It’s no secret that any student who lives on campus cannot stay in their residence halls during winter break. It’s also not a secret that residents must check out with their Resident Assistant before they leave for winter break. Before you lock your doors for the last time for 2015, here are some tips to make your checkout a lot faster and easier, for both you and
your RA.

Just like any student, RAs and faculty would like to leave and start their holiday as fast as possible, so preparing your room to avoid maintenance charges or documentation helps smooth out the process, especially if you’re trying to make a flight.

The charges are not in place because Residential Life wants to make your time living on campus difficult. There are charges because we want to keep the residence halls in the best condition as possible so you can continue to live comfortably and keep it nice for the next person who moves in.

That being said, if there’s a maintenance issue in your room, tell your RA or submit a work order. This includes anything that is broken, damaged, or has stopped working in your room. If something is damaged and it has not been reported, then you will take responsibility for that damage. It’s not a good feeling to charge someone for something that they were not responsible for, so before you leave, take a look around your room and see if anything needs to be fixed.

Remember — your room is one of many to be checked by the RA before they head out for break too. Please do your best to be prepared for your check-out time so the process is efficient.

Please clean your room before you check out! Your parents will be proud and your RA will be grateful. You can be documented for a messy room if it is a perceived health and safety violation.

When thinking about checking out, a good rule of thumb is to plan your checkout time about an hour before you plan on leaving, again, especially if you’re trying to make it to the airport. This leaves a good amount of time to clean up anything that might seem unsatisfactory or allow time to fill out any paperwork.

A common question that is asked around this time is “do I need to pack up my whole room before I leave?” The answer is no, but be sure it’s nice and clean for when you come back.

You must check out with your RA 24 hours after your last final or no later than 5 p.m. on Friday, Dec. 18. That’s when the residence halls close and your ID will be deactivated. When we walk through the building, we look for anybody who may have stayed past the checkout time. If you do stay past that time without approval from your CD, you may be charged a late-stay fee. It’s not fun to have to kick someone out of their room last minute.

Check and double check that you have everything because there’s a slim-to-none chance that you will be let back into the building before we come back from break. During break, you are not allowed to return to the building, so make sure you have everything with you.

We can’t wait to have you back though! You are allowed to return to the residential halls on Monday, Jan. 18, at 8 a.m.! Make sure your checkout is a start to a wonderful break!