Roommate Concerns

How to Live Successfully in a Residential Environment

Attending college for the first time can be an exciting yet stressful time for anyone. Many students come to College and have never shared a room, a TV, or a bathroom. Since many students have not shared these things, their time in a residence hall can be challenging at first. The Office of Residence Life and Housing hopes that this page will help you to understand what concerns might be out there and how we can be empowered to make good decisions and respectfully confront issues.

Living in a community with 50 – 100 other students can also be an opportunity to learn, grow and develop outside of the classroom. Recognizing what is an appropriate noise level and learning how to confront your neighbor is critical. Knowing your neighbors on your hall and being able to talk to them respectfully is something that the Office of Residence Life and Housing hopes that you will convey to your student. We also hope that you will talk with your student about vandalism and how it demonstrates disrespect for their peers and the College. When vandalism occurs in the hall and no one can be found responsible, the entire hall community is charged the cost of the vandalism. Please help us by talking with your student and asking them to report vandalism and make them aware of the adverse effects that it has on the entire community.

Randolph-Macon College has several resources available for your student to set up their living environment successfully:

• All residential students are given a roommate contract (including the senior townhouses) for them to complete with their roommate. This contract discusses topics including overnight visitation including opposite sex as well as same sex, cleanliness, and agreements for use of each other’s possessions. Your student should take this seriously. Both roommates will sign this contract saying that they agree to all terms. The contract remains with their RA and students can update it throughout the year.
• All residential students that live in halls with suite bathrooms are given a suitemate contract. This contract allows the suitemates to discuss cleanliness issues and use.
• All halls are asked to sign a community standard and a bathroom community standard. These are documents that the RA talks about common issues and what the hall agrees to do.
• If your student lives in a Special Interest House – your student’s SI House will come up with an agreement as to the rules of the house – this includes visitation, cleanliness and more.

One particular issue that is common during a student’s first year at college is roommate conflicts. Though the College attempts to create the best possible match, or even if students enter college knowing that they wish to room with a friend, issues with roommates can occur. Roommate conflicts do not need to be viewed necessarily viewed as negative, but can serve as a way to strengthen the roommate relationship. This page is designed to help students, along with parents, learn what steps need to be taken when issues do arise.

There are three important people that need to be involved when a roommate issue occurs: the student, their roommate, and their resident assistant (RA). Only at the time when the conflict cannot be solved at the student level should the students come to the Office of Residence Life and Housing Professional Staff about possible room switches.

For more information on R-MC's expections in regards to roommates, please check out:

Student's Role
RAs Role
Parent's Role