Bryn Mawr 101: Residential Life

Our campus community is one where students can form close bonds with each other. Something unique about Bryn Mawr is we do not separate dorms by class year. You’ll find many other schools have a “freshman dorm” or “junior and senior only floors”. This can lead to challenges with the student body engaging with and getting to know students outside their class year. At Bryn Mawr, each dorm has a variety of class years all mingled together. While new students are clustered together in what we call customs groups in various halls, they are also living among returning students.  We find this allows an easy way for new students and returning students to form connections with each other and exchange experiences and ideas.  

There are student leaders within each dorm known as the Dorm Leadership Team.  Each position is designed to assist students with varying needs and cultivate community through their assigned hall/dorm. These roles include Hall Advisors (HAs) who work with students of all class years on their halls; Customs People (CPs), who work with new students; and Community Diversity Assistants (CDAs), who develop programming to celebrate diversity and create a sense of belonging and inclusion. 

During the early part of summer, first-year students will fill out the housing application online. The housing application asks students questions about their interests, habits, and living environment and gives them the opportunity to share what qualities in a roommate might be most compatible with them. 

 

Students have the option to either request a specific roommate(s) or to let us match them with another student based on the profile they create on eRezLife. Once the Residential Life and Student Engagement Office has all of the applications and information, we complete the roommate matching and housing assignment process. New students receive their housing assignments at the beginning of August! 

Returning students participate in the Room Draw process each spring to select a dorm for the following academic year. This process takes place on eRezLife. Seniors select dorms first, juniors select dorms second, and sophomores select dorms third. Each returning student is assigned a randomly generated time slot within their class year. The opportunity to select a dorm “opens” at the start of their time slot and “closes” at the end of Room Draw, allowing students flexibility to change their mind and select something new. During Room Draw, students can also apply to live in special interest housing: Batten House, the Enid Cook Center and the Intercultural Living and Learning Center. Students may also apply to live off campus during the room draw process.  

The Residential Life and Student Engagement Office includes two Residential Life Coordinators, the Office Coordinator, the Associate Director of Student Engagement, the Assistant Dean of Residential Life and Student Engagement, and the Associate Dean of Residential Life and Student Engagement. 

 

We are responsible for coordinating student housing during the academic year, planning campus events, advising student clubs and organizations, working with the HAs and other dorm leadership team members, and helping address roommate/housing conflicts. We work closely with many other departments on campus, including (but not limited to) Access Services, Facilities and Housekeeping Services, Campus Safety, Dining Services, Health and Wellness, and Conferences and Events. We strive to provide students with a residential experience that gives a sense of belonging and connection.  We truly appreciate the role of self-governance and the honor code and the ways we collaborate with students to see it actualized in the community. We love the work we do and interacting with students each day! 

Try to approach the roommate experience with an open mind, open heart, and lots of curiosity. Leave room for the relationship to evolve in lots of different ways over time. Everyone needs and is looking for different things in a roommate relationship, and that is okay.