Housing

1. Submit a request via your Housing Portal

• Your request will want to know: the reason for the request, the type of room (single, double, triple, any), building preference, and if there is a roommate request.   

• Once you submit your request, the UHDS Assignments staff will review it for an offer, as space is available. 

• If you wish to change your preferences regarding the room change, you may return to your request to update it. 

• 2. Receive a room change offer 

• If we have a space available based on the preferences you have indicated, you will receive an offer via your OSU email on Tuesday. Please note that the offer date might change or be canceled if there is a campus closure or if it is a holiday week (for example: Veteran's Day, Thanksgiving, Martin Luther King Jr, and Memorial Day). 

• Accept or decline the offer: 

• You have 48 hours to either accept or decline the room change offer (if the offer is sent on Tuesday, you will have until Thursday at 12:00pm to respond). 

• If you decline the room change offer or fail to respond, your room change request will be canceled, and you will be taken off the room list. 

• If you accept the room change offer, you will have a 52-hour time period to move to your new room; your offer letter will contain more details but moves typically occur the weekend (Friday-Sunday) of the week you were offered the room change. 

• 3. Complete the room changes 

  Pick up new keys: 

• In your offer letter, you will have instruction on when and where to pick up your new keys.  Keys are always picked up at the Service Center that serves the building offered in the room change. 

• Move your belongings: 

• Once you have picked up your new room key, you have until 8 p.m. on Sunday to complete your room change. Room changes are not complete until keys for your previous room have been returned to the appropriate Service Center. 

• Clean your space: 

• When moving out of your old room, follow the Moving Out guidelines when cleaning your room. 

• Turn in your old keys: 

• Room changes not complete by Sunday at 8 p.m. are subject to an Improper Move Out Fee of $50.00 and a potential for a rekey charge. Should you continue to occupy two rooms beyond that time, you may also be subject to additional fees up to $250.00 and/or be charged for both rooms.
   
  Typical timeline for room changes 

• Week 1: Submit room changes request via Housing Portal 

• Week 2: First set of offers sent out (based on availability) 

• Week 9: Last set of offers sent out 

• Week 10: All remaining request will be removed from the system 

The room swap option is ideal for students who would like to swap spaces with another student in their same hall. Room swaps are similar to room changes, except for these things: 

1. The process begins with students talking with the Resident Director (RD) of their building and following a unique process that can only be initiated after talking with their RD.
2. Only the students involved in the room swap need to agree to the swap. The other residents can be included, and should be notified by either the current roommate or staff regarding the change.
3. There is no need to go to the service center to pick up keys but might be asked to go to the Service Center to confirm keys are recorded correctly after swap has occurred.
4. All students who are swapping must meet with the Resident Director to show that keys have been swapped and the Resident Director will ask for the assignment change in the housing management system.
5. The RD must email the service center.
6. The Assignments team prefers Room swaps to be within the same building or area the RD oversees. 

Room buyouts for Fall 2023 will be based on request and only for economy triples. 

If there is a vacant space in a room due to a roommate who transferred, withdrew, or otherwise left their on-campus living space, the remaining roommate(s) may request the option to buy out the additional room space, based upon availability and occupancy needs. In the event that a room buyout is approved, no additional roommate would be assigned to the vacant space, and the extra space and furniture in the room is available for use by the remaining roommate(s). No furniture is removed in the event of a buyout.

For example, a student assigned to a double-occupancy room could request to buy out the vacant space to spend the rest of the year living in a single, and roommates assigned to a triple-occupancy room could request to buy out the vacant space to spend the rest of the year living in a double, as long as both residents mutually agree to the buyout.

An increased room rate will apply to students who buy out vacant space; the rate is typically about 1.5 times the amount of the current room rate. For example, a student assigned to a double who buys out the vacant space, would pay 1.5 times the amount of the current double room rate. When two students in a triple-occupancy room buy out vacant space, both residents pay the increased room rate.

Student with a vacant space in their room who would like to request the option of buying out the remaining space should contact University Housing & Dining Services for information about the process and rates. Room buyouts are only available when a vacancy has occurred and are subject to current availability and occupancy needs. 

• If you have a vacant space in your room, you could receive a new roommate during the year, and you need to keep that space ready to receive a potential roommate. See section 15 of your University Housing & Dining Services contract for more details.