Housing clarifies student contracts

Figuring out on-campus housing can always be a hassle. Not only do students have to contend with potentially annoying roommates and the never-ending fight to stuff their belongings into the tiniest of spaces, they must also be aware of all the serious policy legalities they enter into when moving in.

When a student decides to live on campus, he is required to sign the Department of Housing Space Contract, which incorporates all the rules and regulations listed in the Technically Speaking: Community and Services Guide and Code of Student Conduct.

However, confusions arise when students try to break the contract in the middle of the year.

"[Upon transferring to MIT this term], I was shocked to realize that...students who leave the school as mid-semester transfers may not break their housing contract, even though we are not allowed to live on campus if we are not full-time students of Tech," said Katherine Redfield, a second year Applied Mathematics major prior to her transfer.

"Realizing this, I was disappointed, knowing that I had signed the contract and would be expected to honor it," Redfield said.

The Housing contract states that students may be released from their contracts for the following reasons only: graduation, marriage, military, medical, co-op, internship, study abroad or academic suspension.

Students who do not meet these requirements but must leave campus, whether they stay enrolled at Tech or not, must vacate the room and are charged a "contract liquidated damage" fee, which is the full rent for that semester.

"Because we have to turn away students for fall semester due to being full, we hold students to the length of the contract because we do not have a ready-made pool of applicants for spring. All students sign a two-term contract and we honor this," said Daniel Morrison, director of Tech Residence Life.

"There is no 'canceling early enough' unless one of the conditions for no penalty breakage is met. Those students who wanted, but did not get, housing in the fall have all signed leases off campus and they cannot get out of their contracts. Thus, acceptance dates from campuses to which a resident may be trying to transfer does not affect the cancellation penalty," Morrison said.

Morrison stressed that students need to know the full ramifications of signing the Housing contract.

"All students should understand that they are truly obligating themselves to the conditions in the contract, and wanting to move off campus, to a Greek house, dropping out of Tech or transferring to another campus does not break their obligation to the second semester's rent," Morrison said.

In addition, students who wish to switch rooms and halls should file a room change request online as soon as the decisions are made.

"We use the basic priority system to facilitate moves, whereby students with more earned credits at Tech are placed before those with fewer. Another option for residents is to find a room swap, which is done online. We can do these at any point when a mutual swap is found. In either the change or swap process, residents having flexible choices will help their cause," Morrison said.

The Housing department has made its database public, so residents can search for their own swaps.

"We have changed and improved our room selection process the last few years to get as many students with whom they want to live as possible. If for some reason the student is not satisfied with his roommate, we ask those residents to work with their CA [Community Advisor] or PL [Peer Leader] and full-time hall staff to come up with a roommate agreement to everyone's satisfaction. We rarely just remove roommates," Morrison said.

Although several misunderstandings in cases such as transferring and room switching have occurred, Housing has expressed its willingness to help students to deal with their problems.

"We are quite prepared to work with any student who is having housing difficulties," Morrison said.

Several students have expressed positive views of their interactions with Housing administration.

"The Housing department is very helpful. Obviously things happen, but if you just talk to them, they're usually very helpful," said Chris Lange, a fourth-year Electrical Engineering major and Peer Leader in Smith Residence Hall.

"My advice to students is to read the contract carefully before signing it, so they know what they're getting into ahead of time," Lange said.

"Have some face-to-face time with the department and maintain a level of professionalism when you contact them. It's surprising how a little kindness can go a long way," Lange said.