Updated: 10/15/08

By Katy Rasch

Hall Director

Since the fall semester is in full swing, we should again broach the topic of roommate conflicts in the residence halls.  In most cases the conflicts boil down to differences in opinion and not communicating effectively with one another. Differing ideas of clean, quiet and guests seem to cause the most concern in the halls.

So what can be done to prevent these problems? Open the lines of communication about the key concerns before an issue develops. Find a time when all your roommates can get together and go over standards for your room or suite. Some simple solutions available to help this conversation are the roommate agreement form and creating a cleaning schedule.

You can obtain roommate agreement forms from an RA. This may seem like a simple solution but opening up the lines of communication works.  Keep in mind that you are sharing a living space with people from different homes and with different ideals. Finally, realize that you all need to agree to the agreement in order for it to work.

Here are a couple of tips for success with roommate conflicts:

– Approach the topic in a calm manner. Take time to breathe before confronting the issues and understand that your roommates will probably have issues with you too.

– Go into the conversation with an open mind. Don’t think switching rooms will solve all your problems. You could have the same issues or worse in a new room.

– Set up a roommate/suite meeting. Most people would rather be confronted about problems by their roommate, not an outsider or a note.

– If things get heated or are not going anywhere then consider getting an un-biased mediator such as an RA to help you come to a resolution.