Roommate Agreement Overview

Step 1: Personally reflect to determine your individual needs regarding your living environment.

Step 2: Get to know your roommates personality, and academic and social styles to determine how you can work with them to create a positive residential experience.

Step 3: Within your first week living together, find a time to sit with your roommate and log into your self-service/housing portal to complete the Roommate Agreement Application by discussing the questions and providing agreed upon answers to submit.

Step 4: Request the assistance of your Residence Life student staff member as needed to help facilitate the conversation to completion of the roommate agreements.

Step 5: Neighborhood professional staff members will review roommate agreements to ensure they were completed appropriately.

Step 6: Residents can revisit the application to make updates as needed. If conflicts arise residents can reach out to their student staff member, neighborhood office, mediation services or other support offices on campus.

Roommate Agreements

As a part of the Community Development Model at Elon, first-year residential students are required to complete roommate agreements. Sophomore-senior students are encouraged to complete roommate agreements. These agreements serve as a tool to help guide residents through having important, and sometimes awkward, conversations to bring consensus regarding their living environment. The agreement is a living document and is not intended to create a binding obligation between any individuals or with the University. Students will have the opportunity to set agreed upon expectations of cleanliness, guests, and how they will communicate regarding their shared living space. Thinking through how roommates want to share a space is best practice for enhancing a residential experience.

Roommate Agreement Completion

Roommate Agreements can be found on residents self-service/housing portal to be completed together with their roommate. All information provided on the roommate agreement must be consistent with residential policies and the Code of Conduct. Residents have the opportunity to work on these agreements on their own or with the assistance of a Residence Life student staff member as requested. Student staff members help discuss these situations in order to ensure residents feel comfortable in their rooms. After completion, roommate agreements are then audited by their neighborhoods professional staff members, ensuring students took the agreements seriously and to follow-up as needed. Student staff members also remain available to answer any questions or concerns residents may have regarding the agreements.

Roommate Agreement Sample

Our door will be kept: (locked at all times, unlocked when someone is home, etc.) 

When one of us is sleeping in the room, we are okay with (complete quiet, lights on/off, normal volume, low noise-music/tv/calls, etc.) 

We agree the following times are considered too early and too late, respectively for noise on weekdays: (before 8am and after 1am) 

We agree our best method of communication, including regarding issues is: (in-person, text, call, email) 

Guests in our room will be allowed to: (sit on each others bed, eat each others food, use TV, etc.) 

In maintaining a clean and neat space we agree to take out trash/recycling and vacuum/dust: (every other day, once a week, as needed) 

We agree to share the following personal belongings: (tv/fridge/microwave/snacks/clothes, etc.) 

Roommate Agreement Follow Up

Student staff members conduct mid-semester check-ins with roommates for students to share how they are honestly feeling about their shared space. Questions to be considered include whether students’ expectations on cleanliness, guests, and communication are being upheld and if there are other aspects of their shared living space that should be considered. This check-in provides the opportunity for roommates to review and update their agreements as needed and continue experiencing positive aspects of their residential living.

*Residence Life reserves the right to refer incidents that may be a violation of University policies to the Office of Student Conduct for appropriate review; however, the University does provide amnesty for students hesitant to report incidences of sexual misconduct, threats or acts of violence, or hazing because they fear that they themselves may be accused of minor policy violations, such as underage drinking, at the time of the incident.

Roommate Support and Mediation

Residence Life understands that conflicts in the living space can and do arise and encourages students to rely on campus resources to provide support. Elon’s Student Care and Outreach Team and the Office of Inclusive Excellence and Development offer education, support and resources for students facing various types of interpersonal conflict.

Residence Life staff in neighborhood offices are available to support facilitated conversations between roommates and to address disagreements and conflict. You can find contact information for all neighborhood offices online. A student staff member is available on-call after 5pm daily when the university is open to serve as a resource when conflict arises. Please be advised that room changes are only granted at the discretion of Residence Life when applicable and after appropriate interventions strategies have been explored.

Elon also offers free and confidential mediation services to help students find solutions that benefit all. Please contact Linda Dunn (ldunn@elon.edu) for questions and information regarding mediation services.