Good Morning
We hope this message finds you well! We write today to share important information about the residential experience for the 2020-2021 Academic Year. Thank you for your patience and understanding as these plans have come together. We realize not knowing where you might live for the upcoming semester only adds to the stressors we each face due to COVID.
Below you will find important updates on a variety of topics. For the latest on the University’s fall plans, visit
ourwayforward.wfu.edu
. For more details about our residential offerings, visit the Office of Residence Life and Housing website at
rlh.wfu.edu
.
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To address the health and safety concerns related to COVID-19, Wake Forest has considered a variety of residential options for students in the fall. We have carefully reviewed our residential offerings and have reduced occupancy where needed to promote the wellbeing of all community members.
The driving factors in the public health guidance we’ve received are the need to reduce the overall density of our residential community and to limit the number of students that share a bathroom. We have accordingly configured our communities such that we expect to offer approximately 65% single occupancy rooms and 35% double occupancy rooms.
Wake Forest has secured additional spaces in apartment complexes near campus and on existing shuttle routes, which will function as University-sponsored housing. We do not currently foresee the need for the use of hotels as normal residence halls. Continuing students will have the ability to see and select these locations during the housing selection process.
We are also excited to be preparing for a potentially larger incoming class. These numbers, coupled with our reduced occupancy, mean that we will house first-year students in areas that have not recently been used for that student population, such as the Quad.
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Residency Requirement and Housing Guarantee
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The three-year residency requirement will remain in place for the 2020-2021 Academic Year, meaning that unless students (including juniors) have been released by the University, they are expected to live in University housing.
As a part of our housing application (see below), students will have the opportunity to petition to be released. As a reminder, students who study abroad during the fall or spring semesters are given credit for that time toward their six-semester residency requirement; summer sessions do NOT count toward that residency requirement. Transfer students who have lived on campus at another institution are given credit for that time toward their residency requirement.
With the added University-sponsored housing, we are hopeful that we will be able to honor our guarantee and offer housing to those seniors who want to live in University housing. Despite the circumstances COVID brings us, we remain confident in our ability to work with our students and families to ensure that students have housing for the fall.
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Housing Portal and Housing Application
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We plan to re-open our housing application to continuing students on Wednesday, July 1, 2020, at 9 a.m. At that time the following actions will be available for continuing students:
- Students who have lived on campus for six semesters are welcome to select housing on campus or pursue housing elsewhere; they must declare their intent in the Housing Portal, including off-campus address registration. We are asking for this intent to be submitted by July 17.
- Students who have lived on campus less than six semesters (i.e., they have not yet fulfilled the University’s residency requirement) may submit a petition to be released from that requirement. Petitions must be submitted via our Housing Portal. Petitions are reviewed first for individually compelling circumstances and then in the order in which they are received in order to meet the demand for on-campus housing. Students who petition prior to July 10 should expect decisions on petitions by July 22.
- Students should NOT enter into off campus leases (or other arrangements) until they receive written approval of their petition to be released from the University’s residency requirement from the Office of Residence Life and Housing.
- All continuing students will be able to review and/or change their roommate groups.
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We are excited to share the following timeline and details related to Housing Selection for the 2020-2021 Academic Year. We understand you want to know your housing for the upcoming year, but we want to ensure students have time to review their course modalities and finalize their fall schedule first. As we prepare for housing selection, revised housing selection times and a room configuration list will be made available on Wednesday, July 15.
Housing selection will take place in two waves this year. The first which will be Thursday, July 23 and Friday, July 24 and will focus on roommate groups with a senior (Thursday) or junior (Friday) group leader. These groups will have access to select from our on-campus apartments, roadhouses, and University-sponsored housing.
The next wave of housing selection will take place Monday, July 27 and Tuesday, July 28 with roommate groups with a sophomore group leader. These groups will have access to the opportunity to select from spaces available in our suite and semi-suite style communities.
Class standing for housing selection is based on the number of semesters lived on campus. Seniors are those with 6+ semesters of on-campus housing credits, juniors are those with 4-5 semesters of on-campus housing credits, and sophomores are those with 2-3 semesters of on-campus housing credits.
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After careful consideration and review of public health considerations, the University has decided to continue with many of our speciality housing programs:
- Fraternity and Sorority Blocks along with our Residential Engagement Communities will continue. Because of the need to de-densify campus, the size of each group may be reduced in order to keep our housing as equitable as possible for all students. Student leaders for these spaces will be contacted today with further details.
- We are also planning to continue offering our Gender Neutral Housing process for all students.
- We have, however, made the decision not to offer Quiet Living or Substance Free Housing for the 2020-21 Academic Year.
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Given the evolving nature of COVID-19 and University plans, we are extending the deadline for requesting disability-related accommodations to Sunday, July 12.
The request forms (
student
and
medical provider
) MUST be submitted by July 12
for consideration by the Housing Accommodation Review Committee. While forms submitted after the stated deadline will be reviewed, approved reasonable accommodations are subject to availability of housing.
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We plan to begin welcoming students back to campus beginning August 17.
- New students will have the opportunity to schedule their move-in between August 17 and 20, and
- Continuing students will have the opportunity to schedule their move-in between August 20 and 24.
Students will be required to schedule a move-in appointment and appointment availability will vary by community to ensure proper social distancing. Students will be able to schedule their move-in appointment later this summer as a part of their housing selection process.
There will be a robust set of expectations associated with this move-in process, including a limit of two individuals accompanying a student to campus. For more on our move-in process, please visit
rlh.wfu.edu/fall-2020-move-in/
.
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We look forward to welcoming you home soon!
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Matt Clifford, EdD
Assistant Vice President of Campus Life
and Dean of Residence Life and Housing
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Office of Residence Life and Housing | Wake Forest University
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