ROOM RESERVATION DEPOSIT FOR CURRENT WSC STUDENTS If you are a CURRENT student at WSC and want to live on campus next year, you must pay your 2008-2009 Room Reservation Deposit (RRD) at the Residential Life Office by 5:00 PM on Friday March 7, 2008. This email contains instructions for that payment. New students for Fall 2008 - Do NOT pay this deposit. This is only for CURRENT WSC students who want to live on campus next year. As you know, our residence halls are very full! For students who do not pay the deposit or pay late, we anticipate that housing will NOT be available for the 2008-2009 academic year. Therefore, we strongly encourage you to review this information and to respond without delay. Please follow the instructions in this brochure carefully to guarantee on-campus housing privileges for next year. 1. OVERVIEW THE ROOM RESERVATION DEPOSIT… $150.00 Check or Money Order, payable to Westfield State College, with student’s name and College Wide ID printed on the check. This must be received in the Office of Residential Life by 5:00 PM on Friday March 7, 2008. We cannot be responsible for the length of time delivery entails, whether by the U.S. Postal Service or other carriers. Please plan now for timely payment of the deposit. We strongly encourage you to pay the deposit immediately upon receipt of this brochure. The deadline is based on the date your Room Reservation Deposit is received in our office for date-stamping. We cannot accept responsibility for payments erroneously addressed to the wrong office, nor can we consider postmark dates. If you are paying your deposit within two weeks of the final deadline, we URGE you to do so in person or by guaranteed overnight delivery. PLEASE NOTE THAT PAYMENT FOR THE ROOM RESERVATION DEPOSIT CANNOT BE MADE BY CASH OR CREDIT/DEBIT CARD, AND CANNOT BE MADE THROUGH THE STUDENT ADMINISTRATIVE SERVICES CENTER. On-time payment of the RRD is the first step towards obtaining on-campus housing for 2008-2009 and allows you to participate in the housing sign-up process this March/April. The RRD is NOT a guarantee of housing for the 2008-2009 academic year. Failure to return your housing paperwork and go through the housing sign-up process will result in forfeiture of the RRD and your on-campus housing privileges. There are NO exceptions to the RRD deadline. 2. PAYMENT OPTIONS See the instructions below for the payment option you choose: OPTION A : Check or Money Order delivered by U.S. Mail or other carrier, or by campus mail COMPLETE your check or money order. MAIL check / money order IMMEDIATELY to: Residential Life 577 Western Ave. Westfield, MA 01086 Attn: RRD WAIT two weeks to receive the Room Reservation Deposit Receipt back from us confirming that your payment was received on time. If you are sending your deposit in close to the deadline, please do not wait the two weeks for your receipt. Contact us before the deadline to ensure that we have received your deposit. CONTACT US at (413) 572-5402 if you do not receive the receipt back from us within two weeks of sending payment. RETAIN your copy of the Room Reservation Deposit Receipt. OPTION B: Check, Money Order hand-delivered to our office COMPLETE your check or money order. DELIVER the check or money order IMMEDIATELY to the Office of Residential Life during office hours, 8:00 AM – 5:00 PM, Monday through Friday. RETAIN your stamped copy of the Room Reservation Deposit Receipt that we return to you when you deliver your materials. 3. AFTER WE HAVE RETURNED THE RRD RECEIPT, YOU WILL: *RECEIVE your lottery number by campus mail (Commuters, please see #5 below.) *REVIEW the “Returning Student Housing Sign-Up Gazette” when you receive it in your campus mailbox. (Commuters, please see #5 below.) *PARTICIPATE in Returning Student Housing Sign-Up as per the instructions in the “Returning Student Housing Sign-Up Gazette”. 4. IF YOU WILL BE LIVING AWAY If you will be living away from campus during Spring 2008 as a participant in an off-campus internship or exchange program, contact our office for instructions for part-year residents. There you will find directions for providing a letter authorizing a friend to receive your lottery number and represent you at Housing Sign-Up. 5. COMMUTERS A limited number of Commuters will be able to secure housing through the Lottery; others will have the Room Reservation Deposit refunded. Results of the Commuter Lottery will be posted in the Residential Life Office by Wednesday, March 12th. Commuters offered housing will be mailed their housing sign-up materials and a copy of the Returning Student Housing Sign-Up Gazette beginning Wednesday, March 19th. 6. OTHER CRITICAL INFORMATION • ON-CAMPUS HOUSING IS A STUDENT CHOICE AND NOT A MANDATORY FEE. Therefore the Room Reservation Deposit is not included on any student account through the standard billing process. This brochure and other reminders serve to inform you of this option! Also, please understand that the $100.00 (for first-year students) or $150.00 (for returning residents) credit that now appears on your Spring 2008 bill as a credit reflects last year’s RRD payment; you need to pay $150.00 NOW to ensure housing for the next academic year. • If you are acting as a proxy for another student who is on exchange, study abroad, Disney, or other approved absence from the College, please make sure that they have paid their RRD and that you pick up their lottery number in Residential Life. These lottery numbers will be available for those students that have paid the RRD starting on March 17th, 2008. • The RRD is non-refundable under any circumstances except December graduation and commuters declined housing due to demand. The RRD is not refunded for reasons such as, but not limited to, withdrawal, transfer, change of needs or plans, release from the Residential License Agreement, participation in off-campus programs, changes in enrollment status, student conduct action, etc. • The RRD is applied as a credit to the student’s Spring housing fee IF the student is housed at Westfield State for both the Fall 2008 and the Spring 2009 semester. For details about the applied credit or payment of housing fees, please contact the Student Account Office at (413) 572-8538. • CHANGE IN ENROLLMENT STATUS DUE TO FINANCIAL, ACADEMIC, STUDENT CONDUCT, OR OTHER CONSIDERATIONS MAY RESULT IN LOSS OF HOUSING, WHICH MAY NOT BE ABLE TO BE RESTORED EVEN IF THE ORIGINAL PROBLEM CAN BE RESOLVED. This information is subject to revision at the discretion of the Office of Residential Life.