Online program makes on-campus housing easier

On-campus living could be easier and safer for students.

By Campbell Massie

Published Feb. 5, 2008

For students returning to MU for another year, the Department of Residential Life offers an alternative to living off campus.

Resident’s Online Access to Rooms gives students the opportunity to request and select their rooms, roommates and suitemates for next year. The application has been available online for five years, Residential Life Marketing and Publications Coordinator Bradi Herrman-Rose said.

She said Residential Life is working on a new version of the program that would give students more options.

“We were going to do a little bit of an enhancement to it this year,” Herrman-Rose said. “Unfortunately it wasn’t done quite in time.”

ROAR also allows students to select single rooms to avoid sharing with another person, but only from Feb. 4 to Feb. 7, Herrman-Rose said.

In a newsletter sent to parents of MU students, on-campus living is promoted as a way to avoid the complexity of living off campus and allow students to focus on their studies by not having to deal with paying the bills, grocery shopping, subleasing or roommates moving out.

“I just feel like living on campus is a really good option for those who don’t want to deal with paying the bills and shoveling the snow when it gets snowy and all of these things that happen when you live off campus,” Hermann-Rose said.

Safety is also a big concern in moving off campus, according to the newsletter.

Living in dorms that lock down at night and that can be locked down quickly in case of an emergency is by far the safer choice, the newsletter stated.

If students have trouble deciding whether they want to live in the residential halls or off campus, a ROAR Web site suggests reserving a room in the hall that they want because there is no financial obligation until the housing contract is signed.