Housing and Residence Life FAQ

Complete the Room Condition Report and head to the front desk to notify them if a work order needs to be placed.

To complete the RCR go to:

1. MyHousing
2. RCR/Damages
3. Room Condition Reports
4. Click on the pencil to complete the RCR.
   
   
   
   

Unfortunately, housing is not responsible for finding storage for unwanted
furniture. You are welcome to find a storage place for the unwanted furniture,
but any furniture removed from the room must be present at the time of check-
out.

You cannot drill anything into the wall.
We recommend using command strips or hanging them with masking tape to secure items onto the wall so that the paint does not get damaged.
You may not hang objects from the ceiling, light fixture, smoke detector, or any exposed pipe.

Materials hung on the door constitute a fire hazard and are prohibited.
Residents may decorate the concrete area surrounding the doorframe.

For safety reasons, window screens may not be opened or removed at any time.
Removing or opening the window screen for other than emergency purposes
may result in a fine.

• Mini Fridges- larger than 4.6 cu ft (for residential halls);
  
  
• Microwaves- with wattage higher than 750 watts;
  Air Conditioning Units (must get approved by Ferris housing);
  
  
• Appliances with external heating units, heat oil, or act as pressure cookers;
  
  
• Toasters, toaster ovens, pizza ovens, waffle makers, electric pans or griddles, deep fryers, pressure cookers;
  
  
• Electrical/ Lighting;
  
  
• Electrical cords must be kept visible and out of walkways and doorways;
  
  
• Halogen lamps;
  
  
• Black lights;
  
  
• Tampering with overhead lights;
  
  
• Flammable Materials;
  
  
• Candles, candle warmers, incense, or open flames;
  Fireworks;
  
  
• Materials or Containers holding fluids used for igniting fires are prohibited.

Animals must be an emotional support animal approved by the office of disability service AND housing and residence life.
Fine may be placed if animals housed in the residential halls without the proper completed forms.

*For Fall 2023, the second floor of Cramer Hall will be pet friendly and pet does not need to be an ESA.  Email [email protected] to see if there is availability.

Quiet Hours are from 11PM-8AM.

Hall Closing

• Clean the bathroom. Secure the chain lock.
• Clean up and sweep/vacuum your room.
• Make sure there are no dirty dishes lying around.
• Unplug everything, except fish tanks and refrigerators. This includes wireless access points and air fresheners.
• Close and lock the window.
• Open the blinds/curtains completely (1st floor, leave them closed).
• Remove everything from in front of your heaters and place it on 3.
• Dump the trash in the dumpsters outside (your room will stink, and you will be charged if you don't). This includes empty cans you want to recycle!
• Turn off all lights & lock door.
• Take any personal items you will need. You will not be able to get in the building during the break.

Hall Move out

• Do the list in break closing but also complete the list below.
• Remove all belongs from Assigned Housing Unit;
• Empty wardrobes/dressers/desk:
• Remove Poster/Picture from walls.
• Return Furniture to University Order (RELOFT BED);
• Ensure drawers/cabinet doors can close.
• Wipe Down Surfaces;
• Remove decorations from around your door exterior.
• Check mail box one last time.
• Go to Front Desk for the Express Check Out drop box Log into MyHousing on Ferris360 and compete Express Check Out.

Contact Housing to receive information for break housing.

Head to your hall's front desk to place a work order for a new key. You will be charged for the loss of your old key. The charges will be place on your student account.
If you need to be keyed in, let the desk worker know so they can get the RA to key you into the room.

Kitchen Supplies, Board Games, Brooms/Vacuums, Minor tools, collect packages, Lobby games, TV remotes,

You can order food to the halls, but you must collect the food from the delivery person at the entrance of the hall. The front desk worker will not collect the food from the delivery person, and they will not be allowed to walk to your room.

The wifi name is FSUatHome and the password is the same as the wifi name, FSUatHome.

Contact your RA so that they may mediate the issues and complete a roommate/suitemate agreement form for everyone to complete together.

You should first contact your resident advisor so that they may resolve any concerns you may have. Afterwards the RA will get in contact with the Hall Director if a room change is needed.

The Bulldog Service Center in the David Eisler Center will be able to print you a new card. New student ID cards cost 25 dollars.
To get into the building, head to the main entrance and call the front desk using the emergency call box.

Mail/Packages that the front desk receives will be logged in our mailing system and an email will be sent to notify the resident that the packages is at the desk ready for pick up.
Don't forget your student ID when you go to collect you package. The desk worker must verify everyone with their student ID card.

The University asks all students intending to live in on campus to submit a Housing contract guarantee, payable by credit card or e-check at the time of signing their Housing contract. Students sign their Housing contracts utilizing their MyHousing application on Ferris360. The contract guarantee is used to ensure the contract terms and conditions are met. The contract guarantee is forfeited any time a student fails to meet the complete terms of the Housing contract (such as early withdrawal from Ferris State, etc.). The contract guarantee is carried over from year to year so long as the student chooses to live on campus. The contract guarantee is $200.

At the end of any academic year in which a student is eligible and decides not to live on campus for the coming year, and so long as all the terms of the Housing contract have been met, the contract guarantee is refunded. The refund is credited to the student’s account and applied to any outstanding balance owed the University before being refunded to the student. Contract guarantees are typically applied to student accounts in late May or early June.

Financial Aid is generally not applied to pay the Housing contract guarantee.

See our Important Dates page for more information.

Students are responsible for cleaning and maintaining their residence and purchasing their own cleaning products. Roommates and suite-mates are expected to establish a shared responsibility and schedule for cleaning their rooms and bathrooms. Trash bags, brooms & mops are available at the front desk of each Residence Hall and vacuums are available for checkout at most residence hall front desks as a service provided by each hall's Hall Council.

The East Campus Suites and Apartments do not provide most of the above services at their desks.

Laundry in the Residence Halls and East Campus Suites are now "Just Like Home." Our laundry service is "No Coins, No Card, No Catches!" There is no limit to the amount of cycles students can use.

Students living in the West Campus Apartments have a washer and dryer in the basement of each unit. West Campus apartment machines are also "No Coins, No Card, No Catches!"

All laundry equipment on-campus is serviced by WASH Multifamily Laundry Systems (WASH). Students can report concerns with laundry equipment to WASH at 1-800-521-9938. Students can also visit the WASH website at https://www.wash.com/service-request/ in order to report any concerns related to servicing of laundry equipment.

See our On-campus Residency Requirements page for more information.

See the Department of Public Safety Parking Services page for more information.

Pets are not permitted in the residence halls, with the exception of fish. Fish tanks may be no larger than 30-gallon total capacity per room.

*For Fall 2024, the second floor of Cramer Hall will be pet friendly and pet does not need to be an ESA.  Email [email protected] to see if there is availability.

In most single room situations, two students of the same gender each have their own bedroom and share a bathroom.

Please note that some single rooms contain two sets of furniture. Student room furniture must remain in the residence hall room. Under no circumstances will the University remove or store student room furniture by request.

In all cases, final determination of room assignments rests with the University. It is not possible to honor all assignment requests; however, every attempt is made to do so.

Please be advised that students assigned to a single room may be assigned a roommate in instances where most rooms in the residence halls are full and there are students needing placement.

We do not discriminate based on age, religion, race, color, sexual orientation, national origin, or disability.

There is an additional cost for a single room per semester. Please contact the Office of Housing and Residence Life for more information.

See our MyHousing page for more information.

North Hall Layout:

https://www.ferris.edu/student-life/reslife/Residential_Communities/halls/NorthHall.htm

East Campus Suites Layouts:

https://www.ferris.edu/student-life/reslife/Residential_Communities/eastcampussuites/ECSUniversityOrder.htm

South and West Campus Layouts:

https://www.ferris.edu/student-life/reslife/Residential_Communities/halls/south_west_campus_suite_layout.htm

Room Agreements

Roommates and suitemates are strongly encouraged to complete a room/suitemate agreement within the first few days of the academic year. Doing so encourages dialogue about room expectations that can ward off the vast majority of roommate conflicts. Ask for an agreement sheet from your floor's Resident Advisor.

Mediation

When conflicts arise between roommates, hall staff will encourage students to attempt to resolve issues on their own before intervening in the situation. This is an educational opportunity for those who are unfamiliar with roommates and an opportunity for others to role model conflict resolution in our halls.

If unable to reach an agreement, students are to contact their Resident Advisor and/or Hall Director to obtain assistance in resolving their differences. Hall Directors have a list of available hours posted outside their office along with phone numbers. Please note that parental involvement usually compounds issues that may otherwise be resolved by students working things out themselves.

All students should familiarize themselves with the Ferris Code of Community Standards. Of note, Section V: Housing Regulations and Standards

Phone Number: (231) 591-5000
See the Ferris Department of Public Safety page for more information.

Visiting A Resident and Escorting Policy
To preserve the integrity of the security system, the host must come to the door to greet their guest and escort him or her back to their room. All guests in the residence halls must be escorted by their host throughout the time they are visiting the building. The escort and visitation polices are noted in the Student Handbook. These are important behavioral expectations for students in addition to being integral components of Residence Hall security.

Visitors to the building may utilize the call-box style telephone at the front entrance to each building to contact the resident they intend to visit.

Each call-box telephone is equipped with a "blue light" emergency phone which allows immediate contact with the Department of Public Safety at the push of the red "EMERGENCY" button. Students are encouraged to utilize the phones any time they feel threatened or unsafe in the campus community. These phones are located all over campus.

Security systems are only as effective as students will allow them to be. When entering your residence hall please do not allow others to "tailgate" or follow you into the hall without utilizing their Bulldog ID card to unlock the door. Students may not prop open any entrance to the hall, and any attempts to disengage security systems will be dealt with through the Office of Student Community Standards. All students are asked to do their part to keep our campus and their residence hall secure. The partnership and cooperation are greatly appreciated.

Hall Staff are required to do room checks on a periodic basis for the purpose of making sure no fire hazards, health and safety, or violations of University rules exist. See the Ferris Code of Community Standards for more information.

University Apartments
Health and Safety checks are performed one or more times per semester. These are done to help assure healthy and safe living environments for all residents. Violations of Health and Safety standards include, but are not limited to, overloaded electrical circuits, grease buildup in and around stoves, unsanitary conditions, pets, etc. Smoke detectors are tested during health and safety checks. Residents are expected to test smoke detectors monthly and immediately report any that are not working properly. Removing the battery of a smoke detector, for any purpose other than to immediately replace it with a new one, is a serious violation.

Education and Training
Residence Hall staff receive training at the beginning of the school year on how to conduct fire and tornado drills. Students are given fire and tornado safety instructions at their mandatory floor meeting on the first day of classes.

Students who are eligible to live off-campus but choose to voluntarily live on-campus are eligible for a Stay-On Incentive that reduces their housing cost with the University. Contact the Office of Housing and Residence Life to find out how much you can save!

See our live off-campus eligibility requirements for more information.`

During Winter Break and Spring Break, students are required to leave the residence halls, but do not need to remove their belongings. If a student is checking out and not returning for the Spring semester, then they must remove all belongings and do a proper check out with their building's student staff members. At the end of spring (May) and summer semesters (August), the residence halls close and students must remove everything from their rooms.

Students in Bond Hall may pre-arrange to stay in their room during break periods. The process requires notifying the Office of Housing and Residence Life prior to the break period.

Students in the East Campus Suites and the Apartments may remain in their room assignments for the entire academic school year fall-spring with no interruption.

Residence hall rooms are not equipped with telephones or telephone lines. 

University telephone lines allow calls to other university extensions (students dial the four-digit extension, or last four numbers of a University phone number).

Guests are permitted in University Housing but must be escorted by a resident of the building at all times. A guest is defined as anyone not assigned to the building, room, apartment, or suite. Residents are responsible for the actions of their guests, and for making sure their guests adhere to all University policies. If a guest violates a University policy, they AND their host will be held responsible.

Overnight Visitation

Roommates and suitemates must prearrange rules concerning guests and overnight visitors. Our overnight visitation policy has the following points:

• No more than two overnight guests per room per night.
• Guests include anyone not assigned to the room or suite. All guests must adhere to the escort policy and all rules and regulations of Ferris State University.
• Residents are responsible for guests and guest behavior and may receive a student conduct referral for policy violations.
• Unruly guest behavior may result in the guest's immediate removal and ban from campus housing.
• The University reserves the right to limit frequency of visits when the rights of the roommates or suite-mates are compromised.
• Guests may not stay more than 2 consecutive nights and/or more than 10 nights per semester without prior approval from the Office of Housing and Residence Life.

Child Visitation: All guests under the age of 18 must have a letter signed by a parent granting permission to visit and stay on campus. Children under the age of six (6) are not permitted as overnight guests. Visitation for children under the age of six is from 8:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. daily. A parent or guardian must accompany children under the age of six at all times.

See our Residence Halls Lofts page for more information.