
Community Expectations & Policies
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Please see below for information regarding Winter Break
Winter Break | Check-Out Process | Frequently Asked Questions
All residence halls and houses will close for the winter break in late December. Deadlines for students to exit the buildings will be communicated from Residential Life via email. Failure to depart by the communicated deadline will result in fines and/or a referral to the student conduct process.
The residence halls and houses will reopen for the Easter term in early January. Some students with specific University commitments may be granted permission to occupy their rooms earlier; please note that attempting to return early without permission will result in a fine and/or a referral to the student conduct process. The Office of Residential Life will coordinate approved early arrivals with University program directors, and will not accept individual early arrival requests from students.
Students must plan to take ALL needed belongings with them for the break, including medications, credit cards, driver’s licenses, passports if needed for traveling, house or car keys, etc. Residential Life staff will NOT be available to grant access to any rooms or to retrieve items on behalf of a student during the winter vacation; if a student forgets anything in their room, they will not be able to access that item until their return in January.
Students must complete the following actions before departing campus for the break:
Students who believe they are unable to leave campus due to exceptional circumstances (e.g. homelessness, emancipated foster youth, inability to return to home country due to travel restrictions, etc.) may petition to reside on campus during the winter break. The petition form will be made available late in the Advent semester. As available space on campus is highly limited, we anticipate that very few petitions will be approved; we suggest that students arrange winter plans accordingly.
Yes, but only if you have a valid need to return early. Students who are not participating in one of the approved early programs but believe they have a need to return to their residence early (e.g. due to studying for comps in the first exam period, special international travel concerns, etc.) may petition for permission to return to campus early via this form. Approval is not guaranteed, and students may NOT return early without express written permission in the form of an approval message from the Office of Residential Life.
Staff are NOT available over the break and thus will be unable to assist you if you forget anything in your room. Please take extra care in packing for the break to be sure that you have packed ALL items you may need while the residences are closed including: medications, passports, credit cards, study materials (e.g. books, notebooks, laptop) and house/car keys.
Yes. You will need both in order to access your residence hall or house and room when you return in January. All rooms will be inspected AND locked after you depart in December - be sure that you bring your room key with you so that you are not locked out when you return after the break.
Yes. If you plan to leave your vehicle on campus, please park it in the Kentucky Ave. parking lot (near the Tennessee Williams Center) to maximize the security of your vehicle. You may leave your bicycle on campus at the nearest available bicycle rack. Please be sure to secure your bicycle to the rack with a lock.
Residential Life will communicate check out information as early as possible in order to give you plenty of time to plan and prepare for an on-time departure. Late departures by any residents delay the final closure of the halls and houses, and will therefore incur fines in the amount of $25 per half-hour after the closing deadline that you remain in your residence.
Please contact the Office of Residential Life at reslife@sewanee.edu.
Keep up with community expectations for living on campus.