community bathroom/showers/sinks, and a furnished central common area.  Room dimensions can be found on the Brohm and Krauss Hall page.
• Kohn and Lindemann halls are the other halls that are a part of the Freshman Residential Experience.  Each hall consists of three floors.  They are attached to Addison Hall, our main administrative building on campus.  They are standard halls; 15-40 residents per floor, with a community bathroom/showers/sinks, and a furnished central common area.  Room dimensions can be found on the Kohn and Lindemann Hall page.
• David and Jonathan halls are very popular with our upperclassmen.  Located on the west side of campus, David and Jonathan halls are set up in suite style housing.  Every two rooms are connected by a bathroom that those four residents share.  The hall set up is standard with anywhere from 15-30 residents per floor.  Each floor has a separate furnished lounge with television and DVD/VCR.  Room dimensions can be found on the David and Jonathan Hall page. 
• Mary Martha hall is another hall popular with upperclassmen students.  Located on the east side of campus near the library, Koehneke Community Center (KCC), and Krentz Hall, Mary Martha is another standard style hall.  Mary Martha is similar in style to Kohn, Lindemann, Brohm, Krauss (KLBK), but each room in Mary Martha has its own sink.  In addition, Mary Martha has several three person rooms on the 2nd and 3rd floors.  Each floor has a shared “hyper lounge” located centrally between the North and South areas of the building.  Room dimensions can be found on the Mary Martha Hall page. 
• Gross Hall is the only hall on campus that is air conditioned so it is popular among many of our residents.  Located behind Mary Martha hall, and across from the Library Café, it was constructed in a “cluster style” of housing.  Each cluster has 7 rooms (14 residents) that share a bathroom, sink, and shower space.  In addition, each cluster has a furnished lounge with television and DVD/VCR.  Floors have between 1-3 clusters on a floor with separate entrances.  Gross is also the only hall on campus that has an elevator. The room dimensions can be found on the Gross Hall page.

Living in a residential hall is similar to any other type of community living you might have had.  It requires respect for others, patience, and a willingness to communicate for it to be a great experience.  Most times in the hall you’ll love being a part of the community- hanging out with friends, studying, watching a movie or playing video games, participating in a floor program- all contribute to making your living experience in the halls a great one.  Other times might be more challenging- a disagreement over noise level, a conflict between roommates, the breakup of a relationship- all are likely realities of life in a community setting that you will encounter.  The secret to success in the hall is how you choose to address these issues.  Living in the halls can be one of the most rewarding times of your college experience if you invest the proper energies into it.

All our halls, except David and Jonathon (DJ) halls, have community bathrooms; however, even in DJ you are sharing a bathroom with at least three other students. Even though you are sharing a bathroom, be aware of what the "community" style means. You will not be in a group shower like you might recall from high school gym class or using doorless toilet stalls. Privacy continues to be available in our bathrooms, with separate shower stalls and toilet stalls.

Residential Life recognizes the need that some of our students may have from existing medical conditions or because they are differently able to receive special accommodations. All students that might require such accommodations need to contact the Director of Residential Life to communicate those needs. Any student that might require an AC unit in their room need to have a hand written Doctor's note verifying it's requirement. Please be aware that students requiring AC might be moved to different rooms to assure that the voltage needed for the units is available. The school does not provide window AC units and all students requiring one are to bring their own. Physical Plant will need to be contacted to assist in the installation if necessary.

The beds provided by the university are both bunkable and loftable. We do not allow students to build their own lofts for this reason. The decision to bunk or loft beds must be agreed upon by both roommates. Bunking/Lofting pins are available from your residential life staff member on the floor. Residential life does not provide assistance in bunking or lofting the beds. Although, it has been our experience that if you ask, you'll find a ready supply of individuals that are willing to help. If you choose to bunk or loft your bed, you might be required to unbunk or loft your beds at the time of hall close at the end of the year.

Each student, when applying for housing or rehousing, is required to make a $200 deposit at the time of reservation to assure their room is held. This $200 deposit will be applied to the final cost of room and board and is not a charge in addition to cost.

The University can assume no responsibility for loss of, theft of, or damage to, the personal belongings of residents.  Each resident is urged to make sure that his/her property is adequately insured against such perils.

The most common fine you will find is regarding any damages. In addition, there is a Late Housing Application Fee penalty applied regarding housing:

• Late Housing Application Fee: A $50 dollar late processing fee will be added to any Housing Application that comes in after July 1st, 2007 for all returning college students.

New students can send in their housing application as soon as they have been accepted and plan to attend Concordia University Chicago and live on campus.
Returning students are required to sign up for housing during the Spring Housing Reapplication Process which generally takes place the end of March, after Spring Break.  The Single Room Lottery (when applicable) also takes place at this time.

Room and Board for the 2008-2009 school year costs $3675 per semester. Additional fees apply for an upgraded meal plan or a single room.

Students that withdrawal from housing within the first week of the semester will be credited a full refund of their unused housing cost. After the first week, students are subject to a housing contract release fee for breaking their housing contract.

Meals plans are selected during the housing reapplication process. Incoming Freshman will select their meal plan during their JumpStart, summer orientation session. To change or update your meal plan during the school year, contact Sodexho.

Every effort is made during the housing application process for both first year and returning students to accommodate their housing requests, space permitting.

The order of preference given during the housing reapplication and application process is as follows:

• 1st choice goes to students living in the room and returning to their same room the following year.
• 2nd choice goes to students living in a community, but wanting to change rooms.
• 3rd choice goes to students that are being displaced from the Freshman Residential Experience Housing.
• 4th choice goes to students moving halls.

Freshman are given preference on a first come, first serve basis for space since they are all living in the same area on campus.  From time to time, a need to change housing set up might require us to change the preference list to reflect housing accommodation.

Anyone planning to have a vehicle parked on campus over night needs to register their vehicle with Campus Security. Parking permits cost $175 a semester for the 2007-2008 school year. Street parking is prohibited by the village of River Forest and will result in ticketing and possibly towing at the owners expense.

It is policy that all freshman, sophomores, and juniors live on campus. Exceptions to this policy include: 1. Married Students 2. Students living with parents or relatives within a 75 mile radius of the institution 3. Students that are working to pay for a majority of their tuitions and fees. A student that desires to live off campus should contact the Dean of Students in writing to receive permission.

Married student housing will no longer be available on campus for the 2007-2008 school year.

Single rooms are awarded through a lottery during the Housing Reapplication Process in March. Only Seniors and Graduate students are eligible for single rooms. If you are interested in a single room, you must complete an application form to be entered into the drawing. All applicants are notified of their status for housing after the lottery takes place. Single rooms are limited to Gross Hall and two rooms in Mary Martha. Single rooms are subject to availability and at any time a single room can be converted to a double occupancy room if the space is needed for housing. All attempts will be made in cooperation with the student occupying the room to communicate with them prior to a roommate being placed with them.

Each floor on our campus has a residential assistant. A resident assistant is a student that was selected and provided training to serve as a community builder, assistant, and director on a floor and in our residential halls. Their primary role is that of building community among floor residents. This is done through intentional activities and programs that aid students in developing socially, spiritually, physically, and mentally. Resident assistants also are a part of a revolving "on-call" duty schedule that is shared by all RA's in a building. An RA on call is someone that is paged when and issue occurs in a hall between the hours of 6pm-7am the next morning. In this capacity, sometimes RA's have to help educate our students on policies and conduct in the halls, aid in a crisis response, or assist a student in need. Your RA is one of the best resources that you have on campus and they are there to help you in any way necessary.

Resident Directors are fulltime professional staff members that live in the halls and supervise our resident assistants. Each RD also takes part in a secondary on-call throughout the entire year and helps respond to major incidents on campus or in our halls. Furthermore, Resident Directors help direct the overall management of their residential hall and assist in overseeing addition projects and programs for residential life. Each RD is assigned an additional assignment in another area of campus that they give half of their time to. These include, Academic Support, CU Cares, the Schmeiding Counseling Center, and Freshman Residential Experience.

Every student is issued a mailbox which is located in the basement of the KCC near the post office.

Residential Life attempts to allow students to choose whom they will be rooming with. When completing the housing application or reapplication process, a space is provided to write in your desired roommate. The roommate you select, to be eligible, must have turned in a housing application and made their $200 deposit as well. For freshmen students, many find someone during their summer orientation and stop by the residential life table to let us know so we can add them to the application to room together.

Letters will be sent out and emails will be sent to Concordia email accounts the final Friday of July to let you know whom and where you will be rooming with.

Roommate disputes do occur and at times, a difference in living preference or personalities might be so great that issues arise.  IN ALL CASES, residential life first encourages a discussion between the two roommates regarding the issues that might be creating conflict.  If you experience difficulty with your roommate, discuss all the issues, share your thoughts and opinions, listen, and try to stay open minded.  Residential life staff can serve as a third party mediator in these discussions.  At no time should it be assumed that simply because issues have arisen, a move can occur.  Moves are the last choice we make.  We want to instead encourage the growth in our students to work out issues and address concerns with each other.  Furthermore, space may not be available for a move.  If however all other avenues have been attempted and no compromise can be made then either one or both students might be moved from their room or hall.

Sharing a living space can be a challenge for some.  Here is a basic guide of some topics to discuss with your roommate:
Sharing of Property

• Do we share use of the television, DVD Player, refrigerator?  Do we share use of a computer?
• If we both pitch in and split the cost of something in our room, what happens at checkout time or if one of us leaves school?
• Is it allowed to borrow clothes?
• What about letting other’s borrow your property without you in the room?
• What about purchased food?
• What about using your bed if you’re away for the night?

Telephone Etiquette

• What time is too late to receive a phone call?
• Does it bother you if I’m talking on the cell phone while you study?
• If someone calls and you’re not in, where should I leave your messages?
• If your phone line rings and you’re not in, should I answer it?

Guests

• What about having guests in the room if one of us is ill, sleeping, or trying to study?
• How many guests at one time are acceptable in our room?
• Do you have expectations of spending alone time in the room?
• How do you handle same-sex overnight guests?
• Are you comfortable with opposite sex guests visiting during intervisitation hours?

Room Condition

• What are our expectations concerning neatness of our room?
• How are cleaning duties going to be shared?
• What a about damages to our room?

Additional Topics

• Are you a morning or a night person?  How will we work this out if we are opposites?
• Talk about music (types, volume, when is it okay to play it?, etc)
• How are we going to handle disagreements?
• What about room decorations, i.e. posters, setup, etc

Residential Life, Campus Security, and the University Facilities administration have taken many precautions to limit the danger of a fire in the residential halls, but the main responsibility falls on our students. All policies regarding fall safety should be adhered to at all times. Campus security does regular walkthroughs of our communities with a member of the River Forest Fire Department. IN addition, please do not tamper with fire safety equipment and treat all fire alarms as if they are real.

A “tornado watch” means that conditions are right for the possible formation of a tornado.  A “tornado warning” means that a funnel cloud has been spotted and that shelter should be sought immediately.  In the case of a tornado warning, hall staff or campus security officers will make rounds to notify students of the warning.  The basement and tunnels are made available for shelter.  Students should act immediately in seeking proper shelter, moving away from windows and seeking out interior rooms on the lowest level of the building.  If response time is not available, students should move immediately to the hallway, shutting their room door, face the wall, and kneel, covering your head with your arms and hands.  Oak Park and River Forest have an active tornado warning system siren, which if this goes off, students should act immediately.  Remember that simply because the siren stops, students should not leave shelter until the all clear on campus is given which is the ringing of the chapel bell for 2 minutes or direction from campus security officers.

Theft is a relatively easy thing to prevent in our halls since most thefts occur due to a lack of attention by our residents. Always lock your room door and take your keys with you whenever you leave. Never lend your keys out to anyone else. Any guest in the hall should be escorted by their host. Do not leave your laptop, book bag, school books, or other personal items unattended in a non-secure location. Report any suspicious activity to campus security immediately.

Concordia University has a long and wonderful history. Accordingly, so do many of our residential halls. With the addition of age we face many challenges within our halls. Although the university and our campus physical plant work hard to upgrade our facilities, sometimes, unexpected issues arise. If any damage should occur within your room you should immediately report this to your Resident Assistant or Resident Director. They will take note of the issue and relay this information to our physical plant director. Please be aware that at times, certain things need to be prioritized in addressing of issues. Physical Plant employees work hard to address any issues with immediacy and concern. If damage has occurred due to actions of a student, additional charges or penalties may apply.

The Department of Residential Life at Concordia University Chicago is responsible for the day-to-day operations of the residential halls. We work to support our academic mission by creating environments that are supportive of the development of academic success. This is not something that can be done without the support and civility of our students. In a group living situation, guidelines exist to insure that we insure the rights and privileges of each member of our residential community. Students are expected to adhere to these standards. Any student that is found in violations of these standards will be directed through the Student Conduct Process as a result of their violation. In addition, the University and Residential Life have established policies for the residential halls. Not all issues that arise can be addressed by specific policy and therefore, community members should act in creating a policy together for their floor that will address an issue. This involvement is critical to the success of a community standards approach.

Your resident assistant or hall staff members are always willing to assist with any issue that arises. Furthermore, they are able to make proper referrals to other services on campus for your assistance if they cannot help.