Continuing Student Sign-Up Fall 2009 / Spring 2010 January 7 – March 7

• Priority Deadlines
  
• Available Residence Halls
  
• Living and Learning Communities
  
• How General Room Assignments Are Made
  
• Selecting a Roommate
  
• Room Changes
  
• Fees
  
• Cancellation Policy
  
• How to Cancel Your Application for Housing
  
• Questions

Soon, our current students will begin to register for next Fall’s housing and we wanted to let you know about important procedures that will pertain to your son or daughter should he/she plan to live on campus again. While we do anticipate a strong demand for upper-class housing, we expect to have adequate space to meet the demand. We hope you will encourage your student to live on campus. As our publications indicate, research shows that students who live on campus are more likely to excel in extra-curricular areas, particularly leadership roles; they express more satisfaction than commuters with their undergraduate experience, particularly student friendships, faculty-student relationships and social life; and more than 90% of on-campus residents feel that living in our halls is a positive experience.

Your student will receive the housing registration information below via email on January 2, 2007.

Priority Deadlines:

January 7 - March 7, 2007
General Online VIP Registration: Applications must be received during this period to be considered during the initial lottery process. Students should sign-up online anytime between 8:00 AM on January 7 and 5:00 PM on March 7. The actual time/date they apply does not matter as long as they DO NOT miss the March 7 deadline.

Students may access VIP by logging on to http://www.vip.sc.edu and computers are available throughout the campus in residence hall U-Hit stations if they do not have their own computer.

Available Residence Halls:

Bates West
East Quad
French House (820 Henderson St)
Green Quad
Horseshoe Apartments (Honors College)
McBryde
Preston College
South Quad
South Tower

Living and Learning Communities:

Students interested in and eligible for any of the special living and learning communities (located at http://www.housing.sc.edu/rsl/rescom.html) must submit general housing applications and contracts online through VIP beginning January 7, 2008 in addition to any supplemental applications that may be required. All fees are the same as regular student housing ($45 nonrefundable application fee, $100 advance room payment). However, students applying for special communities will receive separate notification of their acceptance/approval for these communities. Afterwards, students will be sent an appointment time via email to finalize their room selection. All Living and Learning Community applications are due Friday, February 1 by 5:00 PM.

How General Room Assignments Are Made:

• All current on-campus residents must submit their online applications no later than 5:00 PM on March 7 to be included in the initial lottery drawing. Students who miss the March 7 deadline may still apply online, however they may not receive an assignment until late July after cancellations have been processed.
  
• On March 8, all applications are placed in a lottery to determine order of placements. A limited number of beds are available. Current students will NOT be assigned with new incoming freshmen or transfer students unless space is restricted.
  
• University Housing does not guarantee placement with a specific roommate, but will attempt to honor specific requests of this sort whenever possible. In order to maximize your chances, students MUST mutually prefer one another and both students MUST have applications on file before 5:00 PM on March 7. The assignment will be based on the residence hall preferences listed on the application selected first through the random lottery drawing.
  
• The computerized system selects the first name in the lottery.
  
• The computer checks to see if that person has listed a preferred roommate(s). If not, it then looks at the student’s building preferences.
  
• Once the first available spot is identified (the computer searches from the lowest floor and goes up), the student is assigned there.
  
• If the student had a preferred roommate(s), it would check to see that the preferred roommate also had applied and also listed the student as his/her preferred roommate. All preferred roommate requests must be mutual.
  
• If the first hall you (and your roommates, if applicable) list as preferred is "full" when we get to your "turn," we will proceed to the next available residence hall on the student’s preferred list. The process is continued until all assignments are made. Based on limited space, you may be assigned to a hall not listed on your initial application.
  
• NOTE: If you list the Horseshoe as one of your building preferences, please know the majority of spaces are designated for honors students and placement in these buildings for non-honors students is VERY limited..

Selecting a Roommate:

• Students may search for a roommate via VIP’s UCHOOSE Online Roommate Resource. Students complete the 14-point questionnaire and browse through profiles previously listed by other students in UCHOOSE. University Housing does not look at these profiles to match roommates with similar interests.
  
• Roommate requests MUST be mutual.
  
• You can prefer up to three roommates who are currently living on campus. To do so, you will need to be able to spell everyone’s first and last name, give their middle initial and their date of birth exactly as it appears on the University’s VIP web site. If in doubt, have your preferred roommate(s) access this information and give it to you.
  
• The first of each preferred roommate pair to apply on-line will be told that the other(s) has not yet applied. Do not panic. Simply review your application later to make sure you preferred roommate's application (which has you as a preferred roommate) has since been submitted.

Room Changes:

If desired, and based on space availability, room changes are easy to accommodate after assignments are posted on VIP. You may request a room change online through the VIP UCHOOSE option. Unfortunately, we can not guarantee changes before residence halls open.

Fees:

There is a nonrefundable $45 application fee and $100 advance room payment. The online VIP sign-up process requires payment by MasterCard, Visa, Discover, debit cards or the CarolinaCard. You may make deposits to the CarolinaCard by calling the Carolina Card office at (803)777-1708 or via the internet at http://carolinacard.sc.edu/. The $145 fee must be paid before the 5:00 PM on March 7 to be included in the random lottery to determine priorities for room selection.

Cancellation Policy:

For students who change their mind and do not want campus housing, there is a penalty free cancellation period (you lose only the $45 fee; the $100 advance room payment will be refunded) if the student cancels online by April 1, 2008. After April 1, 2008 the contract is binding for the 2008/2009 academic year, and normal contract buyout provisions will apply to any future cancellations.
Visit http://www.housing.sc.edu/crefund.asp to view the complete cancellation policy.

How to Cancel Your Application for Housing:

A student who wishes to cancel a request for Housing must do so through VIP.Simply return to your original application and select the REQUEST FOR CANCELLATION button. Please read the Stipulations Related to Cancellations and Refunds e submitting a request. Students may check the status of a cancellation request periodically through VIP.

Questions:

Call University Housing at (803)777-4283 or instant message an advisor on:
AIM (AOL Instant Messenger): USCCHousing
Yahoo Messenger: USCCHousing
MSN Web Messenger: USCCHousing@hotmail.com
In addition, students may request to meet with an advisor at 1309 Blossom Street, McBryde A West, to address unique issues or situations.

As always, we will continue to provide good and timely information so your son or daughter can make the best possible decision about on-campus housing. If you have any questions about the registration process for Fall 2008/Spring 2009, please contact our office before March 7 to speak with a Student Services Representative.