Property will be considered abandoned by residence hall students if it is left in a resident’s room after a student’s housing contract has been terminated. Abandoned property procedures will include the following:

Abandoned property will be boxed up by a minimum of two Residence Life staff members and all items will be noted on the boxes. The Assistant Director of Residence Life – Facilities & Administrative Services will offer the direction as to which staff members are responsible for boxing up the materials. Boxed items and any furniture will be taken to a designated storage location. During this time, UWRF, its officers, employees and agents will not be responsible for damage or theft to this property.

The Assistant Director of Residence Life – Facilities and Administrative Services will correspond with the student within 48 business hours of the materials being boxed and stored. Communication will occur:

• Via e-mail to the student’s UWRF e-mail account
• Via snail mail to the student’s home address listed in eSIS
• Via phone call to the student’s home phone number listed in eSIS

The student will be expected to make arrangements with the Assistant Director of Residence Life – Facilities and Administrative Services to pick up their items within 15 days of the correspondence being sent to the student. The following procedures will occur when a student does not retrieve the items within 15 days or a mutually agreed upon time frame.

• Items with expiration dates, no monetary value or considered “junk” will be tossed or recycled.
• Food items will be donated to the local food pantry.
• Items that are in good condition will be donated to local appropriate agencies.
• Items that are high in monetary value will be sold as “surplus” items in the next Residence Life surplus sale.
• Cash will be deposited into the Residence Life Foundation Account.

The discretion of whether or not an item should be donated or sold as a surplus item is at the discretion of the Assistant Director of Residence Life – Administrative Services and Facilities.

Questions about this policy should be directed to the Assistant Director of Residence Life – Administrative Services and Facilities.

Public Area Damage

Damage to any residence hall furniture, fixtures, or facilities or damage to property of students living in the residence hall is prohibited. If a student is proven to be responsible for vandalism in the residence hall, this student is responsible for the cost of the repair/replacement of damaged items.

Resident Room Damage

If anything is broken at the time of check out, the resident(s) may be charged to have it fixed/replaced. Staff will use the Room Condition Report from the beginning of the year to compare the condition of the room. Any and all damages that occur that weren’t specified on the Room Condition Report when you moved in, other than normal wear and tear, will be recorded and charged to your student account. If the damage is not known or cannot be resolved which roommate(s) is responsible, then the charges will be equally divided between the roommates.

When a student loses a room key, s/he must go to Residence Life, B3 Hathorn Hall. For security reasons, the room door must be re-keyed. There is a $40 charge to replace a lost or stolen bedroom key (South Fork Suites rekey: $40 bedroom, $55 suite door, $75 for both). When the lock is re-keyed, the locksmith will provide residents who are there at that time a new room key for their room. If the student or their roommate is not in the room, the locksmith will leave the new room keys at the University Center Information Desk.

Posting Solicitation and Mailings Guidelines

Helpful Posting Guideline Information

Individuals, organizations, and departments wanting to have promotional materials posted in the University Residence Halls must send a request to the Department of Residence Life, which is located in B3 Hathorn Hall. All posting materials must be submitted to Residence Life for distribution to residence halls.

One poster, no larger than 11” by 17” with approval, per residence hall will be permitted for posting in the main lobby on a “Campus Events” bulletin board. Postings that are not properly submitted will be removed by hall staff.

All approved posters, flyers, or announcements must include contact information and will be posted by Residence Life staff on a space-available basis. When dropping off materials for approval, please be sure to leave contact information in the event there are questions about the materials. They will be displayed at the main desks of each hall on a space available basis.

Unauthorized posting of materials on individual student room doors, including door hangers and slipping materials under room doors, are prohibited.

Promotional materials promoting the use of alcohol or other drugs, using profanity, or implying sexual, racial, or other harassment will not be approved. Residence Life staff are not responsible for how materials are handled by residents. Approved Residence Hall Governance, programming groups, and Residence Life staff may post announcements in the residence halls. These announcements may be posted in hall lobbies and corridors on a space-available basis.

Solicitation in the Residence Halls

Solicitation in the residence halls is never allowed. This includes, but is not limited to knocking on doors, sliding items under student doors, and putting door hangers on doorknobs. Residents should report all violations to the Hall Manager or University Police immediately. Individuals or student organizations found violating the no solicitation policy will be referred to the Residence Life/University conduct system.

Commercial activities or door-to-door solicitation will not be allowed in residence halls, but designated members of approved campus organizations may utilize hall main lobbies to present their viewpoints by discussion or materials following approval of the Hall Council of the facility.

A member of the organization must be present at the table while the materials are being distributed.

The manner of presentation must not interfere with the flow of traffic, not constitute harassment to residents, and must be done in a responsible fashion so that the information/discussion is conducted on a voluntary basis with student residents.

Recognized student organizations may reserve lounges in specific residence halls for informational meetings, candidate meetings, or presentations. Lounges may be reserved by contacting the Hall Council of the facility. Hall Council information may be obtained by contacting the Department of Residence Life at 715-425-4555.

Residence Halls Mailings

Recognized student organizations, campus affiliated groups, or offices wishing to send items to each resident must pre-address each piece, have items sorted by residence hall in room number order, and deliver them to the Department of Residence Life for hall delivery. Please allow at least 3 business days for distribution. Exceptions are made on a case by case basis for governance related issues and academic programs.

All mailings should be addressed as follows:  

    Name or (Resident of)
    Room Number
    Residence Hall
    (in room number order)

All approved mailings that meet the requirements may not be larger than an 8.5 x 11 sheet of paper or a 5 x 7 sized envelope.

Non-University affiliated businesses and organizations requesting to mail items to each resident must obtain mailing labels from Institutional Research (there may be a cost associated with this process if you have the labels printed, otherwise, you will receive a spreadsheet of your labels and your organization can print the labels) and mail the items via U.S. mail.

Campaigning in the Residence Halls

Active and diverse campus dialogue on political and civic issues is critical to accomplishing the University Mission of graduating engaged citizens.

View Residence Life Policies Governing the Halls document

The Department of Residence Life understands how important elections of all levels are to the integrity and future of America and is committed to ensuring that students are knowledgeable and prepared to vote. For specific guidelines regarding campaigning in the residence halls stop by the Department of Residence Life for more information.

Campus Charitable Donation Collections

Those wishing to leave boxes in the main lobbies of the residence halls should contact Residence Life for approval. If approved, boxes must be dropped off and picked up at each residence hall main desk. Boxes should be properly labeled with the name of the program, contact name and phone (boxes not properly labeled may be removed), and checked daily for items. Boxes may be left no longer than one week. Boxes should be no larger than 2ft. by 2ft. Requests are handled on a first-come first-serve basis and no more than one collection will be approved at any given time period.

Questions or more information regarding posting, mailings, campaigning or donation collections, please contact: Kristie Feist, Assistant Director for Residence Life at kristie.feist@uwrf.edu

Residence Life Policy Regarding Temporary Disability Housing Accommodations

Occasionally and unfortunately, students sometimes are faced with temporary disability issues that can impact their housing assignment.  When such a situation arises and Residence Life is informed of the temporary disability, most likely to be a mobility issue, the Residence Life policy will be as follows.

Residence Life will immediately work to find the student either a room on the first floor of a residence hall or a residence hall with an elevator.  Whenever possible, we will take a student’s location preference for a temporary assignment into consideration; however, occupancy management may prevent us from being able to accommodate the student preference, especially in the fall semester.

If Residence Life cannot secure a location in a regular residence hall room due to no availability, we will create a temporary space in extended housing on either first floor of a residence hall or in a building with an elevator. Again, the student’s preference will be taken into account, but will not be guaranteed.

The temporary housing assignment is meant to be short-term (less than one semester in length).  The exact duration of the stay will be negotiated between the student and the Department of Residence Life and based on the medical needs of the individual.  We will continue to “hold” the initial housing assignment for the student and Residence Life will not re-assign anyone to that space.

In the event the student refuses to accept the temporary accommodation offered to them, the student will be asked to sign a waiver indicating that they have chosen not to accept the temporary housing accommodation offered to them and assume all liability and responsibility for personal injury or damage to property by remaining in their current housing assignment. The waiver also indicates that the university assumes no responsibility for storage or maintenance of any medical equipment.

Room Change Process

While we always hope that each person’s living situation is ideal, differences between roommates can and will occur. Living with another person is a learning experience and we anticipate that some difficulties may arise. As a result, we encourage all students to complete the Roommate Agreement at the beginning of the academic year. This agreement outlines the most frequent issues that occur between roommates and asks that they have a discussion about things such as study hours, room cleanliness and visitors prior to problems arising. If problems between you and your roommate do happen, we expect that both parties have an honest and mature conversation about any issues and attempt to resolve problems as they occur.

If you and your roommate are unable to resolve these concerns, a mediation between both roommates and the Residence Assistant will be scheduled to further the discussion. After the mediation, a new contract is created with specific agreements outlined between roommates. If after these two steps there are still issues between roommates, a room change may be granted based on housing availability, though no room changes are allowed during the first 4 weeks of each academic semester. If one roommate would like to leave their current living situation after all these steps are taken, the student will need to contact their Hall Manager to discuss the possibility of a move. At the end of the fall semester students have the option to move out of their current living space during our official room change process.