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Room Assignment Process for Incoming Students

All aspects of housing assignments for fall semester incoming students are based on the date the online Housing Preference form is completed. (Please read the section below, Jan Term/Spring Semester Housing, if planning to start living on campus for Jan Term or spring semester.) A Housing Preference Form can only be accessed and completed after a student has been admitted into Whitworth University and submitted his/her enrollment deposit. For more information about the enrollment deposit, please go to www.whitworth.edu/enrollmentdeposit.

The residence hall in which you are placed will be determined by the date your Housing Preference form is completed. Acceptance into Whitworth University does not guarantee you a regular residence hall room arrangement. If there are 30 available spaces for incoming students in the building of your choice, you must be one of the first 30 students who requested this building on the Housing Preference form in order to be housed there.

If you request a specific roommate, you and that person must both have completed the Housing Preference Form early enough to get into the residence hall of your choice together. If one person does not do this early enough to get into the requested residence hall, the person who did will be called and given the choice of either moving into another hall with the requested roommate, or staying and receiving a new roommate.

You will be sent your room assignment and roommate information after July 15.

Overflow

Occasionally we have more people requesting housing than we have space for, causing an overflow situation. The housing office will notify you if this situation occurs.

The overflow rooms are chosen based on the completion date of the Housing Preference Form. The residents who complete the form last in buildings best able to accommodate overflow may receive an extra person, if additional space is needed.

Students living in overflow spaces are given permanent assignment as they become available, beginning with the student with the earliest confirmation date. Students living in overflow spaces are also given a housing credit based length of time they lived in an overflow housing assignment.

Mailing Schedule

Fall Term
Students who first enroll at Whitworth for fall term will be sent roommate letters after July 15. Overflow letters will be mailed after Aug. 1.

January Term
Students who first enroll at Whitworth for January Term will be called at home and/or e-mailed the week before Christmas with room and roommate information.

Spring Term
Students who first enroll at Whitworth for spring term will be called at home and or e-mailed after Jan. 15 regarding spring term room assignment.

Roommate Matches

• The roommate matching process is based on the student's completed date of his or her Housing Preference Form. Housing Preference Forms are sorted according to the requests for each residence hall and the date the form was completed.
• All roommate matches are done by hand using the information provided in the online Housing Preference Form. It is important that your Housing Preference Form honestly reflects your lifestyle. Information about how to log in are included in your confirmation letter.
• The Office of Housing recommends that you contact your roommate after you receive your roommate assignment letter to discuss what you will be bringing and to begin the process of getting to know one another.
• The roommate assignment letter is mailed to students after July 15.

Roommate Conflict

• All roommates experience some conflict. Conflict can be healthy and if dealt with openly and can be a learning experience. Your resident assistant and resident director have both been trained in conflict mediation and are there for you to use as a resource to help you work through difficulties.
• If a room change is requested, you and your roommate will be asked to go through a mediation process. Not all room change requests are granted.
• The Office of Housing understands that conflict can be difficult, but we have found most college students are able to learn how to mediate and manage conflict and live with differences. Parents are encouraged to allow the student to learn how to work through conflict with their roommate.
• The Office of Housing will encourage parents to allow their students to work through conflict with the resources available on campus, i.e. resident assistants and resident directors.

Jan Term/Spring Semester Housing

Students who wish to move on campus for Jan Term or spring semester undergo a separate process for residence hall and roommate assignment. In mid-November, the housing office will contact all incoming students interested in moving on to campus.  Please respect understand that while the housing office would like to place all new students in their preferred building, space around campus is very limited. On-campus availability only happens when current fall semester students choose to study abroad, transfer, graduate, etc. in Jan Term or spring semester. Because of this, housing is only able to determine incoming student housing for Jan Term or spring semester in mid-December.

Incoming students will be notified of their housing placement in mid-December. Please check the Residence Hall Opening and Closing Dates calendar to determine what day and time students are allowed to move in to the residence halls.

The housing office strongly encourages you to call 509.777.3250 when you are accepted into Whitworth for either the Jan Term or the spring semester to make sure you are on Housing's list of interested incoming on-campus students.