For the first time, St. Thomas Residence Life has opened next year’s on-campus housing applications in November, four months earlier than normal. Students must still wait until spring to select their rooms, but more than 200 students have already applied to return. Residence Life Director Aaron Macke said there was a 5 percent drop in the number of students who returned to on-campus housing this year.
Along with Macke, University Affairs Editor Anastasia Straley explores why Residence Life is pursuing students so early and how it hopes this strategy will work.
Dr. Macke spoke about folks looking at off-campus housing. Here in Off-Campus Student Services, we have a variety of resources to help students in making those decisions. I recently ran a piece in the Newsroom outlining some of these resources as well as bits of advice for students as they are making these considerations:
http://www.stthomas.edu/news/2013/11/06/resources-available-students-considering-living-campus/
Students, do not rush into signing a lease. I just spoke with someone today who was about to sign a lease on a property they could not legally rent. Know your responsibilities well, and utilize our resources to make sure you know what you are doing. This is a major decision; you do not want to spend your next year in a negative situation.
And, mark your calendar for our Renter 101 session on February 11 at 8pm in JRC Auditorium. We’ll have great information and some excellent door prizes. After that session is the best time to dive into your search.