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Roger Williams Commons
18 Butterfield Rd
Kingston, RI 02881
Phone: 401-874-2215
Fax: 401-874-2965
E-Mail: housing@etal.uri.edu
Freshman Housing
(2008 - 2009 FRESHMAN APPLICATION - DEADLINE MAY 1st)
Freshmen who are eligible for on campus housing will be assigned with one or two other roommates to one of the corridor- style residence halls that collectively comprise URI’s “Freshman Village”. First year halls are clustered in residential neighborhoods as follows: South End: Adams, Barlow, Bressler, Browning, Butterfield, Rainbow Diversity House (partial freshman housing), Weldin; Hope Quad: Hutchinson, Merrow, Peck, Tucker; West Side: Fayerweather, Gorham; and Northwoods: Heathman. These are co-ed residences in which female and male rooms are arranged along either side of a residential corridor or hallway. These buildings have been selected specifically for first year housing because their floor plans encourage the kind of social interaction that facilitates the smooth transition to college life at URI. The average ratio of Resident Assistants to students in these buildings is 1 to 25. Additionally, there are at least two upperclass Residential Peer Mentors in each of our first year residences. There are two styles of buildings in the Freshmen Village from which students may choose. One building configuration offers traditional hallway community-style bathrooms (male and female specific) that are maintained by HRL custodial staff. The other building configuration offers semi-private bathrooms that are shared by the residents of each pair of adjoining rooms along a hallway, and are maintained by the residents who share these bathroom facilities.
Freshmen may also elect to live in a Living and Learning Community (LLC) in which students with similar academic interests live, study, take classes together, and support one another in their mutual academic pursuits.
To be eligible for on-campus housing, first semester incoming freshmen who receive acceptance letters by April 15th must pay both the enrollment and housing deposits and submit a housing application by May 1st. Housing Application forms will be mailed to all accepted students beginning February 1st and throughout spring semester. All first-year non-transfer students who submit housing deposits by May 1 are guaranteed on-campus housing. After May 1 freshman housing requests will be assigned on a space availability basis with emphasis on date of receipt of deposit. Due to the large number of requests for first year housing, it is not possible to honor all housing preference choices.
All students will be assigned one or two roommates based on the information submitted on the student's Housing Application form. It is the policy of the Department of Housing and Residential Life(HRL) to not assign roommates based on race, religion, sexual orientation, nationality, or culture. Freshmen are invited to request specific roommates on their Housing Application forms.
While we cannot guarantee placement of all roommate requests, every effort will be made to honor mutual roommate requests. Therefore, student roommate requests must be reciprocal in nature with requested roommate names and social security numbers provided on the Application for Housing. In addition the applications must be received by May 1 in order for the roommate request to be honored.
Freshman Residence Hall Floor Plans – The “Freshman Village”
First year undergraduates at the University of Rhode Island are assigned to the following residential neighborhoods and halls:
| South End | West Side |
Hope Quad | North Woods | |||
| Adams | Fayerweather | Hutchinson | Heathman | |||
| Barlow (Undecided LLC) | Gorham | Merrow (Engineering LLC) | ||||
| Bressler | Peck (Nursing LLC) | |||||
| Browning (CELS LLC) | Tucker (Engineering LLC) | |||||
| Butterfield (Education LLC) | ||||||
| Rainbow Diversity House (partial freshman) |
||||||
| Weldin (Undecided LLC) |
Triple Room Overview
To insure an adequate number of bed spaces for all incoming students who desire on-campus housing for the fall semester, the University will assign as necessary a portion of its first year students to standard double rooms with two other roommates. This room configuration is referred to as a “triple” room. Residents of triple rooms who wish to move to a standard double room may do so, on a space available basis, during the open room change period beginning the last full week of September. Although the “de-tripling” room change process begins in September and continues throughout fall semester, many students voluntarily elect to remain in their triple rooms throughout the entire academic year.
Each triple room is equipped with specially designed furniture that maximizes floor space as well as three Internet cable connections. Each URI residence hall contains community lounge areas in which students may study and socialize. All residence halls are equipped with wireless Internet access as well. And, of course, the University Library is only a short walk from any first year residence hall for those who desire a more focused study environment. URI has assigned freshmen residents to triple rooms for the past five years, and it is important to note that these residents have been, and continue to be, successful in their various academic and extracurricular endeavors at URI.
When a triple room changes to a double room, the remaining residents may wish to keep the furniture that was originally in their room. University policy allows them to do so. In the event that residents wish to have some of the furniture removed from their room, they must formally make the request to do so by completing a Furniture Removal Request form, in person, in their residence hall staff office. To facilitate the removal of the selected items, residents (or their proxy) must be present in their room at the schedule furniture removal time. Failure to do so will result in a delay in removing the furniture.
Residents assigned to a triple room during the fall semester housing assignment period are initially billed at the triple-room rate as established by the Board of Governors for Higher Education of the State of Rhode Island. For billing purposes, a double room is defined as two residents living in a standard double room and a triple room is defined as three residents living in a standard double room. There are no standard triple rooms. The triple-room rate represents a fifteen percent reduction from the standard double-room rate. Any resident who lives in a triple room beyond October 1 will be billed at the triple-room rate for the entire Fall semester. However, any resident who is originally assigned to a triple room, but whose room occupancy changes from a triple room to a double room or who moves to a double room prior to October 1 will be billed at the triple-room rate through the last day of September and at the double-room rate for the remainder of the academic year. Also, any resident who is billed at the triple room rate for the entire fall semester, but whose room occupancy changes to a double room and/or who moves to a double room for the spring semester will be billed at the double-room rate for the entire spring semester.
Freshmen Fine with Triples
Excerpts taken from The Good 5¢ Cigar on September 09, 2004By: Son Hoang
Maybe they’re still in the honeymoon stage, but many freshmen at the University of Rhode Island placed in triples or quads in the residence halls said that they are happy with their rooms and roommates.
“Things have been pretty good,” said Natalie Zimmermann, a freshman from Matawan, N.J., in a triple in Barlow Hall, “We seem to get along easily.” Zimmermann added that she and her roommates rearranged the furniture in their room to maximize the space they were given and now live comfortably.
“I don’t mind living in a triple. I like it here because I think it just looks nicer than other dorms,” Kerry Holden, a freshman from Smithfield, R.I., said of her triple in Weldin. She added, “Some of the dorms are bigger than others, but I think ours is a good size.” One of Holden’s roommates, Kristen Moore, of Stoneham, Mass., said that if given the chance to move out of her triple once other rooms become available, she would not.
Sharing this choice is Greg Blasi, from Montville, N.J. Despite living in a quad in Browning Hall, he said, “”It’s been good here, we’ve got a lot of space. I’d stay here.”
In one case, a planned triple became a double when one resident decided not to come to campus. “The third guy never showed up,” said Tyler Wilkinson of Warwick, R.I., “but even if there was a third here I’d be fine here, but he never came. If there was a fourth, then somebody would have to go. There’s plenty of space here, but I guess there could always be more.” His roommate, Sameer Saran, of North Kingstown, R.I., agreed saying that he wouldn’t mind a third person in the room. He added that the university did a good job in assigning roommates. Wilkinson and Saran said they haven’t had a problem with each other yet.
