FAQs for New Students

The strength of the roommate match is the priority when Residential Life assigns students to housing.

When students complete the housing application on ResLife Online, they are asked about their personal living preferences such as when do they go to bed, what kind of music do they listen to, and how clean do they keep their room. Students are then matched with roommate(s) with similar preferences. It is important that students (and not a family member) fill out the housing application. Many concerns new students experience with roommates can be avoided if the housing application is filled out honestly. 

Fisher admits students without regard to race, creed, gender, sexual orientation, nationality, ethnic origin, age, religion, or disability. Of these, gender is the only characteristic taken into consideration in the assignment of housing. 

Housing assignments will be available on ResLife Online in late July for the fall semester and early January for the spring semester. You will go to the same place you applied for housing (ResLife Online) to see your roommates' names, phone numbers, addresses, and when available, emails.

Every residence hall has peer advisors called “Resident Assistants” who are available to help you with all your concerns, including roommate disagreements.

When you arrive on campus in the fall, you will work with your roommate(s) to fill out a Shared Living Agreement that outlines what is mutually acceptable in the room (e.g., visitors, what can be borrowed or not, etc.). You should be honest when filling out the form. This is a good chance for you and your roommate(s) to discuss things like visitors, music, study time, etc. If an issue arises, talk first to your roommate(s).

Inevitably, roommate issues/problems occur from time to time. If things do not work out, you should contact your RA. Be honest and upfront about issues early on so that they can be talked through. If you are having a roommate issue, work through the following steps:

• Talk to your roommate: Communication is the key! You can often avoid bigger issues by talking about them when they are still small. We understand that this can be hard; if you need help figuring out how to start the conversation, the RAs and professional staff can help.
• Re-visit your Shared Living Agreement: Sometimes decisions made in the first week need to be modified. It is ok to revisit the agreement filled out in the beginning of the semester and come up with a new set of guidelines. Talk to your RA: If you have talked to your roommate(s) and the situation does not improve, your RA is available to meet with you to discuss the problems.
• Talk to a professional staff member: If things do not improve once your RA is involved, you should talk to your RD. If spaces are available, we consider room changes only when all efforts to work through the issues have been taken.
• Mediation: For a more formal conflict resolution option, students can request to meet with the ResLife Mediation Team by contacting the Assistant Director of Residential Life. Additionally, students may be referred and/or required to meet with the ResLife Mediation Team through the Student Conduct process or by the assistant dean of students. Mediation is a formal and structured process where one or more trained mediators facilitate communication between the involved students. Mediators assist students in focusing on the real issues of the dispute so that the students are able to state their needs and concerns, feel respected and heard, and are able to generate options that meet the interests or needs of all involved parties.

If you have a medical need that may impact how and/or where you live on campus, please review the process to request a housing accommodation. Final determination for providing appropriate and reasonable accommodations rests with Fisher. Requests for housing accommodations are based on both availability and need.

Living in the residence halls is an important part of your student's growth and development. We take the responsibility for this growth and development very seriously. Our goal is to prepare your student to live independently in the “real world” once they leave the comfort of the residence halls. Our message to families is: help us help your students, help your students help themselves.

In our office, we prefer to deal directly with the student. This helps us establish a relationship with your student and enables us to get to the crux of the issues most efficiently. That being said, we also welcome input or questions from families at any time. We will work to resolve issues to the best of our ability and we will involve your student in the solution.

We are available from 8:30 a.m. - 4:30 p.m. at (585) 385-8281 or in the Campus Center, Office 210. Our email address is reslife@sjf.edu.

As a first-year student, you will not be able to pick your roommate(s) for a few reasons. First of all, we encourage you to meet as many different people as possible. We have found that students who start out living with someone they know tend to limit their efforts to meet new people. Also, frequently students request to room together after a brief meeting (e.g., at an open house or recruiting visit) and then discover after spending more than a day or two living together they are not a good match. In addition, you are assigned to housing based on your First-Year Seminar.

After your first year, you can choose your roommate.

If you are a first-year student, you will be assigned to one of the first-year residence halls (Murphy, Murray, Ward, or Haffey) based on your First-Year Seminar class. Roommates are matched using personal attributes provided in the housing application.

First-Year Seminar is a 1-credit course that serves as an orientation to university life and fosters academic success, personal growth, and career exploration. First-Year Seminar classes are grouped together in specific halls to facilitate out-of-class interaction. Generally, 2-6 First-Year Seminar groups are assigned to each hall based on the occupancy of the building.

Once each hall assignment has been determined, roommates are based on the personal attributes and preferences you provide in your housing application online. 

The strength of the roommate match is the priority when Residential Life assigns students to housing, regardless of the number of roommates a student has or the type of room to which they are assigned.  

When students complete the housing application on ResLife Online, they are asked about their personal living preferences such as when do they go to bed, what kind of music do they listen to, and how clean do they keep their room. Students are then matched with roommate(s) with similar preferences. It is important that students (and not a family member) fill out the housing application. Many concerns new students experience with roommates can be avoided if the housing application is filled out honestly. 

Fisher admits students without regard to race, creed, gender, sexual orientation, nationality, ethnic origin, age, religion, or disability. Of these, gender is the only characteristic taken into consideration in the assignment of housing. 

A rebate triple is a room designed to accommodate three students and used as a triple room on an as-needed basis. In rebate triple rooms, each student has their own set of furniture (e.g. bed, desk, desk chair, and dresser) and closet. Each residence hall webpage features floor plans of each room type.

If a vacancy becomes available in a rebate triple room, the room will be de-tripled and the third set of furniture will be removed from the room. As housing enrollments change, Residential Life will offer available spaces to students in rebate triple rooms.

Students will be reimbursed $1,000 toward the cost of housing if they remain in a rebate triple after the first week of classes in the fall 2024 semester. The reimbursement will be processed on September 10, 2024.