WOMAN: All right, everyone. I think we are ready to
begin. I’m sure you’re all excited to start your university career this fall,
and I know I speak on behalf of the entire university faculty and staff in
expressing how much we look forward to welcoming you to campus.
As the University Housing Director, I’d like to use a few minutes of
your orientation session this morning to talk about the excellent student
accommodation available to you. We know that you are trying to decide where to
live during your first year of residency, and hopefully this information will
be helpful. But, uh, please do, um, hold off your questions until the end.
So, undergraduates at our university have three basic accommodation
options. You can live in a residence hall, in on-campus housing, or in
off-campus housing. The only difference between on-campus and off-campus
housing is, well, whether the building falls within the campus boundaries. I’m
sure you figured that out already! But both options are privately owned
residences that are rented out to students. You can browse the rentals
directory on our university website, under the student accommodation section.
You’ll see a tab for “rentals,” so just click that.
But I want to talk about the residence halls today. There’s nothing wrong
with renting an apartment or house, but in my opinion, residence hall life is a
really important part of the university experience for first-year students.
Residence halls offer a supportive, safe and social environment in which to
transition into university life. Each of our seven residence halls has 24-hour
security and in-house support staff, so any problems are dealt with
immediately. As well, access to the residence halls is strictly limited to
registered inhabitants, with a no-guest policy. This may seem excessive, but
the safety of students truly is our top priority.
So safety...but also comfort. Come take a tour of one of our halls
sometime and you’ll be impressed with just how open the rooms feel. A
single-occupancy is only 225 square feet, and a double only 300 square feet,
but they really do feel much larger! Rooms come furnished with beds, desks,
storage shelves, and a wardrobe, but you can buy other items at any of the
several used furniture shops on or, or near campus.
We do, of course, understand that being cooped up in a room all the time
is hardly ideal, which is why the residence halls include several common areas
for student use. There’s a lounge, a study room, a kitchen, and a very basic
health centre. All of these facilities are open round-the-clock, and can be
accessed with your room key. You can even reserve the lounge for an event or
party, free of charge...but of course there are rules you’ll have to follow.
Um, anyway, that’s enough about the structure of the residence halls.
What’s more important is the social aspect of living there. Each hall
accommodates over 500 students, and more than half of them are freshmen. As I’m
sure you can imagine, this creates an incredibly social environment where
networks and communities are established, and where lifelong friendships are
formed. And we try to encourage resident interaction through extra-curricular
activities for our residents. For example, each hall has its own
sports teams, and they even compete with teams from other halls during organized matches. Nothing like teamwork to bring people
closer, right?
Lastly, I’d like to emphasize that residence halls are quite an
affordable option as well. You can find reasonable rentals too, but you can’t
always guarantee the quality of the place. With residence halls, you can. You
are ensured clean, well-maintained, and fully functional accommodation.
Well now...have I sold you on our residence halls? I sure hope so. And
with the little time we have left, I’d be happy to answer any questions you
might have.