notes
Roommate 1:
Roommate 2:
Hall:
Room:
Date:
Winthrop University
|
Division of Student Life
|
Department of Residence Life
lResidence
i f e sLifet y l e s
Community Agreement
community
agreement
8/08
Living With a Roommate
Successful roommate relationships depend on understanding different lifestyles and
respecting the rights of others. Building the relationship takes time, patience, and
compromises along the way. The following steps can help you make the transition
to community liv ing and build friendships that will last a lifetime.
·Try to know your roommate better. Getting to know your roommate’s personality, opinions,
and values are part of the learning process and will help you understand that person better.
·Talk about your expectations. Do not try to guess how your roommate is feeling or what
they are thinking about.
Winthrop University
|
Division of Student Life
|
Department of Residence Life
lResidence
i f e sLifet y l e s
Community Agreement
·Discuss how the room is to be used. After all, chances are that you’re coming from a
home where you had many rooms to use: bedroom, dining room, kitchen, living room, etc.
Now you have one room to share.
·Discuss how you want the room decorated and arranged. The room belongs to both of
you, so it needs to meet both your needs.
·Listen carefully to your roommate. Be genuine and honest. Treat your roommate like
you want to be treated.
·Discuss what will be shared. One of you may be accustomed to sharing his/her belongings
while the other may not.
·Do not just talk when there is a problem. Share the good things.
·Learn to be sensitive to each other’s moods. Everyone has bad days, so try to understand
when your roommate has one, too.
·Do not wait for problems to get out of hand. Discuss issues as soon as possible.
·If you are unable to work through a problem or reach a compromise, seek assistance from
your RA or RLC.
Remember the key to living with anyone is communication. You must talk to
each other, even if it is uncomfortable at times. Your college roommate may
end up being your best friend, but maybe not. It does not mean you cannot
live together and benefit from knowing each other. Learning to live and work
with a variety of people is part of your education and college experience.
Make the experience a positive one.
We both agree to lock the door whenever we leave the room, no matter how long we are
going to be gone.
We understand that failure to lock the door may result in theft and/or vandalism.
Making the transition to community living takes time and patience. We hope this Agreement
has helped you and your roommate discuss possible problems and solutions. There may
be other topics you and you roommate will need to address. Both roommates need to
talk openly and act in a mature manner for this process to work. If a situation arises that
you and your roommate cannot resolve, speak to one of the Residence Life staff members
(your RA or RLC) in your Residence Hall.
By signing the below I understand what my roommate and I have agreed upon in the above.
Signatures:
Roommate 1
Roommate 2
Community Agreement
On the following pages are some of the most common areas for problems or conflict
between roommates. Please use this agreement to help you and your roommate identify
problem areas and ways to help you work through the problem. Write down your ideas,
compromises, etc., so that you will both be clear about the decisions you make together.
Winthrop University
|
Division of Student Life
|
Department of Residence Life
Visitation
Roommate 1
Roommate 2
Lifestyles/Hours
Roommate 1
Roommate 2
Who is allowed to visit?
What days and hours will be set aside for study time
in the room?
How many guests at one
time?
Noise will be allowed during study time?
If guests are in the room, where will studying occur?
How late can a guest stay
in the room?
Overnight guests are
allowed?
Guests of the opposite sex
are allowed over night?
Roommate needs to give
“ok” before inviting a
guest to stay overnight?
What disrupts studying?
What time will roommates go to bed?
What time will roommates get up in the mornings?
Do either of the roommates take naps?
What can not occur in the room while a roommate
is sleeping? (hairdryer, lights, telephone, computer,
stereo, etc.)
When will each roommate have “private time”
in the room to themselves?
Will parties be held in the room? How often?
Guests
can
use
roommate’s stereo, TV,
bed, etc?
What will we do if we do not agree on the above in our room?
Guests can smoke in the
room?
Pet Peeves What are your pet peeves, what really irritates you?
Roommate 1
What will we do if we do not agree on what visitation should be in our room?
Room Security
Question to consider:
Would you leave your front door at home unlocked if no one was there?
Roommate 2
When our roommate does something that irritates us,
we will handle it by the following methods:
Winthrop University
|
Division of Student Life
|
Department of Residence Life
Sharing Personal Property
Cleaning
Roommate 1
The following items can/cannot be shared:
Roommate 2
Roommate 1
Will each roommate take care of
TV
his/her half of the room?
DVD
Roommate 2
VCR
Stereo
Who will sweep/vaccum?
Furniture
Who will make the beds?
Iron
Computer
Who will pick-up/tidy the room?
Telephone
Hairdryer
Who will dust?
Curling Iron
Who will collect and take out the trash?
Alarm Clock
Clothes
Who will clean the MicroFridge®?
Shoes
Food
Who will clean the bath room? (suite only)
Bath Toiletries
When will roommate sweep/vaccum?
Other
When will roommate make the beds?
When will roommate pick-up/tidy the room?
When will roommate dust?
When will roommate collect
and take out the trash?
When will roommate clean the MicroFridge®?
When will roommate clean the
bath room? (suite only)
Noise
Roommate 1
Roommate 2
How loud is too loud?
If we do not like the same music,
should we use headphones when the
other person is in the room?
What noise distrubs me when I’m
asleep?
When will roommate sweep/vaccum?
What will we do if we do not agree on noise concerns in our room?
What will we do if we do not agree on what cleaniness should be in our room?
Winthrop University
|
Division of Student Life
|
Department of Residence Life