Housing

Houghton College > Current Students > Residence Life > Housing

Living on campus with others in Christ-centered community is an important part of the Houghton experience. The Residence Life & Housing staff endeavors to provide a safe, intentional living experience that supports student academic success and whole-person learning and growth.

As a part of the Christ-centered community experience, first- and second-year students must live in one of the traditional residence halls. Third- and fourth-year students may apply for on-campus townhouse or apartment living, or for a Community Living Option (CLO). All students who do not have a CLO must live in college-owned housing, with the following exceptions:

Students commuting from a family member’s home. For Houghton College housing purposes, family is defined as parents, grandparents, aunts/uncles and non-student siblings.
Married students
Students with children
Students over the age of 24 as of September 1st of the given academic year.
Students beyond their eighth semester of college life
Student teachers during their one semester of student teaching

All expectations of the Community Covenant apply to all Houghton students, regardless of housing status.

Important Dates (2018-2019):

CLO Applications Available Online 1/21/19
CLO Applications Due 2/8/19
CLO Decisions Announced 2/15/19
Townhouse Applications Available Online 2/11/19
Townhouse Applications Due 3/11/19
Townhouse Decisions Announced 3/15/19

Upper Class Housing Options/Process:

PLEASE NOTE: All students wishing to live off-campus who are subject to our residency requirements must apply through our CLO application process. Only those approved for a CLO are able to live off-campus. Please direct any questions you have about this process before looking into housing options to our Housing office (housing@houghton.edu).
Community Living Option:

An off campus housing privilege. Approved students are responsible for securing their own rental contracts. Students living in a CLO are still expected to abide by the Statement of Community Responsibilities and Community Covenant. A very limited number of applicants will be selected based primarily on the number of credit hours completed. Typically, students with fewer than 90 credit hours completed will not be offered a spot. Students are still required to be on a meal plan. Applications can be found online here: Community Living Option Application.

College Townhouses:

On campus living facilities which are typically offered to students who have at least 60 credits, though sophomores are able to apply. College Townhouses hold up to eight residents. Groups applying with seven residents will only be considered once full applications have been approved. Only one application per house is required. The application will come online on Feb. 11, 2019: Townhouse Application.Townhouses are awarded, subject to availability, on the following criteria, in order:
- Full townhouse occupancy (eight students in both fall and spring)
- Average number of credits completed by students in townhouse group
- Groups of seven residents (one person must be willing to pay the single townhouse rate)

Any questions may be directed to the Office of Student Life, housing@houghton.edu.

Married Housing:

Please contact the Housing Office if you are interested in married housing for the upcoming academic year at housing@houghton.edu or in person.

Room and roommate assignments are for the entire academic year. Room changes will not be granted for personality or hall preference related reasons.

The residential college experience is not without its challenges. Living in close proximity to others can sometimes cause disagreements and conflict to arise. If you are experiencing difficulty in your rooming situation, whether it be with your roommates, sinkmate, or floormates, please keep the following in mind:

Working through conflict in community is an extremely valuable learning opportunity for you and the other people involved. Before declaring a living situation a lost cause, consider ways in which you can grow in and through this experience.
Revisit your Roommate Conversation Guide and talk with your roommate(s) about potential solutions to the problems you perceive.
Talk with your RA or RD about what you are experiencing. Your RAs and RD have been thoroughly trained to coach you through these issues and , if necessary, conduct formal mediations to resolve larger conflicts.
Don’t wait until you’ve had enough. The earlier you address an issue, the less likely it is for conflicts to snowball into larger disagreements.

Reasons for room changes will be considered on an individual basis. Physical and mental health reasons may require additional information from a physician, counselor or psychiatrist. Academic reasons may require additional information from the registrar or Center for Academic Success and Advising (CASA).

Any other room changes based on roommate issues will not be granted until students have shown significant effort in resolving any issues that are present. If a formal mediation does not resolve the issues presented, a room change may be granted. In this case, the student who initially sought a room change may incur a $300 housing change fee, at the discretion of the Assistant Dean of Residence Life & Programming.
Process:
If you are experiencing difficulty due to a physical or mental health reason, contact your RA or RD to initiate next steps. As stated above, additional information/documentation may be required.

If you are experiencing conflict with your roommate(s), you should seek guidance from your RA. Your RA will walk you through a Conflict Resolution Guide in an effort to first resolve the conflict. Mediation with your RA and/or RD may be a requirement if relational issues with your roommate are motivating the request. Your RD will determine whether or not a room change will be approved after significant effort has been put forth to resolve any issues.

If you have additional questions please contact housing@houghton.edu.

Houghton’s residency requirements remain in effect for all students taking on-campus Mayterm classes. All students are required to remain in and pay for the same type of college housing they occupied during the previous full-time semester(s) except:

Students who will be commuting from a family member’s home (for Houghton College housing purposes, family is defined as parents, grandparents, aunts/uncles and non-student siblings)
Students who were approved to live off-campus during the regular academic year
Students enrolled in a course that is taught away from the main campus

As with housing, all Mayterm students are required to be on the same meal plan level that they were during the spring semester (or fall if a student was abroad). There are no block plans during Mayterm and plans will be converted to their corresponding meals per week plan (ex: 170 Block plan is converted to 14 meals per week).

Mayterm Housing FAQs

Do I need to fill out the Mayterm Housing Form?

Yes, all students taking a Mayterm class must fill out the Mayterm Housing Form. Mayterm Housing Forms are due by April 9^th.

Where will I be living?

Students are required to live in and pay for the same type of housing (residence hall/townhouse, single/double)
- All students currently living in traditional residence halls will be housed in Roth (men on the bottom two floors, women on the top two)
- Townhouse residents will be housed in the Randall townhouse units

What are my meal plan requirements?

Students are required to remain on the same meal plan
- There are no block plan options, so these plans will be converted to their equivalent weekly plans

If I want to request a roommate, do we need to be staying for the same amount of weeks?

- Yes, we will be housing people with the same amount of weeks on same floors to simplify checkout procedures
  - Roommate requests should be made on the Mayterm Housing Form, and requests need to be mutual (both parties need to submit a form)

If my class is off campus (either in Buffalo or abroad) do I need to fill out the Mayterm Housing Form?

- - Yes. There is a section of the form in which you must indicate that your program is off-campus.

How do I change my residency status if I plan to commute during Mayterm?

- - Fill out the Mayterm Housing Form and indicate your plans to commute.
    - Remember, only students who will be commuting from a family member’s home (for Houghton College housing purposes, family is defined as parents, grandparents, aunts/uncles and non-student siblings) are able to commute

Questions can be directed to housing@houghton.edu, or in person at the Office of Student Life.

All students who wish to arrive early to Houghton for the fall semester must be approved through the Early Arrival process as described below. Faculty, Staff and Individual Students must submit the Early Arrival Request Form no later than July 31^st.

Early Arrival for Official College Functions

If students are returning due to involvement in an official college function (ie. Athletics, on-campus jobs, student organization leadership), early arrival requests will be submitted by the sponsoring faculty or staff member. Students organizations who are hosting students back to campus early (CAB, Student Government, STAR, etc.) must have their requests submitted by the sponsoring staff or faculty advisor. Only faculty or staff members should fill out the Early Arrival Organization/Department Request form. The Residence Life & Housing Office will communicate your arrival information to you by August 7^th.

Individual Requests

Students not invited by faculty or staff for official college functions are not generally permitted to live in college-owned housing prior to the official college opening dates as printed on the college calendar unless they meet one of the conditions below. All requests for individual early arrivals must be submitted using the Individual Early Arrival Request Form by July 31st. Requests after this date will not be considered.

Requests by students not invited by faculty or staff will only be approved under the following conditions:

Sibling(s) of an approved student and do not live within 75 miles of Houghton’s Main campus. Students in this category will be charged $25.00 per day that they are in campus housing prior to the official opening of college residences.
Students with long drives to campus (400+ miles from home address). These approvals will only allow students to arrive one day earlier than other returning students.
Students with extenuating circumstances. These approvals will be given out very sparingly and students will be charged $75.00 per night that they are in campus housing prior to the official opening of college residences.

Please be aware of the following items if you are approved for an individual early arrival:

Students will be responsible to provide their own meals before the official start of the semester board plan (dinner the Saturday before classes begin) and can use cash at our dining facilities.
No individual arrivals will be granted before Thursday, August 25^th unless it is for a sibling of a student who has been approved for an official campus function or program.
Payment will be required before students are permitted to move into housing. Payment details will be outlined in the email sent to students with approved requests.

Requests in the following categories by students not invited by faculty or staff will generally not be approved:

Local students (home address within 75 miles of Houghton‘s main campus) without official college responsibilities.
Dropping off personal belongings before a student begins living in college housing.
Unapproved early arrivals: students showing up to campus without prior permission and desiring to stay in college housing will be charged $100.00 per night.
Students with approved roommates will not be allowed into campus housing early unless approved on their own merits under Houghton‘s early arrival policy.
Students with summer leases ending before college residences open. It is the student‘s responsibility to arrange housing for the full extent of the summer.
Students returning for non-college related business, employment, or activities. This includes, but is not limited to off-campus employment, volunteer work, or other activities. It is the student‘s responsibility to secure off-campus housing for these activities prior to the official opening of the residences.

All approvals or denials of requests will be communicated via email by August 7^th.