Ohio University Housing and Residence Life will be offering additional single dorm rooms and reducing density in larger dorm rooms during Fall Semester in line with recommendations from the university's Coordinating Council.
The Coordinating Council, whose recommendations and report were accepted by OU President Duane Nellis, recommends the university create an application process “for low-density housing and reassign students into singles,” according to the report.
Students can now apply to be considered for a single room through Housing Self-Service’s website up until June 30, according to an email from Housing and Residence Life sent Tuesday. Priority will be given to students who are immunosuppressed, followed by upper-class students and first-year students.
OU will also be reassigning students in triples and quads to promote social distancing due to the coronavirus. Requests for single rooms will be processed before those reassignments, as the requests may reduce the number of students currently slated to be in triples and quads, according to the email.
Housing and Residence Life will try to keep all former triple and quad roommates together whenever possible. For quads, Housing and Residence Life will move all roommates who “mutually matched” together to adjacent rooms in Brown or Pickering Halls, according to the email. Those assigned to triples will move to quads in Brown or Pickering, where they will have more space.
If students were not “mutually matched” with their roommates in triples and quads, they will be reassigned to different available rooms on campus. However, students who have built connections after their initial rooming assignments can email housing@ohio.edu and request to be reassigned together, according to the email.
Due to the recommendation for Fall Semester to transfer to remote learning in November, lunch on Nov. 21 will be the last meal served in the dining halls for the semester. Dorms will officially close on Nov. 22 at noon, according to the email.
The closure of the dining halls and dorms will result in lowered dining and housing rates for the fall, according to the email. No official adjusted rates have been given yet.
