Seton Hall University released a reminder Jan. 30, stating that housing deposits for the upcoming 2013-2014 school year are due by Feb. 28 and are nonrefundable.
This change in policy is a fair solution to past issues with housing deposits, according to Cheryl Janus, assistant director of housing operations and marketing.
"In the past students who had no intention of living on campus put down a housing deposit in as a back-up plan and created an inflated amount of students who appeared to be interested in student housing," Janus said.
These students went through room selection, took a room, and placed others students on the waiting list, Janus said.
According to Janus, making the deposit nonrefundable should prevent students committed to living on campus from ending up on the waiting list.
"It is a fair solution to students who are committed to living on campus who, in prior years, had been forced due to inflated room selection numbers to choose into a room type they did not desire," she said.
Janus said although there is not currently a wait list for housing, the University plans to monitor the room selection period closely and act if there is a high demand for housing.
If the demand exceeds what the university is able to house, Janus said they will look into other options for off-campus student housing.
According to Janus, the policy of a nonrefundable housing deposit is common at other schools in the area.
"We surveyed other schools in the area and found the majority of schools have non-refundable housing deposits," she said.
Janus made clear that this policy is not meant to discourage students from applying for housing or from living on campus.
"When a student deposits and applies for housing, they are agreeing to a Housing License Agreement for the term of one entire academic year," she said. "We hope this encourages them to take this commitment seriously."
The University feels this is a fair solution and will be the best option to deal with the upcoming housing application process, according to Janus.
Erin Williams can be reached at erin.williams@student.shu.edu.
