Residential Retrievers--
As we enter a new month, we want to provide you with some important residential updates.
Important Dates
Mail & Package Reminders
Residential students are encouraged to have mail and packages delivered directly to their residential community during the academic year. All residents are assigned a mailbox and combination that they will share with their roommate(s). If you have misplaced your combination you can ask the Community Desk for assistance.
Mail and packages that are not addressed for a current residential student and/or a residential facility may be refused by staff at Campus Card & Mail Services, Central Receiving, or Residential Life community desks.
Commonly, students report that they have received notice from the shipper that their package has been delivered, but it is not immediately available for in-community pick up. This is most often due to misdelivery of packages by third-party carriers. For this reason, we highly encourage students to include the name of their residential community desk in the shipping address to ensure packages are directed to their communities rather than Central Receiving or another UMBC building.
When items are misdelivered by carriers, we ask for student's patience as Campus Card & Mail Services, Central Receiving, and Residential Life staff work to redirect, deliver, and log packages appropriately. This can take up to 3 business days.
For more information about mail and package procedures please visit https://reslife.umbc.edu/rlexperience/procedures/
Guests & Visitors
You are welcome to have guests, but for the safety and comfort of the residential community, residence halls and apartments are locked 24 hours and only accessible to residents of that community and University officials.
If you plan to have a guest visit it is your responsibility to:
Meet them at the entrance of your building
Sign them in at your Community Desk each time they enter the building
Sign them out at your Community Desk each time they leave the buildings
Accompany your guest when they are with you
As a reminder, a host can only have up to 4 guests signed in at a time
For a complete list of policies and guidelines please review the UMBC Residential Life Rights & Responsibilities Guide.
Room Change Options
For the fall semester, opportunities are very limited as we are relatively full this semester. Below is some information about room change options and recommendations.
Room Swaps
Students interested in making a mutual swap must submit an RT Ticket, indicating with whom they would like to swap rooms. Once Residential Life receives the requests from all parties involved in the swap, they will review and send the students updated room assignment and room change instructions to their UMBC email.
End of Semester Room Changes
Students looking to change rooms for the Spring Semester, should contact their Community Director about opportunities for End of Semester Room Changes (ESRC) during the month of November.
If their Community Director believes they are eligible for an ESRC, they may be issued the ESRC Application. There is a firm deadline of November 30 at 11:59PM to submit the ESRC application. Late applications will not be considered.
Submission of an ESRC application does not guarantee approval. Priority for ESRC approval is as follows: students with an accommodation approval from Student Disability Services, and students approved for an administrative move by Residential Life.
Roommate Conflicts
Residents experiencing a roommate conflict and those seeking a room change during the semester are encouraged to first seek assistance from their RA or Community Director before a room change will be considered.
If the Community Director determines that a room change is appropriate, they will provide you with options and next steps based on the availability of space. When possible, a new housing assignment will be made to an existing vacancy.
Health & Safety Inspections
Residential Life values the co-creation of a safe environment in every residential community. It is the responsibility of every resident to ensure that they are contributing to a safe and healthy environment in their residence by:
It is the responsibility of Residential Life staff to educate residents through positive, personal contact, maintain the residential facilities and conduct health and safety checks in residential rooms intermittently throughout the semester to identify health and safety issues in a timely way. These issues could include facility issues, fire safety, and the presence of prohibited items.
This semester, Residential Life staff will be conducting these health and safety inspections on the week of October 9, 2023. Residents are not expected to be present during the inspection, but if you would like to be please contact your RA to schedule a time.
If concerns or issues are found in your room, you will receive notification via email. Please review the email and follow the instructions for correcting the issues in advance of a reinspection. Failure to correct the issues by the reinspection date, outlined in the email, may result in Student Conduct Action.
If you have questions about these inspections, please contact your Resident Assistant or Community Director.
Student Success Scholarship
The purpose of the Student Success Scholarship is to assist current residential life students who demonstrate significant financial need to remain on-campus residents, who may otherwise be unable to afford housing during the academic year. The scholarship is supported by Residential Life. Award funds are for the following semester. If you are applying in fall, the funds would be applied for the spring semester housing balance. Several scholarships may be awarded each semester. Funds will vary based on eligibility and will range from full semester housing costs to partial semester housing costs, not to exceed the cost of a double room
The application is open on Scholarship Retriever from October 1-31 for Spring Awards.