It is our hope that students find their residential living arrangements to be a positive part of their college experience. In the event that roommate concerns or life changes necessitate a change in residence, the Residential Life office has established protocols to help students plan for a smooth transition.
Roommate Concerns
Students should live together based upon personal compatibility factors such as lifestyles, habits, and preferences. It is the Office of Residential Life's feeling that who you live with is more important, ultimately, than where you live.
Students with roommate concerns should first speak with their Resident Assistant, who will work with them to mediate roommate conflicts. If the mediation process is not successful, students should then speak with their Resident Director, who will evaluate the situation to determine if a room change is necessary and, if so, assist students with that process.
Housing Appeals
The university housing appeal process is available to full-time undergraduate students that do not wish to live off-campus and are requesting university housing for an additional semester/year outside of their guaranteed housing eligibility. Students are provided guaranteed academic years of housing through their admissions offer, and the guaranteed years begin with the enrollment start date. If a student does not wish to live on-campus during a guaranteed year, they are not able to transfer the housing year to another academic year. Students that appeal for university housing should select their reason for not being able to live off-campus (Financial, Returning from Leave, or Other). Due to a limited number of available beds, we are not able to approve the majority of requests for on campus housing.
Residential Life staff review all appeals on an individual, case-by-case basis and may contact and confer with staff from other departments as needed to verify information and make decisions. All decisions are made on an individual need basis.
Students that are submitting housing appeals should provide information about why they are unable to live off-campus. Please note that we are not able to provide on-campus housing to all students that request it. We will do our best to provide as many additional years of housing as we can. Students not initially approved may be placed on a waitlist, for the following reasons:
- Requesting to live in university housing to live with friends
- Requesting to live in university housing because of a busy academic and work schedule
- Requesting to live in university housing due to student organization or club involvement
- Requesting to live in university housing because of an internship requirement
- Requesting to live in university housing due to not finding off-campus housing
- Requesting to live in university housing due to dissatisfaction with prior housing
- Requesting to live in university housing for non-specific reasons
Off-Campus Housing Resources
On the Off-Campus Housing Database, you as a student can review apartment listings, post a roommate profile, add your own sublet listings, and review resources. Simply log in using your Agora username and password. If you have specific questions related to off-campus housing, please visit Off-Campus Student Living at www.bc.edu/offcampus, email offcampus@bc.edu, or call 617-552-3075.
Leave of Absence
Students living on-campus who intend to leave housing or students with a tentative or reserved housing assignment who no longer require housing must submit a Leave of Absence form on the Agora Portal (under the "My Res Life" link) to officially notify the Office of Residential Life of their intention to leave housing or not live on-campus. Every student submitting a leave of absence form should carefully review our Housing Cancellation Fee and Refund Policy.
Students who take a leave of absence from housing are not guaranteed a specific room assignment upon return. However, preferences will be honored whenever possible. Students taking a leave of absence from the college will be required to submit a housing appeal form once they have been readmitted as a full-time day student. Please contact placement@bc.edu with any questions.
A Leave of Absence is Complete When:
- A housing leave of absence form has been electronically submitted to the Office of Residential Life via the Agora portal.
- If you are currently living on-campus, all personal belongings and unwanted items have been properly removed from the student's housing assignment and any issued keys have been returned directly to the Residential Life central office.
A leave of absence between the first and fifth week of classes for students no longer enrolled will be in accordance with the University refund schedule, as published in the Conditions for Residency. No refund is possible after the fifth week of classes.
Please Note: If you are a three-year housing guarantee student, you are required to live off campus during your junior year. A leave of absence in any other year cannot be substituted for your mandatory junior year off-campus.
Housing Accommodations
Any student requesting a housing assignment based on a medical condition, psychological or physical disability must register or re-register with the Disability Services Office by the priority deadlines established for each semester.
To be considered for needs based housing accommodations, students should:
1. Complete the Disability Services Registration Form online.
2. Submit documentation (either attach it with your online registration, or email/fax it to the Disability Services email disabsrv@bc.edu). Please review Documentation requirements on their website.
3. Make an initial registration meeting with Disability Services staff. Your meeting will take place via phone/Google Hangout. To schedule a meeting please use their online scheduling calendar. If you encounter issues, please call (617) 552-3434. (Please note that both the registration and documentation steps must be complete prior to your meeting.)
4. Documentation will be reviewed by the Office of Disability Services on a rolling basis. Students will be notified via their BC email account once their request(s) have been reviewed and a decision has been made.
Appropriate documentation must include the following:
1. A clear diagnosis from a licensed professional who is qualified to evaluate and diagnose such conditions. This professional may not be a member of the student's family.
2. Description of the student's history with this diagnosis.
3. Description of the functional impact and limitations of the disability/condition relevant to an academic setting.
4. Current treatment plan, including medications.
5. Recommendation for specific accommodation(s). **Justification for why recommended accommodation is medically necessary. There must be a very clear connection between the functional limitation(s) described and the recommended accommodation.**
6. Documentation must be in English, on the provider's letterhead, and signed and dated.
7. Documentation must be current, within one year.
Documentation will be reviewed by the Office of Disability Services on a rolling basis. Students will be notified via their BC email account once their request(s) have been reviewed and a decision has been made.