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You've probably got lots of questions. If we don't answer something here or in the Community Connection newsletter, let us know! Send an e-mail to housing@smu.edu; we'll answer your question and post the information here. Remember, residence hall dates for 2009-10 are available on our RLSH Calendar page.
About Check-in (When & Where; For Mustang Corral)
About Assignments & Roommates (Requesting a roommate; Requesting a change; When roommate information is sent)
About Your Room (What is provided; What to bring; Decorating Guidelines, Bed sizes; Room numbers, Room Tours during AARO)
About Policies (Community Standards, Fire Safety, SMU Student Code of Conduct)
Other Important Business (Post office box, Parking, Dining, Computing/Network)
Please make travel arrangements to arrive on campus during check-in hours. Check-in at other times may not be available.
After 4:00 p.m. on Sunday, check-in resumes after 5:00 p.m. at the following locations:
Can I check-in early?
Individual requests for early arrival are not available. Some residents may be eligible for early arrival due to their University-sponsored involvement in Mustang Corral, varsity athletic practices, or other University business. Early arrival requests are submitted to RLSH by the sponsoring department or on-campus organization.
When is Mustang Corral check-in?
Mustang Corral participants may check-in at their appointment time on Thursday, August 20th at Dedman Recreation Center. Check-in appointment information was emailed with Hall assignment information on June 27th.
The usual things: 80" beds, dressers, closet/wardrobes, desks, chairs, wastebasket. All rooms are carpeted and have window blinds. In addition, a telephone with voicemail, and both wired and wireless data connection to the SMU computing system are provided. Every building also has cable in the hall lounge, microwave oven, computer room, laundry room and vacuum cleaners. All residence halls have air conditioning.
In the Community Connection newsletter you will find a list of What to Bring and What to Leave. A few of the items you should definitely consider are:
For Fire Safety, the following things are prohibited in residence halls. Items are subject to immediate confiscation and may result in a fire safety violation and fine. (Complete details are in the Fire Safety Guideline brochure.)
The following are prohibited under various regulations including the RLSH Community Standards, the SMU Student Code of Conduct, local, state and federal law.
All residence halls have extra-long twin beds (80").
On the 2nd day of AARO, join us for a tour of a room in one of these halls: McElvaney, Shuttles, Mary Hay, Perkins, Morrison-McGinnis, and Virginia-Snider (Snider side only). See the AARO schedule for details.
Unfortunately, due to summer activities, not every residence hall is available. Here is a quick run down of what hall to go see if your hall isn't on the tour. (Note: McElvaney is not on a tour because students stay in the hall during AARO.
| If you are assigned to: | Go on this tour |
| Smith | Perkins |
| Cockrell-McIntosh | Morrison-McGinnis |
| Peyton | Shuttles |
| Virginia | Snider |
Room Decoration & Hanging Guidelines
Beginning with the Fall 2008 semester, new guidelines for room decorating and hanging pictures are in effect. Guidelines vary by hall, so be sure to view the specific residence hall to which you are assigned. For questions, please see your Residence Hall Director, Residence Community Director or Facilities Manager.
Room numbers are given to students when they check-in and are not released before then. While you won't be able to see your specific room, you can get an idea of rooms on one of the hall tours. Remember, room size and layout varies within each hall. Examples of floor plans are available in the Explore the Halls section of our website.
If you are an incoming first-year or transfer student, your assignment will be based on 1) the date your application was received in our office, 2) your requested theme/academic focus community (if any) 3) your preferred halls, 4) whether or not you requested a single room.
If you are assigned to a hall that you did not request, it is probably because the halls you requested were filled before your assignment was processed. Ideally Residence Life and Student Housing strives to assign students to one of their requested halls. However, some halls receive far more requests than space available in that hall.
The deadline to request a change is July 31 at 5:00 p.m. Notification of any change will be included in your roommate e-mail sent August 4.
Roommate information will be sent to your SMU email on August 6. Roommate letters will include your roommate's name, phone number and SMU e-mail address.
The deadline for roommate requests was 5:00 p.m. August 2. We are processing the requests received and are not able to accept any further submissions. Notification of a change will be included with the roommate emails being sent on August 6 at approximately 5 p.m. Central Daylight Time.
All requests received prior to the deadline will be sorted and processed with the following priority:
All requests are considered together within the priority order, not on a "first-come" basis. There is no advantage to getting the request in early, but the request must be received by 5 p.m. on August 2 to be considered. We try to make as many "happy residents" as possible, but due to the volume of requests, we cannot guarantee that a change will occur.
Typically, there are a number of first year students who are unassigned at the beginning of July. This is based on the size of the first-year class and the space available for assignments. Some first-year assignments are still pending and processing will continue at the end of July and throughout August. While it may be unsettling to be "unassigned" at this point, you should know that all first year students are required to live on-campus and are therefore guaranteed housing. Your assignment information will be mailed with your roommate information in early August.
There are two important publications that outline policies and regulations on-campus: the SMU Student Handbook and the SMU Fire Safety Guidelines. All residents will be given a copy of the SMU Student Handbook (resident edition) at check-in. Fire Safety guidelines are distributed at AARO, at check-in and mailed to residents with roommate information in August. In addition, we send the Fire Safety guidelines to the parent/guardian of each resident student.
The regulations are also available on-line in pdf format. Just follow the links below.
Fire Safety Guidelines (Residence Halls)
All students will complete this required agreement during the first week of classes. We have found it is helpful to fill out the agreement and talking about possible conflicts early in the semester. Knowing what you expect of each other is an important part of being good roommates.
Parking on any college campus can be a challenge. You may wish to consider leaving your car at home. If you do bring a vehicle, you must register and obtain a permit from the Park 'n Pony Office in Hughes-Trigg Student Center. Visit their website or chat with representatives at the AARO Information Expo.
You will need to register for a SMU Post office box in order to get mail and packages. Mail service is not available in the residence halls. To register for your PO Box, visit the SMU PO Box Registration website and follow the instructions.
All resident rooms have both wired and wireless connections. SMU Office of Information Technology (OIT) website has detailed information for incoming students, including minimum requirements for both Mac and PCs.. You may also wish to look at SMU Computer Corner for purchasing a desktop or laptop machine.
updated 08/02/2009
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