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.  However, since many Room Selection events take place during hours when classes are held, students should have a back-up plan in place.   In general, residents are encouraged to participate in Room Selection with a roommate.  In most case, your roommate should

  • Retention - Students have two full weeks to retain their rooms online, and should not need a proxy
  • Room with a Retainer/Pull-ins - Students who are being pulled in must come in person on either March 25 or 26 during business hours; students being pulled in should find a time over the course of these two days to visit the Housing Office in person
  • General Room Selection - Residents participating in General Room Selection with roommates will generally rely on the person with the best selection timeslot to select a room for the group. If that person is in unavailable, the person with the next best timeslot can go in at their own timeslot and assign the group, or the person with the best timeslot can go in as soon as they are available.
If you have a special situation that you believe requires additional accommodations, please email 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.  Students can confirm roommates through the Room Selection application using the Roommate Groups options.  Due to limited availability of high occupancy spaces, residents are encouraged to limit the size of their roommate group to no more than 5 residents.  Residents who retain their current room or apartment should fill any vacancies in that room through pull-ins.  Residents participating in General Room Selection with roommates can be assigned at the BEST timeslot of the roommates in the group.

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, you will need to either select an Open Assignment or find a roommate and confirm each other through the online Room Selection application. 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.