Fall Housing Assignment Process

Fall 2023

 The Housing Assignment process for returning students happens in three parts:  

1. Fall 2023 Housing Assignment Meetings: All returning students who want to go through the housing assignment process are invited to attend one of the Fall 2023 Housing Assignment meetings. 
2. Registration: During the registration portion, you will register for housing and provide all the essential information we need to plan for students to select their rooms.  
3. Room Selection Night: This is the night you will log in with your roommate or roommates and select your actual room.   

Three-Year Residential Requirement 

As a reminder, Rhodes has a three-year residential requirement. The college does not guarantee housing for rising seniors (Class of 2024), although we endeavor to accommodate seniors if at all possible. The number we will be able to accommodate depends on the number of rising sophomores and juniors who register for housing. Transfer students must live in college housing until they have completed three full academic years; previous enrollment at other institutions counts toward fulfilling this requirement. Exchange students must reside in college housing for the duration of their enrollment at Rhodes.

Fall 2023 Returning Student Housing Assignment Meetings 

Returning students going through the Fall 2023 Housing Assignment Process are invited to attend one of the Housing Assignment Meetings.

The recoding from the Zoom meeting is below:

Room Selection Night 

Once you have completed registration, you will receive an email the week of March 13 assigning you a time block for Room Selection Night. That will be the time block you log in and select your roommate and room. Room Selection Nights will be held by class year March 20 – 23 and March 27 - 29, and the larger classes will need two days. Please review the following tentative dates for your appropriate year.  

• Class of 2024: Monday, March 20, 2023, from 6:00 - 9:00 p.m
• Class of 2025: Tuesday, March 21, 2023, from 6:00 - 9:00 p.m.
• Class of 2025: Wednesday, March 22, 2023, from 6:00 - 9:00 p.m. 
• Class of 2026: Thursday, March 23, 2023, from 6:00 - 9:00 p.m.
• Class of 2026: Monday, March 27, 2023, from 6:00 - 9:00 p.m.
• Tuesday, March 28, 2023, from 1:00 p.m. - 4:00 p.m. will be assigned for late applicants and if additional time is needed.  
• Wednesday, March 29, 2023, from 1:00 p.m. - 4:00 p.m. will be assigned for late applicants and if additional time is needed.  

Residence Life staff will be in the Residence Life office to answer phone calls as needed during each night of the room selection process. Please call (901) 843-3241.

Roommate Groups

You must set up your roommate group before your selection time. Roommate groups are required in order to select must-fill spaces as well as spaces that are not traditional-style singles. You must create your roommate groups ahead of time.

That means, if a space is a must-fill double, then you will need a roommate group of two to select that open space. As another example, in a nine-person townhouse, which is not must-fill, your roommate group of four may fill four of the spaces and you will have five random suitemates.

You may also need multiple roommate groups for your plan A, B, and C! If you are selected to a roommate group of four, eRezLife will not allow you to select a two-person space. As a result, you may need to set up roommate groups of 4+ and then also a group of two in case the size space you want is no longer available during your selection time. If you need to split into a roommate group of two, you will simply select your backup group of two and then pick the double room. 

Link to Fall 2023 Single Room Waitlist

Gender-Neutral Housing Available

Gender-Neutral Housing refers to designated spaces in traditional and apartment-style residence halls that are open to all students, regardless of their gender or sex, during the room selection process. This means that any student can live with any other student, regardless of gender or sex. There is no application process.

For the upcoming academic year, the below buildings/floors will be gender neutral:

• East Village B Apartments 
• West Village - 2nd Floor
• Parkway - 3rd Floor
• Robinson - 2nd Floor
• Blount - 2nd Floor
• Spann Townhouses 

Gender-neutral spaces will be designated as must-fill during the room selection process. You will want to confirm your roommate group prior to your room selection night. Please note, if you are in a roommate group with somebody who, per eRezLife, is a different gender or sex as you, you will only be able to see available rooms in the above-listed gender-neutral spaces. Students should have multiple, predetermined roommate groups so they are able to see a variety of room types during room selection. If you only have a roommate group with mixed gender, and all gender-neutral spaces are taken, zero rooms/halls will display for you on selection night.

Rising Junior (Class of 2025) Process to Petition to Live Off Campus

The college plans to begin renovating existing older residence halls in Fall 2024, which will impact available residential space at that time. Our future renovation plans will have no impact on residential space availability for the 2023-2024 academic year. However, in light of possible space limitations in future years, we will allow rising juniors to petition to live off campus beginning next year. Submitting a petition does not guarantee that a request to live off campus will be granted; that is dependent on the number of rising juniors who submit a request. Rising juniors may petition for an exemption through the following link: Junior Residency Requirement Appeal Request Form.

Petitions are now open and will be reviewed beginning Monday, March 13, 2023. Submitted petitions will be reviewed and approved on a rolling basis. Only students with approved exemptions will be permitted to live off campus.

If you are approved to live off campus, you will need to respond by 5:00 p.m. on March 20, 2023, and confirm that you accept your approved appeal to live off-campus and therefore you must cancel your housing application via the eRezLife Housing Portal. If you fail to respond to the email accepting your approved appeal by Monday, March 20, 2023 by 5:00 p.m., your approved appeal will be rescinded.  

Winter Recess Housing

Residence Halls and dining venues will be closed during Winter Recess. All students must temporarily vacate their assigned college housing during winter break and may not return until the published college opening date. Failure to abide strictly by these limitations may result in a fine of $100 per incidence/per day and /or other disciplinary action. Students who believe they are unable to leave campus due to extreme circumstances (e.g. homelessness, emancipated foster youth, inability to return to home country due to travel restrictions, etc.), may petition to reside on campus during the Winter Recess. The petition form will be made available late in the fall semester. Submitting a petition to remain on campus during Winter Recess does not guarantee a space will be available or that the petition will be approved.

Housing Cancellation Fee  

Students who cancel their registration or housing after the housing selection process has begun are subject to a progressive cancellation fee.  

• If a student cancels by 5:00 p.m. on May 15, the student will incur no cancellation fee.   
• If a student cancels between May 16 and June 30, a cancellation fee of $250 will be placed on the student's account.   
• Students who cancel between July 1 and July 15 will incur a $500 cancellation fee.  
• Cancellations after July 15 will incur a cancellation fee is $750.   
• If a student registers for housing and then decides to participate in a study abroad program during the fall semester, the registration will be deferred to the spring semester, and no cancellation fee will be incurred.   
• If a student registers for housing and subsequently is released from the residency requirement, the registration will be canceled without penalty.   
• If a student registers for housing and subsequently withdraws or transfers, the student will not be held to the housing cancellation policy.    

To cancel your application or your housing assignment for Fall 2023, please select the link: Housing Cancellation Form.  

Housing Accommodations Requests

Student Accessibility Services (SAS), Residence Life, and Physical Plant work together to ensure that students with disabilities have equal access to the college’s housing resources. Students interested in requesting housing accommodations should follow these application procedures in a timely manner. All requests are considered on a case-by-case basis.

Continuing students should complete this process by Friday, February 24, 2023, for fall semester housing. Housing accommodation requests submitted after this date will still be considered. However, students approved after the preferred date may need to be placed on a waitlist for a necessary housing assignment to become available.

Students who are not granted a disability-related housing accommodation, who choose not to accept the room offered as an accommodation, or who submit late requests should complete the standard room selection process through Residence Life.

Examples of Housing Accommodations

Housing accommodation examples include, but are not limited to:

• Wheelchair accessible room
• Access to a community kitchen in the building
• First-floor room
• Room with attached bath
• Medical single room
• Visual smoke alarm
• Meal plan accommodations
• Service animal or emotional support animal in the residence hall. Students requesting an emotional support animal accommodation must submit an Emotional Support Animal Verification Form.

Important Notes

• All students pursuing housing accommodations must complete the necessary form to request on-campus housing. Refer to the Residence Life website for important details and deadlines for the room selection process.
• Students who have received housing accommodations in the past must renew the accommodations with SAS each year before the appropriate deadline listed above.
• All housing accommodation assignments are determined by Residence Life and based on available spaces that satisfy the accommodation. When possible, Residence Life may assign one requested roommate to the space.
• Students approved prior to the deadline listed above will be notified of their housing accommodation assignment before the standard room selection process begins.  If not satisfied with their assignment, students may complete the standard room selection process and attempt to secure a preferred space. 
• Medical single room requests are not granted solely on the basis of having a quiet place for study. With the number of people living in residence halls, shared facilities, and shared resources, a single room does not necessarily provide a quieter, more distraction-limited space than a standard shared room.
• The amount charged to students in approved medical single rooms will be determined based on the residence hall. Students with disabilities who are approved for a medical single room accommodation will be billed at the lowest rate for the assigned residence hall (e.g., the double room rate). Any student choosing to trade-in their medical single room assignment for an available higher-tier room (e.g., apartment-style unit or under-booked double) solely based on preference will be charged the corresponding higher rate.

Contact SAS for additional information on housing access accommodations or other accommodations and services for students with disabilities.

Gender-Affirming Housing

Gender-affirming care encompasses a range of social, psychological, behavioral, and medical interventions designed to support and affirm an individual's gender identity when it conflicts with the gender they were assigned at birth.

Gender-Affirming Housing (GAH) is intended to support students who may need this type of care and allows them opportunity to submit housing preference requests that prioritize those needs. Gender-affirming housing assignments may include two or more students mutually agreeing to share a multiple-occupancy bedroom, studio, suite, or apartment regardless of students’ sex or gender. 

• These spaces are not limited to specific buildings, allowing for flexibility in finding spaces that best meet students’ needs within the limited spaces on campus. Gender-Affirming Housing requests may be assigned room assignments within the designated Gender Neutral Housing spaces/halls.
• All members of the suite/apartment must agree to the arrangement and are encouraged to communicate with their families. Rhodes College Department of Residence Life will not communicate directly with families in regard to students’ housing assignments.
• GAH assignments will be made prior to the room selection process.
• The spaces will be for 1-4 people but no more than 4 will be assigned.
• Students should plan to participate in room selection night during their scheduled time if not satisfied with the assigned room

The deadline for submitting Gender-Affirming Preference Requests is Friday, February 24, 2023.

Religious Accommodations Process

If you feel you have reasonable needs for housing accommodations based on religious beliefs, please email Chaplain Beatrix. Requests for must be submitted by February 24, 2023, for consideration. 

Students Unable to Log into the System  
If you are unable to log into the eRezLife system during your allotted time, you may designate a Proxy.

A Proxy is trusted friend that you identify and share your login information with and they will select a room for you.

Your Proxy will log in as you, at your designated time and select a space for you. Be sure your Proxy is aware of the type of space you prefer.

Students Studying Abroad  

If you plan to Study Abroad in the Fall 2023 semester, we recommend that you still participate in the room selection process given global conditions. Once your Study Abroad plans are confirmed, you will need to cancel your housing assignment. You will not be charged a cancellation fee. Housing for you when you return in Spring 2024 will be arranged in November 2023 before your return to campus.  

Residency Requirement Appeals

Students that wish to file a housing exemption to live at home with their families may request a housing exemption via the link:  Residency Requirement Appeal Form 

Resident Assistant (RA) Spaces 

Students currently staying in a RA assigned space will need to participate in the Housing Assignment process. If you are not selected to remain in an RA space for fall 2023-2024, you will need to participate in the Housing Assignment Process. RAs not returning will need to participate in the selection process. They will be included with their class. New RAs (East Village and West Village) will be selecting their apartment mates. RAs will provide roommates’ names to Residence Life in advance. 

Building Information 
The floor plans for each building are available online.