Parent Resources
Residential Facilities' Information for Parents
How Students Enter/Exit Residence Halls
Roommate Relationships and Communication
How Students Enter/Exit Residence Halls
All campus residence halls are on a 24-hour limited access policy. This means access is restricted to living areas of the building 24 hours a day. Residents' Action Cards access the exterior doors in the building in which they reside.
In order to preserve the safety and security of the other residents in the hall, students are always strongly reminded to never allow strangers to follow them into the building. They are also strongly encouraged to carry their key and access card at all times.
Housing and Residential Communities has set policies regarding visitors, which can be found here. However, the responsibility falls to the roommates to discuss these policies and any additional ideas on how they want to handle visitors in their room.
If your son or daughter is unhappy about a roommate’s visitors or any aspect regarding visitation hours, encourage them to speak to their roommate about it. If they do not feel comfortable having that discussion, urge them to speak to their RA about how they can address the issue.
Students are allowed to have overnight guests in the residence halls. The Glossary of HRC Policies outlines the Guest Policy, which can be found here.
Encourage your son or daughter to discuss with their roommate/s at the beginning of the semester how they wish to handle overnight guests. Having this discussion in the beginning can help to address concerns later.
The University of Alabama Police Department provides an array of services that include Police Patrol, Investigations, Community Services and Police Communications. Each student is given a copy of the Safer Living Guide and strongly encouraged to read it to be fully informed on the ways they can protect themselves and other students while a member of the University Community.
If your son or daughter ever expresses concern regarding their safety in their residence hall, or on campus, please encourage them to contact either their Resident Advisor or Campus Police. If they ever believe their immediate safety is jeopardized, encourage them to immediately contact Campus Police. For more information on the UAPD, click here.
In the event of an emergency
The On-Call Dean Program is a part of the Office of the Dean of Students. For more information regarding the On-Call Dean Program, click here.
Roommate relationships are some of the first relationships formed when a student arrives at the university. For some, these relationships can be some of the most exciting relationships formed throughout a student’s college experience. For others, they can be complex and challenging for a variety of reasons.
More and more, we are finding that students come to college never having shared a sleeping space or bathroom with anybody before. From the beginning, this can be a challenging adjustment. It might be beneficial to sit down with your son or daughter and discuss the sharing of these spaces for the first time.
If you find your son or daughter is having trouble adjusting to new living arrangements, encourage them to remain open-minded. It might benefit them to openly talk about it with their roommate, as they might experience the same problems adjusting. If problems persist, encourage them to speak to their RA about different ways to address whatever issue they may be having.
It’s important for roommates to feel they can discuss the good, as well as the bad. Because these are young adults who are sharing a living space, effective communication is key. Different personalities can make this a challenge. If your son or daughter is more introverted and prefers not to confront others, it might be more difficult for them to ask their roommate to turn down their music, for example.
Effective communication is important because it fosters respect between roommates, but allows the establishment of boundaries. The ability to confront somebody in a constructive, positive way fosters respect and further opens the door for communication. At the same time, being able to discuss and establish certain boundaries, such as what time to take phone calls into the hall at night, allow for a comfortable living space for both people.
Housing and Residential Communities has employment opportunities for students as a way to get involved as a leader while helping make the UA residence halls a better place for students. Employment opportunities in residence halls exist during the school year and summer. For more information, click here.
To learn more about leadership opportunities in the Residence Hall Association, click here.
It is important that students set their own ideals for healthy living and make reasoned decisions that are consistent with those ideals. Balancing responsibility with the freedom of living on their own for the first time can be challenging for these young adults. Consider discussing with your son or daughter what they believe a healthy lifestyle to be and how to make decisions that reflect those ideals.
BAMA Dining Services is responsible for all of the food available on campus. Coffee shops, retail locations, meal plan locations, and convenience stores are located all over campus in residence halls, independently, and in the Ferguson Center.
BAMA Dining Services, as well as Housing and Residential Communities, promotes the adoption of healthy eating habits. BAMA Dining has developed a “Fresh & Healthy @ UA” to ensure that eating on campus is tasty as well as nutritious. For more information on BAMA Dining Services and their support for healthy choices, click here.
All students have access to the Student Health Center located on campus. The SHC provides a wide range of services and pride themselves in their goal of providing the same high-quality care that each student receives at home.
For more information regarding hours, appointments, and range of services, please visit the Student Health Center website here.
The mission of the WRC is to provide a wide range of confidential services, including counseling, advocacy services, and support groups. Students also have the opportunity to become actively involved in the mission of the WRC to help and educate others.
For more information, click here.
The recently expanded University Recreation Center is open and available to every student on campus. Not only do they have a 17,000 square foot weight and cardio room, including 114 cardio machines and 100 weight machines, but also they offer group exercise classes taught by certified instructors, basketball courts, climbing wall, and aquatic center. Personal training and dietician services are also available for students.
The University Recreation Aquatics Center is also available for use by University of Alabama students. Four swimming pools are located on campus. The Natatorium houses an 8-lane 25yd pool that is available in the morning and evenings for recreation swim.
For more information, click here.
The Couseling Center helps UA students achieve academic success and personal growth through quality brief counseling and psychological services, outreach and consultative services, and training of mental health professionals.
Stay connected to your student’s new life with
Family Connection, a website designed specifically for Bama parents and families.
Parents Association Hotline: Call 1-800-392-2777 for information about Parents Weekend, University resources, and ways to support your student’s success.
Parent Programs: Located in 230 Ferguson Center, this office provides resources for parents and families of Alabama students. For more information, e-mail parents@ua.edu or visit parents.ua.edu.
Tips for Relating to Your College Student
When a child leaves home to attend college, relationships between family and the student change in certain ways. Parents and students are still working out their roles in this new dynamic of college life. Students view themselves as adults capable of making decisions about their comings and goings. "Mom told me when I got home from my freshman year that it was her house...therefore I was to abide by her rules," says Dr. Ross Bryan, Director of Residential Communities. Discussing the expectations of each other will be a great first step in having a mutually beneficial summer together. Remember that they have been living away from home for the past 9 months and your student may have changed in that time.
Try not to take it personally if your student is visiting friends throughout the school holidays and remember to duscuss their presence at family dinners or other family events, if that is the expectation. Revisiting these expectations early in the summer will ensure a happy summer for all members of the family.
Allow your student to develop their own goals and boundaries.
During holiday breaks, talk with your student about the school year. Keep in mind that they have had their world-view challenged. Most likely, they are not fundamentally different in any way, but they are developing their thoughts and ideas in their own way. This is a great thing and should be celebrated. Ask them questions about thier classes and ask them to clarify their thoughts. "Why" can be a great place to start with them, as well as a productive way to be supportive of the new ideas they are being exposed to. These discussions can better serve to keep the lines of communication open between the family and the student.
Encourage your student to challenge him/herself.
Continue to have conversations with your student about what success looks like for him/her while in college. Help your student frame what success is, while at the same time, providing realistic goals and expectations. It is important to give students the autonomy to define their idea of success. The trick there is that you may be paying for their collegiate experience and may want more of a voice in defining success for them; be their coach from the sidelines.