Recontracting FAQ for 2009/2010

What is recontracting?
Recontracting is the process by which current UA students living in campus housing apply to live on campus for the next academic year.  Students must complete three steps in the recontracting process in order to be eligible for the online room selection process, in which they select their residence hall room.

1. Complete the online application, available between October 1, 2008 and February 1, 2009.
2. Accept the online housing contract, if eligible to do so, from February 3-13, 2009.
3. Pay the $250.00 housing deposit ($25.00 application fee and $225.00 prepayment) online, from February 3-13, 2009.

In order to be eligible for the online room selection process, which begins in February, students must pay the deposit by the deadline.

What is the priority to assign students to campus housing?
The priority to assign students to campus housing is:

1. Incoming freshmen
2. Current UA students already living in campus housing
3. Incoming transfer students
4. Current UA students living off campus, including in Greek Housing

Room selection will begin with current students, and then incoming freshmen.
Because of the demand for campus housing, Housing and Residential Communities does not currently expect to be able to accommodate transfer students and current UA students living off campus in campus housing for 2009/2010.

Are all current students guaranteed a space in campus housing for 2009/2010?
No.  HRC will evaluate the number of students who have applied for housing, and on February 2, we will send an e-mail to all students using their Bama e-mail address to notify them if they can continue to the next step, which is to accept the contract and pay the deposit.  All students who pay their deposit are guaranteed a space in campus housing.  Any students who cannot immediately continue to the contract/payment stage of the process will be placed on a waiting list for housing and notified if they can continue with the recontracting process later in the spring.  Students who fail to pay the housing deposit by the February 13 deadline will not be eligible for the room selection process or campus housing.

How does HRC determine who will be waitlisted, if all students cannot continue to the contract and payment steps?
In accordance with residents’ opinions about the priority for housing returning students, rising sophomores are preferenced in the recontracting process.  Therefore, if students must be waitlisted, HRC begins with graduate students, then rising seniors, then rising juniors, and then rising sophomores.  Therefore sophomores, who will most benefit from continued residency on campus, are least likely to be placed on the waiting list.  Students with housing scholarships who meet the recontracting deadlines will also be accommodated in housing, rather than placed on a waiting list.  Students with housing scholarships who fail to complete the recontracting process are not guaranteed campus  housing.

What if I apply for housing by February 1 (Step 1), but do not accept the contract (Step 2) or pay my deposit (Step 3) by the February 13 deadline?
If you do not complete all three steps of the recontracting process by the February 13 deadline, then your application will be cancelled and you will not receive a campus housing assignment.

What if I do not have the money to pay my deposit during the scheduled time?
If you have questions or concerns about paying the deposit between February 3rd and 13th, please contact HRC at 348-6676.  Failure to pay the deposit or contact HRC for assistance during the scheduled time will result in the cancellation of your housing application.

How do I actually get a housing assignment?
Once you have applied for housing, accepted the contract, and paid your deposit, you will be eligible to select your own room during the online room selection process.  You will receive e-mail notification to your Bama e-mail address with specific details regarding your time to enter the room selection process.  In general, room selection is open from Monday, February 16, until Friday, March 6.  Students enter the process at different times, depending upon their academic classification and what they want to select.  For example, students who wish to return to their exact same space next year are the first to participate in the room selection process.  After students wishing to return to their rooms have had the opportunity to do so, and those who are returning to their same space are able to pull in a roommate (if there is space in the room), students wishing to move to a different room enter the process in descending order, beginning with seniors.

What should I do if I want to return to my same room next year?
If you wish to return to the same space that you are living in this year, you must select that space during the same room selection process, which will take place from 8:00 a.m. February 16 until 8:00 a.m. February 17.  If you wish to pull a roommate into a vacant space in your room, you must first select your space in that room.  Then, if there is a vacancy, you may pull a roommate into your room during the roommate pull-in process, from 8:00 a.m. February 17 until 8:00 a.m. February 18.

Can I pick another space, after I’ve already picked one?
Yes, you can continue to move around until room selection ends on Friday, March 6, at 5:00 p.m.  A limited number of students assigned to specially-designated spaces, e.g., athletes on scholarship in athletic spaces, will not be able to change their assignments once they are assigned by HRC.

How do I select a roommate?
A student may pull in another student as a roommate with the potential roommate’s CWID and roommate proxy code.  All students who recontract will receive a roommate proxy code.  If you identify a room with enough vacant spaces for you and your roommate(s), you may place yourself in a space and then place your roommate(s) in the vacant space(s), as long as you have their CWID and roommate proxy code. 

Can I live anywhere next year?
You may live in spaces for which you are eligible.  You cannot select a room in a living-learning community, if you are not in that community.  For example, students who are not in the College of C&BA cannot select Friedman Hall, which is the home of the C&BA living option. Because of limited space, and the demands for housing from the incoming freshman class, students who do not currently live in Bryant, Riverside, Ridgecrest (including the new Ridgecrest South), or Lakeside will not be able to select those residence halls during recontracting, with the exception of Blount residents.  Honors students currently living in Blount can elect to move to honors housing next fall. Additionally, if you currently live in a space to which you are eligible to return, but want to live with a roommate who is not eligible to live there, you will not be able to pull in that person during the room selection process.  In order to clarify the residence halls you are eligible to live in during the 2009/2010 academic year, we strongly urge students to attend a recontracting meeting in the residence halls or to contact one of the Assignments Coordinators in HRC at 348-6676.

If I am not in the Honors college but am living in Honors Housing, can I recontract to the same space?
No. If you are not in not in the Honors College but are in living in Lakeside West, you will need to move to Lakeside East.  Similarly, if you are in Ridgecrest West, you will need to move to Ridgecrest East, and if you are in Riverside East or West, you will move to Riverside North, if you want to remain in Riverside.

What do the letters mean after my room/suite/apartment number?
Letters, e.g., a, b, c, or d, indicate the actual bedspace to which you are assigned.  Double rooms in traditional residence halls have an “a” bedspace and a “b” bedspace. These letters do not indicate the bed that you have to occupy.  In Ridgecrest, Lakeside, Riverside, and Bryant, letters indicate the actual bedroom in the suite to which you are assigned.  In Ridgecrest East and West, Lakeside, and Riverside, bedroom “a” is the closest to the living room and bedroom “d” is at the end of the hall. In Bryant Hall, Bedrooms “a” and “b” are on the left when you enter the suite.  In Rose Towers, the smaller bedroom contains the “a” space and the other bedroom contains “b” and “c.”  In some Rose Towers apartments, there are 4 roommates, and in that case, space “d” is located in the same bedroom as space “a.”  In Bryce Lawn, the two smaller bedrooms are spaces “a” and “b” and the larger bedroom is space “c.”  In the Highlands, the two smaller bedrooms are spaces “a” and “c,” while the larger bedroom contains spaces “b” and “d.”  Students who want to be roommates in the same bedroom in Highlands should be sure that they select the “b” and “d” spaces.

What do I do if I live or want to live at The Bluff? 
Students who currently live at the Bluff will be able to recontract there for Fall 2009.  Students who currently live there, and will return to the same apartment for the fall, can also remain in their apartment for the summer.  Students currently living in Riverside, Lakeside, and Ridgecrest will also have the ability to recontract to the Bluff, as space allows.  

Can I pull in a freshman as a roommate?
You may pull in a freshman roommate with that student’s CWID and Roommate Proxy Code, which will be listed on the freshman student’s myHousing page.  That student must be eligible to live in the community that you have selected, in order for you to pull him/her in.  For example, if you are returning to a space in Honors Housing, and your prospective freshman roommate is not in the Honors College, you will not be able to pull that student in as a roommate.  Students who have any questions about their ability to live in certain communities should contact Housing and Residential Communities.

What will happen if I apply for housing, accept the contract, and pay my deposit, but I do not select a room during the room selection process?  Will HRC cancel my contract?
No.   If you do not select a room, HRC will assign you to a space.

What will happen if I complete the recontracting process but change my mind about living on campus?
If you change your mind after applying for housing, but never accept the contract or pay your deposit, HRC will cancel your application and you will have no further obligation.  Once you accept the contract and pay the housing deposit, you are bound by a legally-binding contract (like a lease on an apartment).  In order to cancel your contract, you must contact Julie Ember at jsember@sa.ua.edu by July 1, 2009. HRC reserves the right to cancel, or not cancel, your contract at our discretion.  We urge all students to think carefully about making the commitment implicit in accepting the housing contract.

What will happen if I do not complete the three step application process by February 13?
If you do not complete the application process by the deadline, you can be waitlisted for housing. You will be placed on the waitlist after transfer students and current UA students who live off campus. Therefore, it is very important that you complete the three-step application process by the February 13 deadline if you wish to receive housing.

What should I do if I want to move off campus next year? 
You do not have to notify HRC if you plan to live off campus next year, but you should not take part in the recontracting process.  If you are not yet sure about your plans and might want to live on campus, you should apply for campus housing, as HRC is unlikely to be able to accommodate any returning students who do not apply by February 1. In order to learn more about off-campus living, including tenant and landlord rights and responsibilities, and the legal issues involved in signing a lease, plan to attend educational programs held in the residence halls in the fall.  You will also want to visit the Off-Campus Web Site at http://housing.ua.edu/offcampus for helpful information and resources to assist in your off-campus search.  You may also wish to visit the Off-Campus Housing Fairs that will be held in the Ferguson Center throughout the year.  Watch the HRC Web site for more information.