RESIDENT ASSISTANTS (RA)

Your Resident Assistant lives on your floor and is there to assist you and advise you as you make the most of your experience at The University of West Alabama. Your RA is a student member of the Housing staff and is trained to provide personal help and refer you to resources when you encounter various academic and personal concerns. Please make every effort to get to know your RA and the other RAs  in your building. They are there for your assistance.

RESIDENCE HALL DIRECTORS

Each residence hall has a director who is responsible for supervising resident assistants in the building. The director is available to answer questions as well as to help you work out any problems beyond the scope of your Resident Assistant.  Most hall directors live in the building that they supervise.  The Reed Hall director is also responsible for Hoover Apartments and lives in Reed Hall.

VISITATION POLICY

In order to insure a degree of privacy for residents and maintain a secure environment, the residence halls and apartments on campus have a visitation schedule which limits visits by guests.  A guest is defined as anyone that is not assigned to the specific room or apartment.

Visitation is a privilege, not a right. Residents who wish to limit visitation hours within their room should meet with their hall director. The Office of Student Life and Housing may limit visitation hours and adjust the visitation schedule as deemed necessary.

Visitation does not grant co-habitation. Residents who allow guests (male or female) to stay in the residence halls or apartments for an excessive amount of time will be in violation of the visitation policy.

Residents are responsible for the behavior of their guests and will be held accountable for their actions.

SPIETH, SELDEN AND SISK HALL

Visitation is prohibited at Spieth, Selden and Sisk whenever the Resident Assistant Office is closed. Generally, visitation will be available during the following times:

1. The resident must check in the guest at the RA Office and escort the guest at all times.  Guests at Sisk Hall may check themselves in since Sisk Hall does not have an intercom system to call residents to the RA Office.  If the resident that the guest is planning to visit is not in his room, the guest must check back out of Sisk within five minutes.

2. If the guest is a resident of the same residence hall, the guest is not required to check in or check out; however, the hours of visitation still apply and the resident and the guest must coordinate visits so that the guest can get onto the resident's wing without knocking on the wing door.  Usually, this coordination is done by cell phone.

3. Residents may have no more than four guests at the same time during visitation.

4. Residents at Spieth and Selden must escort their guests to the RA Office and check-out their guests prior to the end of visitation.

5. Residents and their guests must keep up with the time.  The Housing staff will not provide notification that visitation is almost over.

6. Unless checked in for visitation, non-residents are prohibited from being in the residence hall between 11:00 a.m. and 2:30 p.m.
   

REED, HOOVER, STICKNEY, & PATTERSON

Visitation is permitted in Reed, Hoover, Stickney, and Patterson Apartments between the hours of 10:00 a.m.-2:00 a.m. The resident is responsible for the actions of his/her guests. Between the hours of 11:00 p.m. until 2:00 a.m., guests must be escorted by the resident while in the residence hall or apartment areas. Loitering in the residence hall and apartment areas is prohibited.

RESIDENTIAL LIFE FEE

Each on-campus student is required to pay a $30 annual residential life fee. This fee helps support the ongoing cost of programming within the residence halls and apartments. These programs are educational as well as entertaining. This fee is non-refundable once a student has picked up his/her room key.  During the summer semester, all students living on campus must pay an additional $10.

CHECK-IN

During the fall and spring semesters, new residents may pick up their room keys for campus residence halls and apartments on the Friday, Saturday and Sunday prior to the first day of class.  During the summer semester, residents may pick up their room keys on Registration Day and the day before the first day of class. Check-In takes place between 10 a.m. - 3 p.m. at the Student Union Building (SUB).

EARLY CHECK-IN

Anyone wishing to pick up their room (or apartment) key early must make arrangements with the Office of Student Life and Housing at least 48 hours prior to arriving on campus.  Residents that pick up their key early are required to pay an early check-in fee of $12 per day for each day prior to the first Check-In Day.  Early check-ins may not always be available so residents are encouraged to contact the Office of Student Life and Housing prior to making travel arrangements.

SOLICITATION

Commercial activity and sales parties are not permitted in the residence halls and campus apartments. Door-to-door solicitation by persons not affiliated with the University is prohibited. Recognized student organizations wishing to solicit in the lobby area must obtain permission from Luther Gremmels, the Director of Student Life and Housing.

Student groups may sell in the halls between the hours of 1 p.m. and 9 p.m. but must adhere to normal visitation policies and must receive prior approval from the Office of Student Life and Housing (Brock #121). Prior approval is also required for scavenger hunts and similar activities.

Qualified candidates for SGA elections may campaign in the residence halls but must adhere to normal visitation policies.  Solicitation by persons not affiliated with the University is not permitted in the residence halls. Please ask a salesman to leave your building if you are approached. If he or she refuses to leave, call your RA., hall director, or University Police to have him escorted from campus.

HOUSING DEPOSIT

The $100 housing deposit serves as a combination room reservation and damage deposit. Your deposit, therefore, must remain on file with the University throughout your occupancy in the residence halls. Upon leaving campus housing, you are eligible to request a refund, if you have not violated the agreement. In order to do this you must request in writing the return of your deposit within 275 days after moving out of the residence halls. Deposit Refund Request Forms are available at the Office of Student Life and Housing.

YOUR CONTRACT

When you apply for housing, you are committing to a contract - the Residence Hall Agreement. This is an annual contract, valid from August through August. Moving off campus before the completion of the academic year is a violation of the contract and will result in forfeiture of your deposit. Termination of the contract without approval of the Office of Student Life and Housing will result in forfeiture of the deposit and an obligation to pay rent for the remaining semesters of the agreement period.

ROOM SELECTION

With the exception of Patterson Apartments, all room assignments are for the current year only. During spring semester, every residence hall and apartment space on campus is open to being selected for the following school year during the Room Selection Process.

KEYS

UWA does not charge a key deposit.  However, if a resident loses his/her key, the student will be required to pay a replacement fee of $40.00 ($80 in Hoover Apartments).  Access cards will be replaced for $20.  Residents should report a lost key immediately to the Office of Student life and Housing.  Once a key has been reported as lost, the fee cannot be refunded.  Generally, students who lose a key will be given a spare key for his/her room while new keys and a new lock are being ordered.  Once the new keys are available, residents will be issued the new keys and the lock will be changed.  

If a resident temporarily misplaces a key, the resident may borrow a spare key from the Office of Student Life and Housing for up to 24 hours.  If the spare key is not returned within 24 hours, the resident will be charged for a lost key and the lock will be changed.

SERVICES AVAILABLE FOR STUDENTS

LAUNDRY
Coin operated automatic washers and dryers are located in each hall. For refunds, contact Mike Graham at the Bookstore. Repair needs should be reported to your RA.

MAINTENANCE
Please report any maintenance problem to your RA or any other resident assistant or desk assistant in your residence hall or apartment area. You may also report problems at Fix-It, the UWA on-line maintenance request site:

 http://housing.uwa.edu/fixit.htm

VENDING MACHINES
All traditional residence halls have soft drink machines. Some residence halls also have snack machines.  If you lose money in the machines, please see Mike Graham at the Bookstore for a refund.

HOLIDAY HOUSING
The residence hall rent that is applied to each resident's bill only covers periods when classes are in session.

Residents that want to stay over Thanksgiving Break or Spring Break must sign up for break housing at least one week prior to the first day of the break.  The fee to stay over Thanksgiving or Spring Break is $75.  Residents that must stay for employment reasons and students who live at least 500 miles away from UWA may stay over the break for $35.  These residents must provide verification of their eligibility.

Residents that want to stay over Christmas Break or May Break must sign up for break housing by the first day of final exams.  The fee to stay over Christmas or May Break is $200.  Residents that must stay for employment reasons and students who live at least 500 miles away from UWA may stay over the break for $100.  These residents must provide verification of their eligibility.

Housing over breaks is not guaranteed and may require relocation to a central residence hall.

Break housing is not available between summer semester and fall semester.  This time period is used to prepare rooms and apartments for the fall semester.  Students who have special circumstances may be able to check into their fall semester room early (see "Early Check-In" above).  These students should contact Luther Gremmels, the Director of Student Life and Housing.

CABLE T.V.
All rooms and apartments are provided basic cable service. Premium channels may be subscribed to at the resident’s expense through the Mediacom, the local cable company.