Spring Break
Roommate agreements can sign off conflict
Kimberly Primicerio
Issue date: 8/28/08 Section: Focus
"Tell the roommate what you can and can not tolerate. Let that be known so problems don't occur."
Brian Lee, a 7th-semester economics major said, "Be up front about it." Lee said this way problems don't really happen if everything is out in the open.
Disputes are frequent between roommates and ResLife tries to make these disputes less common with their roommate agreement form.
The agreement involves "roommate A" and "roommate B" in which each person checks off yes or no, on or off or fills in the blank to certain questions and listings. Roommates are asked when they go to bed, whether or not "roommate A" can have guests over while "roommate B" is studying, and if "roommate B" keeps IM alerts on after going to bed. The agreement inquires if roommates share personal belongings. Can roommate A use roommate B's TV, stereo or computer and so on. The agreement gets down to the specifics and asks each roommate what their pet peeves are and at what times roommates nap, shower, listen to music, socialize etc.
This type of roommate agreement has been in place for years and is updated every so often to help out the roommate dispute situation, according to ResLife.
Steve Kremer, executive director at ResLife said, "The roommate agreement is a highly structured device to get at levels of conversation between roommates." Kremer said the agreement is used to form discussion between the roommates.
"Even though more effort is going into finding compatible roommates, many students still have never had a roommate before," said Kremer, who added that even though ResLife tries their best to pair up people, sometimes its hard to match up people, especially if they've never lived with anyone before. Some roommates may complement one another while others are incompatible, said Kremer.
"Having a good roommate is having a good experience. It's an important part of college life," said the executive director.
Lee, who lived with a random roommate his first year at UConn, said the agreement worked. He never experienced a problem with his roommate; the agreement allowed the peers to co-exist without any issues.
Brian Lee, a 7th-semester economics major said, "Be up front about it." Lee said this way problems don't really happen if everything is out in the open.
Disputes are frequent between roommates and ResLife tries to make these disputes less common with their roommate agreement form.
The agreement involves "roommate A" and "roommate B" in which each person checks off yes or no, on or off or fills in the blank to certain questions and listings. Roommates are asked when they go to bed, whether or not "roommate A" can have guests over while "roommate B" is studying, and if "roommate B" keeps IM alerts on after going to bed. The agreement inquires if roommates share personal belongings. Can roommate A use roommate B's TV, stereo or computer and so on. The agreement gets down to the specifics and asks each roommate what their pet peeves are and at what times roommates nap, shower, listen to music, socialize etc.
This type of roommate agreement has been in place for years and is updated every so often to help out the roommate dispute situation, according to ResLife.
Steve Kremer, executive director at ResLife said, "The roommate agreement is a highly structured device to get at levels of conversation between roommates." Kremer said the agreement is used to form discussion between the roommates.
"Even though more effort is going into finding compatible roommates, many students still have never had a roommate before," said Kremer, who added that even though ResLife tries their best to pair up people, sometimes its hard to match up people, especially if they've never lived with anyone before. Some roommates may complement one another while others are incompatible, said Kremer.
"Having a good roommate is having a good experience. It's an important part of college life," said the executive director.
Lee, who lived with a random roommate his first year at UConn, said the agreement worked. He never experienced a problem with his roommate; the agreement allowed the peers to co-exist without any issues.
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