Your experience at the University of Southern Maine is about preparing you academically for your future, but it’s also about the people you meet here and the experiences you have with them inside and outside the classroom. For housing assignments, we are offering shared interest communities where students can connect on common interests. RAs will program to the shared interest for the floor to help students find friends, community and a home at USM. In addition, we have many wonderful staff and faculty with shared interests to connect to these communities. Students will be able to preference these shared interest communities on their housing application.
What are the Shared Interest Communities?
- Honors Program (Anderson Hall) – Live together with others enrolled in the Honors minor! This community, housed in Anderson, includes classroom space and faculty offices within the building.
- Russell Scholars Program (Upton/Hastings Hall) – Our Russell Scholars Learning Community has been bringing students together to learn in a smaller group for nearly 30 years. We facilitate a close-knit, welcoming environment that integrates academic and social life and cultivates a home away from home within the larger University. We are here for students who seek out the support and direction of a close community. The Russell Scholars Program includes dedicated classrooms, a study lounge, and faculty offices on the first floor of the residence hall.
- Rainbow Floor (Robie/Andrews Hall) – We also offer both a first-year and an upper-class Rainbow floor for students who wish to live together on a community floor seeking to celebrate and support the lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans*, queer, questioning, intersex, and asexual (LGBTQIA+) community at USM.
- Creativity/Makers (Robie/Andrews Hall) – A space for students to connect with other Makers and express themselves through multiple creative means.
- Gaming (Upton/Hastings Hall) – Whether it’s video gaming, table gaming, or RPG, exercise your brain through engagement in games with peers.
- Health/Wellness (Upton/Hastings Hall) – Holistic Wellness, especially as transitioning to a more autonomous lifestyle is critical. Join a community of folks looking to eat well, sleep well, and take care of their bodies and minds.
- Student Leadership (Upton/Hastings Hall) – Looking to be a leader in the husky pack? Join some other go-getters, learning many tenants of good leadership, and get connected to ways to get involved at USM.
- Serenity (Anderson) – Looking for your oasis in the halls? Join a community looking for a calm, supportive atmosphere focused on personal wellness. Enjoy the quiet life, and some events like yoga and meditation. If LoFi music was a community, this would be it.
- Sustainability (Robie/Andrews Hall) – Connect with our EcoReps and Office of Sustainability to hear about how you can create a positive ecological impact in your new USM community. We also offer both a first-year and an upper-class Rainbow floor for students who wish to live together on a community floor seeking to celebrate and support the lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans*, queer, questioning, intersex, and asexual (LGBTQIA+) community at USM.
- FirstGen (Upton-Hastings) – Are you the first in your family to attend college, or do you feel like you could use some extra supports to decode college? Join a floor of others and get specific supports to help ramp up your college experience, support your goals and feed your motivations!
If you have any questions, do not hesitate to email us at usm.reslife@maine.edu
Frequently Asked Questions
- How are placements determined?
- Placements will be made based on application date, and then on shared interest community preferences. As communities fill up, we will then look at second and third preferences.
- Placements will be made based on application date, and then on shared interest community preferences. As communities fill up, we will then look at second and third preferences.
- What if I have a roommate I’d really like to live with?
- Wonderful! You’ll want to coordinate your roommate to rank your shared interest communities the same way to ensure a placement you are both happy with. We will prioritize requested roommates even if your community preferences are different.
- Wonderful! You’ll want to coordinate your roommate to rank your shared interest communities the same way to ensure a placement you are both happy with. We will prioritize requested roommates even if your community preferences are different.
- But wait… didn’t there used to be a class associated?
- Yes! The Husky PACC Course used to determine living communities. That class is on pause this year as the program is re-evaluated. That said, there is robust student engagement opportunities for students at the beginning of the semester and throughout the year to support student learning both in and outside the classroom