Housing Selection

Build Your Own Community is a student-led housing initiative that allows groups of students to live together around a shared interest, identity, or purpose while actively contributing to the larger residential experience. These communities are encouraged to engage beyond their group by offering programs or events for their floor and/or building, helping to foster connections throughout the building, and a sense of belonging. Priority will be given to groups that demonstrate clear plans for community programming and engagement. Through this initiative, students develop leadership skills by designing, organizing, and sustaining communities that reflect student interests, with support and resources provided by Residential Life.  These communities will be housed on Philippi 2nd floor, Upperclass 2nd floor or Woodward 2nd floor. Groups, when they apply, will be able to preference which community they’d like to be placed in.  If there is an abundance of interest, a team of students, staff and faculty will review applications and select the highest quality community applications. 

What kind of groups should apply?

Any groups of 8-32 students!  It could be a current floor that really enjoys each other’s company, or a club or organization. The goal is to give space to groups that are looking to actively create communities in the hall. Don’t limit yourself – if you have a great group interested in living together, or a great concept of a community, please apply!  

What are the important dates?

• March 6th: All group members need to apply for housing by this deadline.
• March 13th: Create Your Own Community Applications and Rosters are due by Noon in the ERez Housing Portal.
  • Groups who have opted for a Closed roster need to have all names to Residential Life in their application in ERez. 
  • Groups who have opted for an Open roster should have all known group members in the application in ERez, and Residential Life will add anyone else who has expressed interest. 
• March 13th: Financial holds must be resolved with Student Accounts
• March 17th: Group leads and members will be informed of their communities’ status by 4pm. 

How does my group apply?

The application is in the ERez Housing system. The designated Group Lead completes the application. Generally Residential Life will communicate with the Group Lead, except the share the status of the community, so everyone has confirmation of their housing assignment, or information that allows them to make an alternative plan for housing selection. 

What kind of events would we include in our application?

Events do not need to be large-scale to be meaningful. Successful communities focus on intentional, inclusive programming that invites connection and engagement. It should relate to your community theme. Bonus points if it connects students to a group or department on campus. Residential Life can assist with resources including funding for supplies or snacks, and guidance on advertising. 

Here are a few examples:

• Game or Movie Nights: Open, drop-in events for the floor or building such as board games, Mario Kart, Jackbox, or themed movie nights with snacks.
• Wellness & Stress-Relief Programs: Activities like guided meditation, yoga/stretching, group walks, or de-stress events during midterms and finals.
• Skill-Sharing or Interest Nights: Host informal sessions around a shared interest (crafting, writing, language basics, book discussions, music, etc).
• Service or Engagement Events: Donation drives, volunteer projects, sustainability initiatives, or community care events such as letter-writing or care-package assembly.

Can people who aren’t in our group join our community?

That’s up to you!  When you complete the application, you can choose if the community is “Open” (others can join and the community can be advertised) or “Closed” (others cannot join). Open is a great option for folks that have a concept but may not have many folks, or want to make room for new friends. For example, If I want to create a knitting floor but only have three knitting friends, I might keep it “Open” so others can join. However, if my current floor in Robie all wants to apply together, then perhaps we would opt for a “closed” application.

What happens if there are vacancies in our community?

The group lead will submit a roster by the deadline. After that, Residential Life will manage vacancies. Groups can request to fill the space, but we’d need to adhere to the policies of housing selection to maintain fairness. For example, we wouldn’t assign someone ahead of folks that applied three months earlier. As much as we can honor group norms of the community as we will vacancies, we will do so. 

What is expected of the Group Lead?

The Group Lead submits the application for the community on the housing portal, and helps with the group roster until the time of housing assignment. The Group Lead should respond to questions and inquiries within 24 hours to ensure timely decisions for all group members. 

Group leads will also be the contact for event logistics for the upcoming year. Other community members can volunteer to run events if the Group Lead would prefer. 

What about currently existing upperclass thematic housing communities?

To help develop active, thriving communities with invested students, these communities will also go through this process. That said, as it is the first year of this process, currently existing thematic upperclass communities will receive outreach and support through this process to foster continued community and continuity. We value these communities, some with storied and historic roots in Maine, and would like to see student leadership and agency thrive in these communities in the future as well. 

If there is a lot of interest, how will communities be decided?

Here is the rubric for how the applications will be assessed (accessible to anyone logged into their UMaine system account).  A committee including staff and students will review the applications.