Fall 2020

Reduced Housing Capacity

Last updated June 25, 2020. Please check back regularly for updates as information is subject to change.

We understand these extremely challenging times are requiring many adjustments in all of our lives, each affecting us in different ways. At URI we are working to minimize the impact on students like you as much as possible while protecting the health and well-being of the entire URI family. Consequently, consistent with prevailing health and safety recommendations and practices at universities across the United States, URI will modify its on-campus housing accommodations for the Fall 2020 semester. As an incoming student with a paid housing deposit, completed housing application or a returning URI student with a residence hall assignment, you need to be aware of how changes regarding on-campus living at The University of Rhode Island URI for Fall 2020 will affect you. Please read all the information below.

Reduced On-Campus Housing Capacity

We are reducing the density/capacity of the residence halls from original plans. All bedrooms will have only one or two occupants; there will be no triples (watch for future communications on keeping roommate selections in adjacent rooms). Students living in halls with semi-private bathrooms* will continue to be assigned at the designed bedroom capacity (i.e. some singles, mostly doubles). Students living in most of the residence halls with community/shared restrooms** will be assigned as one person to a room to reduce the number of students sharing bathroom space. These students may receive a roommate later in the year if the COVID situation improves. Hillside, Barlow, and Weldin rooms will be assigned as doubles due to a low student-to-bathroom ratio. Students will be charged the designated room rate, i.e. single rate for a designed single; double rate for a designed double (even if assigned as a single). We are also keeping sufficient spaces offline for isolation and quarantine use when that becomes necessary.

Reduced Ability to House Students/Priority for Housing

The outcome of this safety measure means URI will only have about 4,400 spaces instead of the planned 6,200. This means that we will not be able to accommodate all students who want to live on campus, including returning students who already have a fall housing assignment. Senior leadership at URI has determined that three groups of students will receive priority for the available housing:

  1. Incoming first-year students who have submitted the housing deposit and application by the deadlines (June 26 and 30, respectively);
  2. Incoming transfer students who live out of state (same deposit and applications deadlines); and
  3. Returning URI students with a housing assignment who live out of state (and do not practically have the ability to commute to campus). This group will be given priority by class rank, inversely, i.e. sophomores have priority over juniors. We anticipate that we will exceed our available spaces before fully assigning students in the third category.

A limited number of spaces will be set aside for students with special needs and exceptional circumstances that make commuting impossible. A process for requesting accommodation under these conditions will be provided shortly in a future email and on our website. Any remaining space will be allotted to incoming transfer students from Rhode Island and to returning URI students from Rhode Island with fall housing assignments in the same inverse order as above. However, we anticipate there will be few, if any, remaining spaces for these students.

Cancellation of Existing Fall Housing Assignments

We will cancel all fall assignments previously completed by continuing URI students and refund housing deposits. Students who qualify for housing will go through a reassignment process (to be communicated later) for the available spaces on campus. A waitlist will be established and maintained through the fall semester, and spaces will be assigned as they become available.

Transition Assistance Grants

To assist with the effect of these changed circumstances, returning and transfer students who had fall residence hall assignments who we cannot accommodate will receive a Transition Assistance Grant. These students who continue to be enrolled at URI will receive a $1500 credit to their student account for each of the Fall 2020 and Fall 2021 semesters ($3000 total if continuously enrolled), Grab-n-Go-50 meal plan, and free commuter parking pass for Fall 2020 Semester.

Once the TAG has been processed, the Grab-n-Go-50 will be automatically uploaded onto the Students ID Card. The student will be able to use their ID card to access the features of the meal plan. They can also access the features with their “Palm Scan” and the new mobile ID.   

Fall semester parking permits for TAG recipients will be available after August 21, 2020.  To obtain a Fall Semester permit, students should log into their parking account.  For questions or assistance, please contact Transportation and Parking at TAP@uri.edu or 401.874.9281.

 

Off-Campus Housing Availability

We are exploring some limited off-campus housing options for displaced students and will announce those if they materialize (e.g. hotel). Otherwise, we encourage students who live within driving distance to campus to explore commuting or explore private off-campus housing options. To explore availability of private off-campus houses and apartments students are encouraged to utilize the resources offered by Commuter Affairs, including the Off-Campus Housing Database, where local community members post their available rental properties for students.

More Information to Come

More information will be forthcoming soon regarding the reassignment process, adjustments to the roommate matching process (including first-year students who have identified two preferred roommates anticipating assignment to a triple), requests for exceptional consideration, and any additional details on the Transition Assistance Grants. Please continue to check your email, URI announcements, and Housing & Residential Life (HRL) web pages. You can also contact the URI Hotline (401.874.3082) or HRL Customer Service (401.874.4151, customerservice@housing.uri.edu, or our chat feature in MyHousing).

We know this information and efforts to protect the safety of the entire URI community will have a profound effect on many of your plans. We appreciate your understanding as we are all facing unprecedented circumstances in higher education, our country, and world. We will get through this together. We are Rhody Strong!

*Aldrich, Brookside, Burnside, Coddington, Dorr, Eddy, Ellery, Fayerweather, Garrahy, Gateway Apartments, Gorham, Heathman, Hopkins, Wiley

**Adams, Bressler, Browning, Butterfield, Hutchinson, Merrow, Peck, Tucker