Room Change and Roommate Conflicts

Housing and Residence life works to empower our residents to first address conflicts with their roommate(s) as they arise. While conflicts are difficult, working through them can be a good learning experience. If conflicts become overwhelming, or cause distress, we have resources in place to help. The Residence Life staff (Resident Advisors, Senior Resident Advisors, Graduate Resident Directors, and Resident Directors) are all trained to assist with conflict management and provide resources to our residents who are facing roommate conflicts.

It is our goal to alleviate concerns and assist our residents in the conflict management process. Our team utilizes a proactive approach with residents through the roommate and suitemate agreement process, in which all residents are expected to participate when they move into their room. The goal is to facilitate dialogue between residents to address potential issues, before they can arise.

Contact information for Graduate Resident Directors and Resident Directors can be found here.

Addressing Conflict

Listed below is an outline of how roommate conflicts are handled, should they require staff intervention, as well as additional resources:

• Step 1: Conflict is Presented to Residence Life Staff
• Step 2: Conflict is Clarified
  • Staff will work to explore the situation with all involved residents. Separate discussions are held with each resident to identify and address concerns.
• Step 3: Facilitated Conversation
  • Discussion is facilitated by Residence Life staff.
  • Roommate agreements are reviewed with students during the conversation.
  • Residence Life staff work with residents to articulate the concerns and reflect on the impact of those concerns, in order to identify strategies for resolution.
• Step 4: Conflict Resolution
  • Solutions are considered and agreed upon and the roommate agreement is updated.
  • Residence Life staff members work with student staff to provide ongoing resident follow up.
  • If a resident desires to change rooms after roommates have attempted the resolutions for two weeks, they can request a room change.

Room Change Request

The Room Change request process begins:

• Fall Semester: August 18 and ends on November 17.
• Spring Semester: January 19 and ends on April 13.

A staff member will contact you withing two business days of your submission to discuss your request. Requests will be reviewed for approval by the Residence Life Staff.

To request a room change, please log into ohio.erezlife.com using your OHIO email and password. The Student Room Change Request will be under the Forms tab on the left of page.