Parent Corner: Tips & Tricks

Blue banner with red writing saying Welcome Home hanging in front of Randolph Hall — Welcome Home – UMW Residence Life

Cooking in the ResHalls

By, Lee Roy Johnson Eating cold pizza and instant roman is slowly becoming a thing of the past; when it comes down to eating and cooking in a Residence Hall. At UMW each residence hall outside of Russell has a full kitchen where students will be able to cook their meals. There are also small kitchenettes where microwaves are located. These spaces are still available, but to minimize risk the way we utilize them will be different. When students arrive during move-in, they will be given a token. The token will be used to hang up in community spaces such …

Getting Involved

By, Megan Brown An important part of living on campus, is getting involved. Living on campus gives students to engage more with the resources and opportunities that exist on the campus. Although, this year, getting involved on campus will look different, it is still vital to having a great college experience. To help your student get involved, here are some things to get involved in within the halls, right now and in the future. Association of Residence Halls: This is an organization that works to create meaningful programming and advocate for what residential students want on campus. This organization is …

First-Year Mini Series – Common Questions

By Michelle Brooks, Cece Burkett, and John Hughey Allowed in Rooms Question: Can students bring TVs? Do they need to get service? Answer: Yes, students can bring TVs. We are seeing fewer and fewer students bringing TVs due to online streaming services, but they are allowed. Apogee is our internet and cable services provider. Once a student has received their housing assignment, they can sign up for an account online at myresnet.com. Majority of our students opt for the free service unless they are a heavy gamer and need the additional bandwidth. HBO Go is included in the cable service …

First-Year Mini Series – Before They Leave Home

By Megan Brown There is less than two months to go until your student will start their journey at UMW. Moving away from home, especially during this time, can be stressful and some key things can be forgotten. So, to help keep everything in order, here are some important conversations and information to talk to your student about before they leave home and come to UMW! Laundry: If your student does not know how to do laundry yet, start talking them through the importance of separating whites and colors, temperatures, and the different settings on the machine. It may seem …

First-Year Mini Series – Meeting Your Roommate

By Mary Taylor So…your student is about to find out who their roommate is, now what? Whether your student was paired through the housing portal, found their “perfect match” on Facebook or Instagram, or will be rooming with their BFF from high school, it’s still important for them to engage in open conversations about several topics. Aside from getting to know their new roommate and discussing what items to bring (more on that in a later post), your student should be talking about their living habits and discussing topics such as cleaning and sharing of items. While it may seem …

First-Year Mini Series – Housing & Key Terms

By Cece Burkett & Lee Roy Johnson Congrats on becoming a UMW Eagle parent! Today’s post will discuss first-year housing as well as key terms you will hear during your student’s time at UMW. Housing First-year students will live in designated first-year residence halls determined by their First Year Seminar Course (FSEM). We call these Living Learning Communities. These first-year residence halls are: Marshall Hall, Mason Hall, Randolph Hall, Russell Hall, and Willard Hall. First-year students will typically live in double rooms with one roommate. *UMW is currently working on COVID-19 planning for Fall 2020. Depending on recommendations/requirements from the …

Graduating and Adult Tips

By Megan Brown This academic year has officially come to an end. Although it ended in a different way, and the world is a little different than we all expected, our seniors have officially finished their degrees at UMW. We are very excited to see all of our recent graduates and their families come October when we will be having our commencement ceremony, but until then, there is still an adjustment period to come. Whether your grad is moving back home or moving out “for good”, the end of college marks the end of a chapter in the story, and …

Supporting your student through COVID-19

By Lee Roy Johnson The storm of COVID -19 was not one that we could predict. As a university, we strive to give our students the best education, but most importantly all the support that UMW has to offer. To keep up that standard, it’s our job to inform the students and their biggest support system, YOU, through these tough and confusing times. We would like to give you some tips and ideas to help your students navigate through this new remote experience. Communication Communication is very important at this time. There are different lines of communication you want to …

Housing Selection – Processes

By Cece Burkett Housing Selection is an exciting process available to returning UMW students who would like to choose their on-campus housing for next year. This article will give an overview of the Housing Selection processes offered and several considerations for families as your student plans to choose their on-campus space. Roommate Groups Students can form roommate groups with 1, 2, or 3 other individuals they have identified as desired roommates. Each group will have a group leader. This group leader will be able to select the desired room and place other roommate group members into their respective spaces during …

Housing Selection – Ins and Outs of Choosing A Roommate

By John Hughey Around this time each year, we begin the rollout of Housing Selection for the next academic year. For our rising Sophomore students and students who transferred into UMW, this is the first time they will be able to have full control over their roommate group and the space they select. This additional freedom can come with some unexpected challenges. For students who have been through the process before, this is a chance to re-evaluate their choices and potentially make a change for next year. Our Coordinator of Housing Operations will have more information on helping your students …

RA Appreciation

By Megan Brown On our website, we talk about how resident assistants serve in many different roles, such as; an educator, a community builder, a role model, a resource, and an administrator. But in practice, what does that mean for our RAs? It means serving on duty to make sure the community is safe and everyone is able to learn productively. It means during duty, walking the area they live in multiple times and answering phone calls to help resident with what they need. It means having programs to build community for their floor or building. It means talking to …

First post!

Welcome to the new Residence Life and Housing Parent Blog! Every other week, we will strengthen our partnership with parents by providing information on relevant issues that shape your students’ experiences at UMW. Topics will include ways to appreciate your RA, navigating the “will you be my roommate next year” and the “I don’t want to be your roommate next year” conversations, general housing selection, registering for classes, preparing to depart UMW for the summer, and more! It is our hope that these blog posts, written by our Residence Life professionals, will offer additional insight and clarity as you support …

Residence Life & Housing