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Bard ResLife
Living with a Roommate

Living with a Roommate

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All First-Year and Sophomore students live in double and triple occupancy rooms. Living with a roommate is both a challenge and an opportunity. While sharing a room, you will develop systems that help you live together, connect with someone, and expand your knowledge of interpersonal relationships. Hopefully, you and your roommate are able to engage in the opportunities our campus has to offer you.
  • Engage in the Halls
  • Living Sustainably
  • Living with a Roommate
  • Your Room
  • Intentional Communities

Roommate Matches and Selections

There are a few ways students get matched with a roommate. In the first year students will be matched with their roommate by the ResLife team. In the Sophomore, Junior, and Senior years, students will choose their own roommates.
  • First-Year
    In your first-year, roommate matches are developed by the Residence Life team through the housing profiles you submit via the Admissions Portal.  We use a series of questions to match residents based on common traits and lifestyles. Over the summer you will receive the name and contact info for your new roommate. Once on campus, your Peer Counselors will help you develop a roommate agreement.
  • Sophomore Year
    In your Sophomore year you will select your own roommate(s) with whom you will enter the Room Selection process. Together you will select a room based on who has the best room draw number from your group. Your Peer Counselor will again develop a roommate agreement with you in the first few weeks of living together.
  • Junior + Senior Year
    When life in a double or triple goes really well, we find that more and more Juniors and Seniors requestto live with roommates. With a change in the room selection process, Juniors and Seniors can now select into double and triple rooms with intended roommates. This gives upper-college students an even greater chance for a few of the hidden gem rooms around campus boasting private bathrooms and ample windows.

Establishing Your Roommate Relationship

To set yourself up for success, we highly encourage all residents to develop a written agreement of expectations to establish a healthy roommate relationship.
Peer Counselors reach out in your second week on-campus to set a time to develop your roommate agreement. Typically, you and your roommates will meet in your room with your PC for about 30 minutes. In this meeting, your PC will guide you through your questions, prompt you with things to think about, and encourage you to go further in your conversation. This is also a great chance for you to get to know your PC and your roommates.

Roommate Agreement Resources

  • Roommate Agreement
  • Suitemate Agreement
  • Off-Campus Flatmates
Managing Conflict
Managing Conflict

Managing Conflict

Conflict happens when you are living with other people, even if you are living with the perfect roommate.  Your roommate agreement is intended to be a living document which you can use to establish norms in your ever-changing roommate relationship.

Managing Conflict

Your Peer Counselor has been trained in conflict resolution and mediation as they are the primary resource for conflicts within the residence halls. Typically, after you reach out to your Peer Counselor they will schedule a meeting with you and your roommate(s) to talk out the conflict at hand. The number one way to resolve any conflict is to communicate directly with each other face-to-face, and your Peer Counselor will help facilitate this conversation.

If you and your roommate are still not living together successfully, we want you and your Peer Counselor to reach out to your Area Coordinator. Area Coordinators are professional staff members who will be able to help you find a better resolution for the conflict with your roommate. They may have you meet again to mediate the issue; we want to make sure we have exhausted all attempts at coming to a resolution as this is the best way for you and your roommate to learn from the situation at hand. If it is clear that a room change will assist a situation, we will then move to the room change process.

Roommate Changes, Vacancies, and Consolidation

Throughout the year, space opens up allowing for us to make changes to better meet the needs of students on campus.  If you are interested in making a change in your housing mid-year, talk to your Peer Counselor.

Making a Change

  • Our Room Change Process
    There are multiple reasons for room changes, but the process generally follows the same timeline. 

    Our Room Change Process

    There are multiple reasons for room changes, but the process generally follows the same timeline.  There are multiple reasons for room changes, but the process generally follows the same standard timeline. After the student has meet with their Peer Counselor, they will request a room change by meeting with their Area Coordinator.  Together, the student and the Area Coordinator will complete a room change request form. On Thursdays, the Residence Life team meets to plan all room changes. In this meeting we coordinate key changes, updates to our emergency rosters, and updates to Peer Counselors on moves. 

    Approvals for room changes will typically come directly from the Area Coordinator you are working with via email. In most cases, the student who is moving will be able to pick up their new key on Friday after 10 am from Shea House (1438 Annandale Road). They will have the weekend to physically move to the new space. At 1 pm on Monday, the student must return their old key to Shea House. If the key is not returned to Shea House by 1 pm on Monday the move may be canceled and the student charged for a lost key.

    Various Notes
    • We are unable to assist in the physical movement of belongings from one space to another and encourage students to weigh this in their decision to change rooms.
    • Students cannot request their roommate to be moved out of their space. Through this process, students can only choose to be the one who moves.
    • There is a separate process for emergency room changes in situations deemed urgent by the Administrator on Duty.
  • Open-Bed Policy
    From time to time, bed space will open in double and triple occupancy rooms. It is imperative that all vacant beds remain open and available for replacement occupants. 

    Open-Bed Policy

    From time to time, bed space will open in double and triple occupancy rooms. It is imperative that all vacant beds remain open and available for replacement occupants.  From time to time, bed space will open in double and triple occupancy rooms.  It is imperative that all vacant beds remain open and habitable at all times. In emergency situations, we reserve the right to assign someone to this bed space prior to notifying the remaining occupants of the room.  For this reason, the furniture is not to be dismantled or set up in a way that would prevent someone to move in at any time.

    While living in a partially occupied room, we will be offering students seeking room changes the chance to pair up with the remaining students.  If you are living in a partially occupied room, we ask that you be engaged in any conversations around offers for room changes to your space as it is a fast moving process. It is not acceptable to deny a potential roommate simply to retain a half-empty space. If you know of someone you would like to add to the space, please connect with your Area Coordinator as soon as possible.

    Typically, the student in the partially occupied room will have two chances to connect with a person seeking a room change. After this point, we may need to consolidate you into a different space.
  • Consolidating Space
    Bard strives to keep all double rooms at full occupancy. If you are in a partially occupied space, you may be required to consolidate to free up space around campus. 

    Consolidating Space

    Bard strives to keep all double rooms at full occupancy. If you are in a partially occupied space, you may be required to consolidate to free up space around campus.  With the high number of room changes and new assignments in the Spring semester, we work to keep all double rooms at full occupancy.  If you are in a partially occupied space, you will be required to consolidate to free up space around campus. Typically, consolidation happens at the end of Language & Thinking, in early November, and at the end of Citizen’s Science.

    Students in partially occupied spaces will be invited to the Consolidation Mixer. This event is hosted by Residence Life to allow students to connect and find a new roommate. Typically students move in together on the following weekend. Students unable to find a roommate will be matched and consolidated based on existing housing profiles.

    When you are asked to move to a new space, you will have the opportunity to work with your Area Coordinator to create a specific timeline. Students will have no more than two weeks from the consolidation request to vacate their original assignment.

Connect to us for more resources!

A huge part of the daily operation of the Office of Residence Life & Housing is working one-on-one with students who are struggling with living with roommates. We want to do our best to see you succeed.
  • Connecting to your Peer Counselor
    We always suggest starting off with talking to your Peer Counselor; a peer-to-peer connection can really help shape expectations for living with a roommate as you learn from your PC's recent experiences.  If you are struggling to connect to your PC you are always welcome to reach out to the Residence Life office during the day or utilize REST (Residential Evening Support Time) to connect to another PC in your area of campus. The PC working REST can be reached by call, text, or in-person from 9 pm–12 am daily.
    Peer Counselor Team
  • Seeking out Professional Staff
    Each area has a professional staff member who is ready, willing, and able to help in any situation where your needs are not being met in your roommate relationship. Don't hesitate to reach out to us!
    Residence Life Professional Staff

Residence Life and Housing

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Annandale-on-Hudson, New York 12504-5000
Phone: 845-758-6822
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