Overview

Residential Life endeavors to help students develop important life skills through the experience of living with others on campus. Living with individuals who are different from themselves helps students develop self-advocacy, an ability to compromise, and conflict mediation skills, which are all important aspects of personal development that will serve them later in life.

Whenever possible, Residential Life will work with students to prioritize dialogue and mediation over room changes if conflict arises between students living together. This process is designed to maximize opportunities for difficult conversations and should not be expected to be completed immediately. Students will not be permitted to jump steps in the process.

Why design a resolution based process?

  1. To resolve conflict in order to create a successful residential experience.
  2. To build the skills such as communication, compromise, and courtesy, which are necessary to resolve conflict.
  3. To teach resiliency and collaboration that will serve our students beyond graduation.

Process

  1. ROOMMATE AGREEMENT: Students are required to have completed their roommate agreement form. If not, students will be asked to complete this first.
  2. DETAILS: Students looking to inquire about different housing options should express concern to their Resident Advisor, Residential Life Coordinator, Theme House Leadership, or to the Residential Life email. From there, the student will answer a few questions about the conflict to help guide future conversations.
      • What kind of communication has already occurred?
      • Have the students talked with each other?
      • Have the students talked with their RA / Theme House Leadership?
      • Are there any other processes that need to occur based on the information gathered? (i.e. bias, Title IX, conduct, etc.)
  3. ADVISE: Students meet with their RA, Theme House Leadership, or RLC, depending on how far along they are in the process (most scenarios will start with their RA or Theme House Leadership). The RA, Theme House Leadership, or RLC will coach the student on speaking with their roommate(s) directly to try to resolve the conflict between them. Students will then make changes to expectations in the space and attempt to resolve the concerns themselves.
  4. MEDIATE: If residents have exhausted their own abilities to resolve the conflict, they will work with their RA to hold a mediated conversation facilitated by their RA or another Residential Life staff member with all parties involved. Prior to the mediation, the Residential Life staff member will check in with the residents associated with the conflict to collect all sides of the situation, and to get a better perspective on the conflict. Students will then make changes to expectations in the space and attempt to resolve the concerns themselves.
  5. NEXT STEPS: If a student is still experiencing issues, they will work with Residential Life professional staff to determine next steps, which may include:
      • A mediation facilitated by the Residential Life Coordinator and/or Residential Life Leadership.
      • Coaching the student through additional conversations with their roommate.
      • Determining that a room change is necessary.
  6. ROOM CHANGE: Once a room change is deemed necessary, the student will be provided with a short (2-3 student) list of vacancies that they are best matched with based on their housing profile and preferences. Students will choose one of those vacancies.
      • If possible, Residential Life will connect the student with their future roommate, giving the pair 48 hours to connect and report back if there are any pressing concerns about the pairing. This step is not guaranteed.
          • If Residential Life does not receive any correspondence about the match, then the match will proceed as scheduled.
  7. STUDENT MOVE: The student moves into a new space.

Exceptions

  1. Students who receive specific housing accommodations through Accessibility Services do not need to follow this process as deemed by Accessibility Services and Residential Life staff, as their medical needs will be reasonably fulfilled as soon as possible.
  2. Situations involving confirmed threats of harm or other emergencies will not follow this process. These types of scenarios may involve the Dean of Students Office, Legal Affairs, Office of Institutional Equity & Belonging, Title IX & Bias Incident Response, or the Counseling Center. Emergencies are defined as:
      • Direct threats to someone’s physical health and safety
      • Direct Title IX related language used towards a person’s identity
      • Extenuating circumstances that would cause harm for a student to remain in the space