Important Information-Housing and Dining Services - Room Selection - Carnegie Mellon University

Important Information and Policies for Room Selection


Proxy Forms

Housing and Dining Services does not want anyone to miss class in order to participate in Room Selection.  Since many Room Selection events take place during hours when classes are held, students who have class during their designated selection time can send a friend (proxy) in their place.

Residents who wish to designate a proxy should print out and complete the Proxy Form.  Residents should complete this form and provide it to their proxy, along with a photo ID or legible photocopy of a photo ID to verify identity.

Proxy forms are also required for residents who retained their room and have agreed on roommates to pull in during the Room with a Resident who Retained phase.  Since all residents who retained a space need to be present to pull in any new residents during this phase of Room Selection, residents can use the proxy form and photo ID to acknowledge their agreement with any residents being pulled in.

If you do not have a person to act as your proxy, contact rmassign@andrew.cmu.edu.

Consolidations

After the Room Selection process for returning students has concluded, the Office of Housing and Dining Services will consolidate students without roommates – or whose roommates cancel their reservations – with other students in the same situation, including residents who retained their current rooms.  Students will be consolidated within their selected/assigned building and specific room type whenever possible.  Every effort will be made to notify the student if this situation occurs.  Residents will not have the option to pull in new roommates to fill vacancies that are created by cancellations - these spaces will be filled either through consolidations or with a resident from the Open Assignments list.

If necessary, consolidation will be determined by class standing and Room Selection number (the student with the lowest class standing or Room Selection number will be the person whose assignment is changed.)  Consolidation will continue over the summer months so that we can successfully assign residents on the room change wait-list, new incoming upper-class students, and first-year student housing needs.

The University will also exercise its right to consolidate students who share similar interests and activities (i.e. smoking) if no compatible roommates exist on the waiting list.

Selecting with a Roommate

Residents should plan to select housing with a roommate.  Residents who retain their current room or apartment should fill any vacancies in that room through pull-ins.  Residents attending General Room Selection who wish to select an empty room or apartment are encouraged to attend Room Selection with all of the prospective roommates, during the Room Selection time of the resident with the best Room Selection number.

Groups of friends who choose to live together generally have a more positive living experience and fewer roommate conflicts than roommates who are randomly assigned to live together.  For this reason, we are encouraging residents more than ever to talk to their friends and select spaces together as roommates.

Selecting as an Individual

In order to maximize the number of empty apartments for residents selecting with roommates, residents who are selecting as individuals are will have the option to select from either a single room (if one is available) or from spaces in rooms or apartments where there is one space available.  If no options are available, we will help to pair you up with someone else selecting by themself for that same living area. Students planning to select a double or triple room or apartment should select with a roommate in order to keep the widest range of options available to them.

Smoke Free Living

All residential buildings are designated smoke-free with the exception of Fairfax and Webster Apartments.  Residents who are smokers and are selecting an apartment in either of these buildings must pull-in a roommate who is either a smoker or can live with a smoker.

Quiet Living Areas

Welch House and all Oakland Community Apartments are designated as quiet-living environments.

This designation includes a provision for an extension of the university’s current quiet hours policy to 24 hours. As such, residents will be responsible for ensuring that the noise generated within their apartments or residence hall room is not audible at a distance of ten feet from their apartment or residence hall room. Common courtesy will be expected; residents should respond to any request from a fellow resident to reduce the noise level from their apartment or residence hall room, even if already within this guideline.

Summer Housing

Summer housing will be available in at least one residential area during the summer months.  The specific building(s) will be announced late in the spring semester. Residents will be notified once summer housing applications are available.

There is a separate charge and reservation fee for summer housing.

Winter Break Apartments

Winter break housing for upper-class students is available in Fairfax Apartments, Morewood Gardens, and Webster Apartments.  Other buildings will not be open for any portion of winter break and residents are required to seek alternative housing arrangements.  Residents who need Winter Break housing should plan to select a room in one of these three buildings.

Street Parking Permits

Residents of Neville Co-op and Shady Oak Apartments are eligible for City of Pittsburgh street parking permits.  Verification of residency is available through Housing and Dining Services.  E-mail rmassign@andrew.cmu.edu to request a residency verification.  These documents are usually ready within 72 hours and residents will be notified when they are available for pick-up in the Housing and Dining Services office.