Family Resources
The Department of Housing and Residential Education at Florida Atlantic University welcomes our families! The Department of Housing and Residential Education and families should work collaboratively to help students develop the skills needed to navigate living with others and develop the skills for independent living. You will find this page full of great resources to help you stay engaged, and know the important happenings in university housing. This site should become your go to for all things housing process related and information. It will be updated continuously so please return back often.
HOUSING UPDATES AND IMPORTANT DATES
Below are important FAU Housing updates as well as dates coming up to be mindful of:
- October 10, 2023 - Housing contract for Spring 2024 opens for new spring students through the Housing Portal. The Spring 2024 housing contract will close once spaces have filled. We anticipate a high demand for spring only housing with limited availability.
- Prior to October 31, 2023 - Cancel your Spring 2024 housing contract prior to October 31 to avoid increased cancellations fees. The cancellation forms are online at fau.edu/housing/cancellation/
- December 1, 2023 -Deadline to submit a housing appeal for spring.
- January 10, 2024 at 9:00 a.m. - Fall 2024 – Spring 2025 Housing contract is available for admitted first year students for the Boca Raton campus and Wilkes Honors College (Jupiter campus) through the Owldone portal.
- February 5 - 7, 2024 - Housing renewals for Fall 2024 - Spring 2025 for current Wilkes Honors College (Jupiter campus) spring residents. More information to be announced at the end of October 2023. Priority is given to students who have to complete their two-year on-campus living requirement for Wilkes Honors College.
- February 12 - 16, 2024 (tentative) - Housing renewals for Fall 2024 - Spring 2025 for current Boca Raton spring residents. More information to be announced at the end of October 2023. On-campus housing for returning students is extremely limited.
For more important dates please visit our Important Dates page.
WHAT FAMILIES CAN DO TO HELP
CONNECTING WITH YOUR STUDENT
Below are a few steps we encourage families to take when working with their student to solve a situation.
- Please ask your student if they are reading their emails and to check if they have received any communication from the department. Students are responsible for all communication emailed to them.
- Please ask your student if they have spoken to a staff member (a Resident Assistant or professional staff member) concerning the situation at hand.
- If your student believes the Resident Assistant is not handling the situation, please have them contact a professional staff member by emailing them, or visiting them at the front desk of their building.
RESIDENTIAL STAFF IS HERE TO HELP
Every Residence Hall and Apartment not only has Resident Assistants and Front Desk Staff to ensure our font desks are safe and staffed 24/7, each building also has professional staff members. These professional staff members can help with concerns and assist in difficult situations.
Below are brief descriptions of the different professional positions in each building:
Residential Education Operations Coordinators (OC):
The Residential Education Operations Coordinator is a full-time professional staff member. Who is responsible for the operation of a residential community of 1200 residents to which they are assigned. This position coordinates all service requests (maintenance and custodial work orders) from residents, manages key/fobs control operations, room transfers, fee administration for damages and other miscellaneous assessments, inventory, and record maintenance. This position also supervises front desk staff.
Residential Education Hall Coordinators (HC):
The Residential Education Hall Coordinator is a full-time professional staff member. Who is responsible for the operation of a residential community of 500-700 residents to which they are assigned. The Residential Education Hall Coordinator is charged with shaping the experiences, environment, and student success of residential students by providing services and resources through the Department of Housing and Residential Education’s Residential Curriculum (The Atlantic Experience Curriculum – AEC). This position supervises 8-14 Resident Assistants.
All of FAU Housing’s professional residential staff members can be found here.
Below are the student staff positions we have in each of our buildings and the roles they cover:
Resident Assistants (RA):
The role of the Resident Assistant (RA) is to enable student success by developing enhanced learning opportunities and enriching educational experiences within a supportive campus and residential environment. Through targeted one-on-one conversations, and relationship/community building, the RA will help our residential students experience a holistic and seamless living-learning environment. Through the Atlantic Experience Curriculum (AEC), they will grow their skills and experiences in the community with their peers, staff, and faculty while creating a diverse, safe, and inclusive living environment.
Front Desk Staff (FDS):
The role of the Front Desk Staff (FDS) is to provide outstanding quality customer service to the students, staff, faculty, and visitors of FAU. FDS primary role is to observe, report, and be a front desk resource to residents. FDS is the primary contact person for visitors, students, and, most importantly, our residents.
FERPA
Due to the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974 (FERPA) and Florida law, there is limited information our department can share regarding your student.
A few things we cannot disclose are student educational records or personally identifiable student information. Our professional and student staff is aware that any breach of confidentially on their part or any abuse of their position may result in disciplinary action.
ACADEMIC INITIATIVES
If you have concerns about your student’s educational status, we recommend connecting with your student and seeing if they are taking advantage of resources on campus that can help them with their classes. Two of these resources are located inside of our Residence Halls. These are called Get Wise Centers. There are two locations, one in Atlantic Park Towers, and the other in Glades Park Towers. Here you can find a quiet place to study, meet with groups to work on projects, use the printing services, or receive tutoring services specifically targeted to subjects such as science, math, and languages.
WHAT STUDENTS CAN DO TO HELP
COMMUNITY GUIDE
The Community Guide contains all the most important information about living in our residence halls and apartments. Residents are expected to be aware of Housing Policies outlines in the Community Guide, as well as the Student Code of Conduct.
INCIDENT REPORTING
Every student has the right and responsibility to report any type of incident to either the front desk of their building or to FAU PD. Students can also report a concern directly through the Office of Student Conduct.
FLOOR MEETINGS
Floor meetings are hosted by RAs throughout the semester. These meeting times are relayed to the students by the RAs, and are the student’s responsibility to attend each meeting. Floor meetings typically cover topics such as move-in, resident expectations, and closing. These meetings are for the student’s benefit, and students are responsible for any and all information discussed during that time.
RESIDENT SUITES AND ROOMS
Students are responsible for what happens in their rooms. Where it be damages or cleanliness, students are responsible for the condition their rooms and common areas are in when it comes time to move out at the end of the semester. Health and safety checks occur several times during each semester and if a resident is found in violation of anything that goes against the Community Guide or Student Code of Conduct, the student is responsible for handling those violations.
We strongly encourage every student to always lock the room when they leave, regardless if it’s a quick trip or not. Students should never give their room key and/or ID to anyone at any time. This can lead to a lost key or ID, and both have fees associated with replacing them. Students should also never prop doors open at any time. This is to make sure we are keeping our residents and buildings as safe as possible.
GUESTS
The ability to host guests is a privilege for students living on-campus. If a conflict arises due to or in conjunction with guest(s) and another resident of the community, the rights of the resident prevail over the rights for the guest. Housing and Residential Education staff reserves the right to ask any guest to leave at any time and to prohibit any residential students from hosting guests in the future.
The host resident assumes full responsibility for the conduct of their guests. Hosts will be held responsible for any violations of University regulations and policies committed by their guests. Hosts are expected to be familiar with University and HRE policies and to inform their guests accordingly. Guests are required to respect and follow University and HRE policies and regulations.
More information about rules and regulations regarding our guest policy can be found in the Community Guide.
COMMUNICATION
FAU Housing regularly sends out emails to students regarding different things such as move-in, application deadlines, safety updates, and closing information. Students are responsible for all communication emailed to them. Failure to read communication from the Department will not be an excuse for missed information. We do not send out communications to families. However, we encourage families to return to this page for all important information.
HOUSING CONTRACTS
Every student signs a housing contract before they move on to campus. It is the student’s responsibility to read through and understand the terms and conditions of the Housing Contract before signing it.
ROOM CONDITION REPORT
During move-in, students fill out a room condition report, this report is where students can make a note of any wear and tear that may be in the room prior to them moving in. This report will be reviewed during move-out with a resident assistant. If any damages are in the room that were not listed in the room condition report, the student is then responsible for the damage charges they may occur.
ROOMMATE AGREEMENT
A roommate/suite mate agreement is both a process and a document whereby residents discuss how they will live with each other in their room and suite. Students are encouraged to complete a roommate/suite mate agreement with the assistance of the Resident Assistant. Failure to abide by the terms of an agreement among roommates/suite mates may result in student conduct action and/or other administrative action. Residents are expected to resolve disputes in a cooperative manner. Residents are encouraged to resolve their disputes using conflict resolution practices on their own or guided by the assistance of HRE staff.