Dear Resident:

The following information will be delivered to your SMC this week as the Winter Break Memo and is also available to you on the Housing Services Web site at www.housing.cmu.edu

Winter Break
Residence Halls close December 22, 2004 and reopen on January 7, 2005

Important Details regarding Fall 2004 Residence Hall Closing and Spring 2005 Opening Winter break is rapidly approaching and Housing Services and the residential life staff stress the importance of the residence hall closing information and procedures contained within this publication. Please read the following information carefully.

RESIDENCE HALLS CLOSE AT NOON ON WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 22, 2004.
All residence halls except Cathedral Mansions, Fairfax Apartments, Morewood Gardens and Webster Hall close at noon on Wednesday, December 22. Exterior front door locks are changed at that time and all card readers are deactivated. Buildings other than those listed above remain closed for the duration of winter break. Residents are not permitted back in the residence halls once the locks are changed.

CLOSING CHECKLIST.
Enclosed with the memo delivered to your mailbox was the Winter Break Closing Checklist. The last person to leave the room for winter break is required to complete and sign the checklist. The completed form must be posted on the main door of the living area. Extra copies of the checklist are available at the service desks or online at www.housing.cmu.edu.

RESIDENCE HALL INSPECTIONS BEGIN AT 10 A.M., WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 22, 2004.
Resident Assistants will inspect residence halls at 10 a.m. Residents remaining in the residence halls at this time will be reminded that the buildings close at noon. Professional staff members will then inspect the residence halls starting at noon.

Residents who remain in the residence halls after NOON may be fined $25 per hour for every hour they remain in the building after NOON.

DELAYED DEPARTURES ON WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 22, 2004.
Residents who need to remain on campus for a short period of time after noon on Wednesday will be able to place their belongings at the Morewood Gardens A-Tower Service Desk. Belongings will be checked and monitored only on Wednesday, December 22, 2004 from noon - 7 p.m. Residents departing campus after 7 p.m. must remove their belongings before 7 p.m. Housing Services does not assume liability for items that are lost, stolen or left behind.

RESIDING IN CAMPUS HOUSING FOR ANY PORTION OF WINTER BREAK.
Residents who are currently assigned to Cathedral Mansions, Fairfax Apartments, Morewood Gardens or Webster Hall may reside in their assignment during winter break but are required to register with Housing Services online at www.housing.cmu.edu using the winter break icon. This applies to any portion of winter break including arrival prior to January 7, 2005.

The process to obtain keys for winter break access will be included in resident approval emails.

Residents who do not live in open buildings but would like to stay in university housing for any period of winter break, must follow these steps:

1. Determine if you have friends or acquaintances that live in the open buildings and ask permission to stay in their room over the break.

2. When a suitable arrangement is secured, register online at www.housing.cmu.edu using the winter break icon. Before your request is approved, all roommates involved will be required to confirm their approval of the winter break arrangement. If Housing Services cannot secure this confirmation, your request will be denied.

3. If you do not know any residents living in the open buildings or are unsuccessful in securing a room for the break period, Housing Services will make available the names of individuals who reside in those buildings in an effort to expand the options of someone seeking a place to reside. However, Housing Services will not be responsible for securing a space for a resident to reside in campus housing over the winter break.

WITHDRAWING FROM CAMPUS HOUSING AT THE END OF THE FALL SEMESTER.
Only students who will cease to be enrolled at Carnegie Mellon for the spring semester, those who are getting married, or those students attending a Carnegie Mellon sponsored study abroad or co-op program are eligible for release from their housing license agreements. Any resident planning to cancel their housing license agreement to move into Greek housing should consult their organization’s president for cancellation parameters of the Greek housing lease. All students meeting the
necessary requirements for release are required to formally withdraw from campus housing by completing the appropriate paperwork from Housing Services.

VACANCY EXPECTATIONS.
Residents remaining in rooms with vacancies should expect that a new resident will be assigned over the break and move in on January 7, 2005. As a result, residents should appropriately clean their room and arrange their belongings to make space for the new occupant. The remaining resident(s) should also anticipate an inspection for damages to be completed over the break period.

WINTER BREAK MAINTENANCE.
Housing Services will continue to process maintenance requests and complete projects over the winter break. As a result, residents can anticipate that maintenance personnel may enter their room.

FRATERNITY AND SORORITY RESIDENCY OVER WINTER BREAK.
In accordance with fraternity and sorority housing leases, fraternity chapters can remain open during the winter break. Sororities may remain open, provided they submit to Housing Services a list of members who will reside in the house through the duration of winter break (the list is due by December 10) and obtain approval from Housing Services. Residency in the sorority houses over break will be verified via inspections. Each fraternity and sorority chapter is responsible for providing the name of a formal contact person and phone number for the winter break period to Housing Services.

STORAGE DATES AND TIMES.
Storage areas will be open from 9 p.m. to 10 p.m. on the following dates:

Friday, December 10
Sunday, December 12
Tuesday, December 14
Saturday, December 18
Saturday, January 8
Monday, January 10
Wednesday, January 12
Friday, January 14
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Your RA will be able to open the storage areas during these days and times. For more information, please send email to: storage@andrew.cmu.edu

ACCESS TO RESIDENCE OR STORAGE DURING WINTER BREAK.
Access to rooms or student storage over winter break is highly discouraged. With this in mind, we suggest that you plan carefully and take with you all items that you will need over break. Examples include plane/bus tickets, checkbook, medications, address book, holiday/winter clothes, resume materials, fish, plants and bicycles. If possible, you may want to consider taking some of these items with you if you are planning to go home before winter break.

If something is left behind, and you do need to gain access to your room or student storage, please schedule an entrance appointment by contacting staff at the appropriate number listed below for your building. The vast majority of requests will be accommodated at 10 a.m. or 4 p.m. during normal business operation. A $50 fee may be assessed for each winter break entrance.

Boss, Donner, Henderson, McGill, Resnik, Scobell, Welch, West Wing - 412.268.2075 Doherty, Forbes House, Margaret Morrison, Roselawn, Sororities, Spirit, Tech, Woodlawn - 412.268.2142 Hamerschlag, Morewood A-E, Mudge, New House - 412.268.9510
Cathedral Mansions, Fairfax, London Terrace, Shady Oak, Shirley, Veronica, Webster - 412.268.8704

ACCESS TO UNIVERSITY MAIL CENTER DURING WINTER BREAK.
Mail will continue to be delivered to student mailboxes in the University Mail Center. The schedule for the University Center is as follows:

December 16 thru 22: 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
December 23: 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.
December 24 thru 27: Closed
December 28 & 29: 8 a.m. to Noon
December 30 thru January 2: Closed
January 3 thru January 10: 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

RESIDENCE HALLS REOPEN ON FRIDAY, JANUARY 7, 2005.
The residence halls will reopen at noon on Friday, January 7. Students will not be permitted to enter their rooms prior to this day under any circumstances, primarily due to safety and security concerns. For this reason, the locks on exterior doors will not be changed, nor will card readers be activated, until January 7. Students who must arrive before then must make arrangements prior to leaving for winter break to live in Cathedral Mansions, Fairfax Apartments, Morewood Gardens or Webster Hall using the procedure aforementioned in this publication.

LOOKING AHEAD TO THE SPRING 2005 SEMESTER.
* All residents who desire to live in campus housing for the 2005-2006 academic year must participate in the room reservation process, ‘Room Draw’, which begins in February. In order to do so, consent to charge your $250 housing reservation fee must be received by February 25. Details and instructions for this process will be forthcoming in January
and February.

* Residents are reminded to make plans early for spring closing transportation when the residence halls close on Wednesday, May 11 at noon. All extension requests will be denied. Only graduating seniors and those residents with official involvement (working through a university department) in graduation will be permitted to remain in the residence halls until noon on Monday, May 16.

LOOKING AHEAD TO THE START OF THE FALL 2005 SEMESTER.
The residence halls open for returning students on Thursday, August 25 at 9 a.m. Please make transportation and summer housing plans accordingly as there will be no exceptions for early arrival requests.

Returning residents can look forward to Express Check-in - electronically encode your housing access on your Carnegie Mellon ID card at one of several locations. Available 24 hours a day, no lines!

FINALS HOURS!
The Underground is open 24 hours from December 8 through December 15. Free coffee 9 p.m. to 9 a.m.

Watch your email for food and coffee specials at other dining facilities.

Best wishes for the remainder of the semester and for the holiday season. As always, it is a pleasure serving you.

Housing Services


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* For additional information about Housing Services, *
* please visit our web site at: *
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* http://www.housing.cmu.edu/ *
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