First Year Student Housing

Welcome Class of 2025 & 2027!

The information below is designed to answer any questions you may have about living on campus during your first year of college at Wilkes University. If you have a specific question and cannot find the answer, please feel free to contact us at (570) 408-4350 or reslife@wilkes.edu.

Residence Halls & Amenities FAQs | Roommate Survival Check List | Residence Hall Policies FAQs

Please note that incoming first-year student(s) are required to either reside on campus or, if within 50 miles from campus, commute from their permanent home where they reside with their parent(s) or legal guardian(s). Those selecting on-campus living must fill out the 2021-2022 Housing and Dining Contract by June 15, 2021 (prior to orientation). Please note that students are contracted for housing and meal plans the full academic year. Wilkes University has a two-year residency requirement for all first-year and sophomore students.

In support of student wellness and adjustment to on-campus living, incoming first-year students are required to select the Colonel Gold or Colonel Gold Plus Plan for their first school year. Find out more about Dining Services on campus on the University’s website.

Step 1: Complete Your Housing Application

4. Follow the flow of the application, starting with an electronic signature and completing all questions. 
5. When your application is complete, click Submit. You should receive an email confirmation to your Wilkes University email. Save this email in the event there is an issue with your application!

Step 2: Create Roommate Group (Optional)^1,2

If you are interested in living with several of your fellow students, you will need to create a roommate group before the deadline of June 15, 2021. Provided that roommate requests are mutual (i.e. you send a request to a fellow student and it gets accepted), then we will house that group together. Your chosen roommate group will not show up in the search if they have not completed the housing application. 

Please follow these step-by-step instructions on how to create a roommate group. 
1. Log on to the Housing Self-Service page.
2. Click on the Room Selection tab on the top menu bar, then click Roommates/Suitemates.
6. Search for your desired roommate(s) with a simple First Name/Last Name and email address search. 
Repeat these steps for all desired roommates. 

If your chosen roommate is not appearing in the search results, likely, they have not completed the housing application yet. Check with them to make sure it is complete before contacting our office. 

A ll requests will be sent via email to your fellow students.  Requests will need to be accepted in order for the roommate group to be formed . Make sure that you check back to your housing portal to ensure your roommate requests have been accepted. All roommate groups must be finalized on or before June 15, 2021! Roommate group changes will not be accepted after this date, including any requests that arise from attending one of the summer Orientations. 

¹ You are not required to form a roommate group in order to be housed. In fact, many incoming students join us at Wilkes University without having a pre-determined roommate group. That is perfectly normal. For all of our students, if there are issues with your roommate, the Resident Assistant (RA) staff will help you work through them.
² Students seeking a gender-inclusive roommate group or housing assignment should contact Ray FeDora, Director of Residence Life at raymond.fedora@wilkes.edu to discuss this option. 

Step 3: Await Your Housing Assignment

The Office of Residence Life will alert all new students of their housing assignment and potential roommates no later than Friday, July 29, 2021. We will communicate this information to your Wilkes University email address. If you are not already, now would be a great time to start regularly checking that email. Once you have begun your Wilkes career, University officials will use this email to communicate with you important information!

  Residence Halls Amenities FAQs

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Roommate Survival Check List

Listed below are a few common sources of roommate problems. Roommates should discuss these issues at the beginning of the semester, thereby avoiding communication breakdowns during the school year. Roommates must remember that compromise is essential and only by communicating with each other will roommates solve any problems.

1. Daily schedule — sleeping times, quiet hours, TV viewing, mealtime, study conditions
2. Housekeeping — making beds, vacuuming, picking up clothes, interior decoration
3. Locks and keys — getting locked out, leaving the door open
4. Visitation — friends in the room, parties, privacy, overnight guests
5. Personal habits — exercising, watching tv while studying, etc.
6. Phone use — taking messages
7. Sharing — territorial imperatives, saying “please,” respect for other’s property
8. Moods — grouchiness, silliness, depression, taking things out on your roommate, early morning person
9. Values — prejudice, religion, philosophy, politics

The relationship you develop with your roommate will have a significant effect on your experience of residence hall living. Each residence hall student has the right to expect the following from his or her roommate:

1. The right to read and study in one’s room without unreasonable noise and other distractions
2. The right to sleep without undue disturbance from guests of roommates, noise, etc.
3. The right to expect that a roommate will respect one’s personal possessions
4. The right to live in a clean environment
5. The right to free access to one’s room without pressure from one’s roommate
6. The right to entertain guests with the expectation that guests will respect the rights of the host’s roommate and other hall residents
7. The right to be free from intimidation and harm
8. The right to discuss grievances

A resident student must accept the responsibility for confronting other residents when those residents have violated his/her rights. If a student has difficulty in doing so, the Residence Life Staff will gladly assist in such matters.

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Residence Hall Policies FAQs