FAQ

Housing assignments will be sent to your Denison email in early August for fall arrivals and early January for spring arrivals. The name(s) and contact information for your roommate(s) will be included. Look for an email from Residential Communities & Housing.

We will be removing carpet as part of the ongoing Housing Master Plan. At present, our residence hall rooms with carpet are Taylor House, Preston, Moshier-Huchison, Morrow House, Kappa Sigma, Shepardson, East Hall, King Hall.

All students are expected to leave campus when the residence halls are closed for scheduled breaks; please check the academic calendar for the next three years of those dates. If you are approved to stay on campus during a break you may be required to relocate to a residence hall that will be open for break housing. Break housing does not allow for late departures from or early returns to campus. You may not stay on campus during breaks without prior approval. Students must complete a break housing request form by the deadline to be considered for housing.

Break housing is available during Thanksgiving and Spring Breaks for:

• international students,
• athletes who are required to remain on campus due to their sport’s schedule, and
• those with verified financial need,
• early arrivals for programs, and for
• students who are needed on campus for employment purposes.

Yes! While a number of students bring their own computer, some students take advantage of the computer labs located on campus. There are computer labs located in several academic buildings. In addition, students often use the printing stations located in or near the Huffman Center or Curtis Community Center on the residential quads.

For many students, this is the first time they’ve shared a living space. Setting clear expectations gives everyone a common ground of understanding. Be sure to complete a roommate agreement in the first week of classes.

If concerns come up, please talk to your roommate(s) first. This is a great opportunity to learn life skills about negotiating differences. The next step is to talk to your Community Advisor (CA), who is trained to mediate roommate conversations. If you would like more help, our Residential Communities staff can help you navigate concerns. Room changes are permitted only after all other options have been considered and if there are alternate options available.

Denison works hard to maintain and update all our residence communities and other campus buildings. This work often is extensive, and it takes place during the summer and winter breaks. Only members of athletic teams and groups who have been approved to return early can arrive before the scheduled date.

Depending upon your needs, the answer to this question may vary. However, you can view an itemized packing list that current students suggest you bring.

Each residence hall has a laundry room for the residents of that specific hall. Laundry fees are included in room costs. Students need to supply their own ironing board and iron if needed.

Beds may be adjusted up or down within the frame, including to “raised height” or a full loft. Students may do this on their own with provided kits or may request help by contacting Physical Plant. Students may not build lofts in their rooms.

Housekeeping services are not provided for individual student rooms, suites, private baths, or suite baths. Students are responsible for cleaning and maintaining these areas. All public areas and public bathrooms are serviced Monday-Friday, with limited cleaning services provided on weekends. Students are responsible for emptying their room trash in the dumpsters adjacent to their residence hall.

Mattresses in the residence halls are 36x79.5 (twin XL size). These are longer than standard sized mattresses. Extra long single bed sheets can be obtained in most big box stores. Students are responsible for supplying their own bedding, including pillows.

That depends. All students are required to participate in a meal plan, except those who live in an on-campus apartment with a kitchen and the very few who commute to campus. Here’s more information:

• All First-Year Students are automatically assigned The Hill meal plan.
• Returning students will select their meal plan during the housing application from a handful of options.
• A student may change their meal plan option through the first two weeks of each semester.

Learn more about meal plans

All the residence halls are locked 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Students may always access their own residence hall. They may access other residence halls from 8AM through 12AM daily. After 12AM, the access doors will not permit entry to non-residents of the buildings. It is very important that students not allow persons whom they do not know to enter the residence halls.

Students are responsible for ensuring that their room doors are kept locked. It is important for roommates to discuss the importance of keeping their possessions safe by keeping the doors locked.

The Office of Campus Safety and Security has “safe walkers”. These are student employees of the University who are willing to provide a walking escort to any student at night. Simply call the operator to request a safe walk escort.

No animals are permitted within University facilities except for fish in an aquarium of a 10-gallon or smaller size, or service or Emotional Support Animals that receive advance written approval from the Academic Resource Center after completing the application the semester prior.

The University works with Grad Guard for tuition and personal property insurance. Questions regarding Grad Guard renters insurance can be directed to their customer service team at 1-866-985-7598. This includes information about starting a policy, canceling your policy, coverage information, billing, and more! You can also log into your Grad Guard account here. If you have questions regarding your specific policy, please have your policy number ready. Customerservice@gradguard.com is the preferred email address for written inquiries. The link to their FAQ page can be found here. Denison University Residential Communities and Housing staff are unable to answer questions regarding insurance products, but happy to connect you with the Grad Guard team.

Refrigerators are not provided in the rooms. Many students choose to buy their own refrigerators (the University does not sponsor or recommend a rental service). If students choose to buy a refrigerator, please be sure it’s no larger than 4.0 cubic feet. Often, this is an area where roommates might decide that one will bring a refrigerator while the other brings something else that could be used by both.

The best way to report a maintenance concern is to by submitting a work order via TopDesk in MyDenison. It is important that students are as detailed as possible when reporting maintenance issues. Critical items to include are: the location, specific problem, and a contact number and name.

Students may make requests, including environment type, room occupancy (number of roommates) and roommate. We attempt to honor requests when possible. It is important that students talk with one another prior to indicating a preference to live together. We are not able to honor requests when there are discrepancies in the housing preference. Roommate requests cannot be honored unless both roommates make the request. Space is limited in some buildings. We cannot honor all requests.

There are roughly one hundred single occupancy bed spaces on the Denison campus. There are very few singles in areas in which first year students are housed. Students hoping to obtain single rooms should indicate this desire on their housing preference form.

No, all residence halls are smoke-free.

Community Advisors (CAs) are students who have been employed by Residential Communities and Housing to work with students on the residence hall floors. CAs fulfill a variety of roles. They are charged with helping students to form strong communities on the floors; acting as a resource to students with personal and/or academically related problems; positively shaping community behavior and helping students build community.

Summer housing is available for a fee to students who are researching with faculty members or working for the University during the summer. The process for summer housing is completed during the spring semester (March). Space is limited and not guaranteed to those requesting housing after the summer application deadline.

There is a Greyhound bus station in downtown Columbus (approximately 30 miles). John Glenn Columbus International Airport is located on the east side of Columbus (approximately 25-30 minutes travel time). While there is no official University shuttle service available, students most frequently carpool, share a taxicab, or use Columbus Transportation (1-800-476-3004).

The Student Activities Office will offer limited Denison van shuttle service to and from the airport (CMH) during the Thanksgiving, Winter Holiday and Spring Break. Advance registration for these shuttles is required, a list of shuttle times is available in the Campus Services.

Since our residence halls are renovated or are utilized during the summer to house student employees, athletes, and summer conferences, it is not possible for students to see and/or measure the rooms. The University does not keep specific room dimensions.