USI Residence Life FAQs

Housing FAQs

Frequently Asked Questions about:

Rooms

What should I bring with me when I move in?
What should I leave at home?
Does financial aid over the cost of room and board?
Are bunk beds available?
Can I have the same apartment every year I am at USI?
How do you turn on the shower in some bathrooms?

Q: What should I bring with me when I move in?
Furniture provided in the residence halls includes a small refrigerator and couch in the common area. In each bedroom in the residence halls there are 2 stackable twin bunk beds, 2 desks, and 2 chairs.

All on-campus housing units are fully furnished. Furniture provided in the apartments includes a stove, refrigerator, couch, chair, end tables, coffee table, twin beds, desks, and dressers. There are a handful of bunk beds in the apartments and are spaced out among the campus. However, these beds are not able to be moved.

Students typically bring TV's, radios, computers, microwaves, posters, and other comforts. We strongly recommend that you contact your future roommates and decide amongst yourselves how to handle common supplies that will be used by everyone (e.g. vacuum, microwave, TV, etc).

In general here is a list of what you will need:

Light bulbs (52 watt are recommended for the Residence Halls, 60 watt for the apartments)
Toilet paper
Cleaning supplies for the toilet bowl, bathtub, windows, floor, sinks and to dust your shelves (NOTE TO STUDENTS: These should also be used regularly! :))
Trashcan and trash bags
Twin sheets for the bed. The bed has a standard, single sized mattress measuring 39 inches wide by 75 inches long
Comforters
Pillows
Alarm clock
Towels
Laundry detergent
Kitchen Supplies (full supplies for an apartment, modified supplies for a residence hall room. Check with your roommates to avoid duplication)
Study lamps

University Housing does not stock oversized beds so no special linens are required for our furniture. Furniture that comes with the apartment is the responsibility of the resident. No furniture may be removed from the apartment and stored for any reason (i.e. making room for personal furniture brought from home). ALL FURNITURE MUST REMAIN IN THE APARTMENTS.

If you have any questions on what you may or may not bring, email living@usi.edu.

Q: What should I leave at home?
There are also some items that are prohibited in both the residence halls and on-campus apartments, such as:

Pets (except for fish. Beta fish are popular.)
Electric, charcoal, or gas grills
Halogen lamps
Alcohol and alcohol containers
Weapons and ammunition
Candles - no on campus facilities may have candles, even candles that have not been burned.

Q: Does financial aid over the cost of room and board?
Whether or not your financial aid will cover the cost of your room and board depends on the type and amount of financial aid you have been given. Most loans and grants can be applied to room and board. However, scholarships may have restrictions limiting what they may be utilized for. Therefore, be sure you speak with your Financial Aid Counselor and make sure you understand what your financial aid may be used for. The Department of Residence Life has no control over which types of Financial Aid cover housing and boarding costs.

Q: Are bunk beds available?
Unfortunately, USI does not offer bunk beds for residents. There are some bunk beds placed randomly in the apartments (and students may use them); however, we will not move any furniture from its original location. Students do have the privilege of building free standing lofts in the apartments.

Q: Can I have the same apartment every year I am at USI?
During Spring renewal each resident has the opportunity to choose to live in the same apartment or to move. There are some residents that have lived in the same apartment for 3 years or more! The sooner you come in during the renewal week the better your chances are. However, while we do our best to honor requests, uncontrolled circumstances may force us to make changes as deemed necessary by the Residence Life Department.

Currently, the residence halls are reserved for first-year students only. The only upperclassmen that are allowed to stay in the residence halls are those that are involved in the Mentor program.

Q: How do you turn on the shower in some bathrooms?
Some of our newer showers have 2 features on one handle: the large handle is for the volume of water, the other smaller dial on the end is for the temperature of water. If you have this feature then turning your shower on will be different from your neighbors. In order to turn the water flow from the faucet to the shower head, pull down on what looks like the aerator on the end of the faucet. (This is a large round disk that the water flows through when the water is running.). This should immediately send water through the showerhead once this is pulled down so please be careful when doing this for the first time.