New housing policy instated
By Kami Lewis
Staff Reporter

Housing reservations will not be accepted from students whose accounts are not current, in a continuation of the enforcement of TCU’s tuition payment policy, said Karen Baker, associate director of Residential Services.

The policy change emerged from a series of meetings during December and January that gathered information from departments across campus to integrate support of the newly enforced payment policy in as many ways as possible, Baker said.

The first students to be impacted by the housing policy will be current residents of the Tom Brown/Pete Wright Apartment Community when they sign up for housing March 18 and 19, Baker said.

“If these students have not paid the minimum amount due on the March 1 bill, or if they have not paid the $250 advance housing payment (formerly the housing deposit), they will miss the opportunity to continue living in the apartments,” Baker said.

Baker said students will be told when they attempt to register after Spring Break that they must resolve any holds on their account before a reservation can be made.

Residential Services will have no way of knowing additional information about the hold, including the amount due, she said. Students will be directed to Financial Services for further information, she said.

Students wanting to move into the apartments from other campus housing facilities must also be current on their account if they want to take part in the lottery on March 21 for available spaces, Baker said.

Other students will face the same situation April 1-4 when hall sign-ups for all other dormitories take place, Baker said.

“We are not trying to punish students who have not paid their accounts,” Baker said.

“We’re doing our best to inform everyone in as many ways possible so we don’t have panicked students when they get back from Spring Break.”

Baker said efforts to inform students included a campus wide e-mail from Financial Services, mass phone calls from hall directors warning residents and letters to the families of students informing them of the policy change eight weeks ago.

Edward Adams, a junior history major said the new policy came as a surprise to him.

“I understand where they (Financial Services) are coming from with demanding payment at the beginning of the semester,” he said. “But I think demanding a paid account and an advance housing payment at the same time is a financial burden for students.”

Kami Lewis
k.e.lewis@student.tcu.edu

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