Students living on campus this semester have been given the option to stay over winter break following a recent change in the university calendar. According to Donna McGalliard, executive director of University Housing, all students who are currently enrolled in special circumstance housing are eligible to stay on campus during the break; however, students who are graduating in December are not.
Winter break housing will be a seven-week period beginning Nov. 25 and ending Jan. 16. Students who decide to stay on campus, including Wolf Ridge, Wolf Village and the D building of E.S. King Village, will pay a $700 flat fee, which is equal to about $12 a day, and includes services such as mail, help with lockouts, residence advisors and community service desks, according to McGalliard. This is compared to the $350 fee charged last winter break, which only lasted two to three weeks.
This fee was decided before the change to the 2021 spring semester; however, housing decided to not make any changes to the rate.
In order for students to secure their place on campus over winter break, they are required to apply on the campus housing’s website by Nov. 9. Megan Luzader, interim director for residence life, stated buildings will have a 10-people threshold, as decided by Division of Academic and Student Affairs (DASA) leadership and university police.
According to Luzader, if a building does not meet the 10-person threshold, students can ask to move for the seven-week period; however, they will only need to move what is needed if they have the same housing assignment in the spring semester.
Campus Enterprises has not determined what food services will be open over winter break. Although there are no meal plan options offered for those staying on campus over winter break, there will at least be one location where students can purchase food, Luzader said. According to McGalliard, Campus will also close most operations on Dec. 24 through just before the January move-in date for the spring semester.
“Another thing to consider is apartments like Wolf Village have full kitchens and determine if that would be better for that seven-week period where campus is less operational,” Luzader said.
According to Luzader, students who are moving to a different housing assignment in the spring will have a “drop and go” option, meaning they can move their belongings into their new assignment, drop off their keys and return for the spring semester or to their winter break assignment. Students who are staying over break with a different room assignment for the spring will move in on Jan. 12.
University Housing wants to accommodate students who might not have another place to go, have jobs in the area or don’t wish to travel, according to McGalliard.
Last year was the first year special circumstance housing was offered to students over winter break. Although this year looks very different due to the impacts of COVID-19, University Housing is hoping that they can learn from both years to offer better options to students over breaks, according to McGalliard.
More information about winter break housing and move-out can be found on the University Housing website.
