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Apartment Living For Students of
Different Genders
2010-2011 Leasing Information

In Spring 2007, the University of Maryland Residence Hall Association (RHA) passed a resolution supporting the implementation of a pilot program to assess the University’s ability to offer an apartment housing option in South Campus Commons and The Courtyards at Maryland communities where men and women could share the same multi-bedroom apartment. Many universities offer options for students to live in an apartment-setting with students of a different gender.

The University of Maryland offers a program in South Campus Commons and The Courtyards where students of different genders can choose to live within the same apartment. South Campus Commons and The Courtyards apartments offer apartment-style housing with the privacy of single bedrooms. These apartments also have multiple, lockable bathrooms within each unit; allowing residents of the apartment to designate each bathroom for use by a specific gender.

A limited number of apartments are designated as program units. Priority for selecting spaces will first go to current South Campus Commons and The Courtyards residents who are eligible to renew current leases, followed by students currently living in on-campus residence halls who will enter their third year in college in the upcoming Fall semester.

Residents who apply to participate in this program should understand and be prepared to meet the following expectations:

• Determine your group of four friends before each of you submits your program application. Only applications from students who apply together as apartment-mates and can completely fill 4-bedroom units will be reviewed.
• Apply only if you intend to remain in the apartment for the entirety of the lease (for example, don’t apply if you already know you may want to attempt to re-lease your room before the end of the leasing year because you want to study abroad, you want to be away from College Park for the summer, you plan to graduate in December, etc.)
• Attend a mandatory pre-leasing meeting in February (approved applicants only).
• Be flexible, open-minded, and willing to work together with apartment-mates, Resident Life, and SCC/CTY staff to make your apartment living experience a successful one. With any program, unanticipated and unexpected situations and circumstances may arise. Your flexibility, cooperation, and collaboration will help your living experience to be a terrific one and will help our staff learn much information from this program!

Students interested in participating must submit an online application by the December 1st application deadline and meet certain eligibility requirements. Application materials will require each applicant to identify the other students with whom they wish to live. Each person in the group must submit an individual application. Only applications submitted by those students who have identified their entire group will be reviewed.

Note: if you apply to this program and don’t currently live in South Campus Commons or The Courtyards, you must also complete a separate SCC/CTY leasing application in early February.

Before you decide if this program might be a good option for you, ask yourself the following questions and discuss with your parents/family:

1. Do I want to live in an apartment with students of different genders?
2. Are my parents/lease guarantor aware and supportive of my interest in living in an apartment with students of different genders?
3. Can I make the commitment to remain in the apartment for the entirety of the leasing period? (all apartments are 11.5 month leases)
4. If a vacancy were to occur in the apartment throughout the year, would I feel comfortable living with someone of a different gender whom I did not know?*

If you answered “no” to any of the questions above, the program may not be the best housing option for you.

*Although students will apply for this program with the expectation of remaining in the apartment for the entire leasing year, unexpected situations may arise which may cause a vacancy to occur. Although leasing staff will work with apartment-mates to find an eligible pull-in when possible, SCC/CTY management reserves the right to assign a new occupant of any gender to vacancies that occur within these apartment units.