How to Help Your Eagle
We know that the support of parents and family members is a critical part of our students’ success! That’s why we want to offer as many resources as possible—so you can help educate and prepare your future Eagle to be well equipped for life at Georgia Southern.
Helpful Resources
One of the best ways you can prepare your student for success is by teaching them to be their own advocate—and that starts with being well informed! Below are some important issues to consider.
At Georgia Southern our mission is to pursue academic excellence. In order to support this mission the Academic Success Center (ASC) has developed a student-centered facility dedicated to promoting academic success among all students. Remind your student that the responsibility for their success falls ultimately on them.
College is a life-changing adjustment not only for students but also for parents. You get to witness your child grow and achieve a level of independence that can be both exhilarating and frightening. As you prepare for this profound change, consider discussing some of the new experiences and challenges your student will face. For example:
- Meeting people from different backgrounds and cultures
- Dealing with a new level of freedom
- Developing their own study habits
- Living with a roommate
- Staying motivated when things are hard
- Dealing with homesickness
- Balancing academics and extracurricular activities
- Making new friends
There’s no way to make this change easy, but by maintaining good communication, planning together and then finally stepping back, you can make the journey incredibly rewarding.
Living with a roommate will be one of the biggest learning curves your student faces. It’s a unique and highly valuable opportunity to learn good communication, responsibility, leadership and confidence. But these skills take work. Help your student prepare for this new chapter by coaching them and encouraging them to take full advantage of the resources and advisors Georgia Southern offers to promote healthy communal living. In particular:
- Parents are invaluable advisors—able to offer advice, perspective and support, while giving their child the freedom to make their own decisions and grow in responsibility.
- Their Resident Advisor (RA) is there to assist the student. At the beginning of the semester, the RA places a Roommate Agreement form in each room. This form serves as a binding contract between the roommates and outlines areas such as guest visitation, noise, study times and more. This form helps the RA to fairly and quickly mediate between roommates if there is a conflict.
- The student themself must be considerate of their roommate and learn how to both compromise and be assertive depending on the situation. One of the most valuable insights, however, is that attempting to see things from the other person’s point of view can solve a lot of problems.
Homesickness is a natural and good part of growing up and moving out—it means your student loves where they’re from! Do your best to support them in this challenge by encouraging them and reminding them that there are students all around them fighting the same battle and advisors willing to lend sympathy and support.
Georgia Southern takes its responsibility for a safe and healthy learning environment seriously, and enforces a strict alcohol and zero-tolerance drug policy on campus. Parents can learn more from our Student Code of Conduct.
The University System of Georgia provides eligible students with access to a comprehensive and competitively priced Student Health Insurance Plan (SHIP). For more information visit our bursar’s page.
The University System of Georgia has established immunization requirements for all new students as directed by policy consistent with recommendations provided by the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, developed collaboratively by the Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia and the Division of Public Health of the Georgia Department of Human Resources.
Learn what the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act means for you and your student.
Get a renter’s insurance policy. University Housing strongly advises that each resident carry individual renter’s insurance for his or her personal property in the event of a fire, flood, theft, hurricane, tornado, overflowing tubs, broken pipes, water main breaks, etc. Georgia Southern does not protect personal belongings from burglary, vandalism, fire, smoke, and other perils. Georgia Southern is partnering with GradGuard to offer an easy solution for students to purchase renter’s insurance from the on-campus housing application portal.
One of the keys for success in college that parents can assist their student with is managing the processes and the situations that your student will encounter while they are attending Georgia Southern. One way that you can do this is to help them take charge of a situation. Faculty and staff members will often respond more effectively when a student seeks out assistance rather than when a parent calls on their behalf. A great way that you can encourage this is to be familiar with some common situations your student may face and what is the best method of resolving it. Listed below are some common situations that your student may face. Please review the items below and if your student encounters one of them, then you can advise them on how to get help. At any time, feel free to contact our office with questions as we will be glad to answer any questions that you may have.
Are all students living on campus required to have a meal plan?
No, only first-year students are required to have a meal plan. If a student would like to select or change their meal plan, they would contact Eagle Dining.
Are pets allowed?
The only animals allowed in on campus residence halls are service and assistance animals and non-carnivorous fish housed in an aquarium that is 10-gallons or less. Guests and visitors are not allowed to bring pets into the residence halls. Students requesting an accommodation of a service or assistance animal should contact the main housing office to discuss the process for registering the animal with University Housing and the Student Accessibility Resource Center.
Can my student build a loft in his/her room?
Lofts are not allowed in any of the halls. The only exceptions are the provided junior loft beds in Centennial Place, Compass Point, Eagle Village, Freedom’s Landing, University Crossings, and Windward Commons. Kennedy Hall is provided with loftable beds and bedrails. The bedrails should not be removed if the bed is in the lofted position.
Can my student have a roommate of the opposite gender?
No.
Can my student have overnight guests?
Your student can have guests visit at any time and guests of the opposite gender may stay overnight. Overnight guests must be in compliance with the roommate agreement and university housing guest policy. All overnight guests must be registered with the hall office and may only stay overnight for three nights. Windward Commons on the Armstrong Campus is the only residence hall where guests must be checked in and out at the front desk of this community.
Can my student move if he/she does not like his/her roommate?
Depending on available space and after every effort has been made to resolve the conflict between your student and his/her roommate, yes, your student can move.
Can my student stay on campus during holidays?
Statesboro Campus: The residence halls are closed during the Winter Break except in Centennial Place, University Villas and Freedom’s Landing. If your student does not live in one of these spaces, they will have to make other arrangements for housing during the winter break period.
Armstrong Campus: All residence halls are closed during the Winter Break. Windward Commons is additionally closed during the Fall/Thanksgiving and Spring Breaks. Residents of the Armstrong Campus will be required to apply for any break stay. Residents will be notified of approval to stay via email and charges may be assessed to their student account. More details regarding break stay will be sent via student email at least three weeks prior to the break period.
Does my student have a curfew?
No. Your student does not have a curfew.
Does my student need a computer?
No. Your student does not need a computer. On the Statesboro Campus, all residence halls have computer labs and most of them are open 24 hrs. On the Armstrong Campus, residence halls are not equipped with computer labs. However, if your student is staying in a residence hall whose computer lab is not opened 24hrs or does not have a computer lab, students are welcome to use computer labs elsewhere on campus, including the library and designated study spaces on each campus.
Though a computer is not a necessity, it is a very useful tool to have. For more information about on-campus computer services, please visit https://its.georgiasouthern.edu/student-quick-start-guide/
Cancelling your Housing
The $150 housing application fee is non-refundable. The cancellation schedule for cancelling your housing on campus is based upon the date of cancellation. The fees can found outlined in your housing contract. Current and future year contracts can be found online on the University Housing Contract website.
If you have any questions regarding the terms of the housing contract, please contact our office at 912-478-5406.
How are the co-ed traditional residence halls divided?
Depending on the hall, co-ed halls are divided either by floor, or by wing or by floor and wing. All residence halls on the Georgia Southern Campus are co-ed.
How do I deposit money into my student’s Eagle Express account?
There are several ways in which this can be done. For more detailed information visit http://eagledining.georgiasouthern.edu
How often are the bathrooms cleaned in the community style residence hall?
Bathrooms are cleaned every morning except on weekends.
If my student brings a bike, does he/she have somewhere to store it?
All residence halls have several bike racks located outside of the residence halls where your student can store his/her bike.
If my student brings a car, where can they park?
If your student is staying in the residence hall, he/she must get a parking permit for the residence hall lot that he/she resides in. Visit http://parking.georgiasouthern.edu/ for more information.
What about refrigerators?
If your student lives in Centennial Place, Compass Point, Eagle Village, Southern Courtyard, Southern Pines, University Crossings, or Kennedy Super Suites, then the apartment comes with a full size refrigerator. All other residence hall rooms are equipped with a refrigerator/freezer in Watson Hall or Kennedy Traditional Suites or a micro-fridge at Windward Commons. On the Armstrong Campus, residents living on campus may bring an additional mini-fridge for their residential units.
What happens to my student’s Registration Fee ($150) if he/she decides to cancel his/her on-campus housing?
The Application fee is non-refundable if your student cancels his/her on-campus housing.
What if my student already has a roommate and he/she wants to live with someone else?
There are two options: (1) From the beginning of April until July 1, students can make a change request online through the Room Reassignment Request Form. The Housing Office will attempt to grant as many requests as possible during the summer. (2) The student can go through room/hall change after the halls open. The dates for room/hall change are posted in the residence halls, students should review their OMI booklet or they can look for signs posted in the hall.
What if my student does not want a roommate?
Unfortunately, given the growing rate of this campus, the considerable demand for on-campus housing and the limited number of beds, we are unable to provide students with single rooms.
What if my student has not yet been assigned a roommate, will he/she get one?
The Housing Office is continually filling spaces created by cancellations and moves. If your student does not have a roommate at the moment, he/she will probably have one soon.
What if my student wants to switch with another student to try and get with a friend?
If students want to do a swap, the students moving need to contact the housing office to make the request. Say Student 1 and Student 2 are roommates and Student 3 and Student 4 are roommates but Student 1 wants to be roommates with Student 3; Student 1 and Student 3 both need to request the move for it to be considered.
What is a RA?
The Residen Advisor is a vital member of the Georgia Southern University Housing Staff. The RA is a live-in member of the University Housing Staff and works with a group of students in the residential communities. The RA works with University Housing Resident Directors in establishing a positive living environment for the resident students. The RA’s immediate supervisor is the Resident Director.
What is a Resident Director or Graduate Resident Director?
The Resident Director is a full-time professional who lives in the residence hall to which he/she is assigned. The Resident Director supervises the RA staff. Graduate Resident Directors are graduate students at Georgia Southern who directly oversee the RA staff, hear student conduct cases, serve in an on-call rotation and assist with student learning.
What size are the beds in the residence halls?
Residents in Freedom’s Landing and Southern Pines will need full sized (double) sheets. Residents of Compass Point, Eagle Village, Kennedy, Southern Courtyard, University Crossings, Watson, and Windward Commons should purchase Extra Long (XL) 80″ twin sheets. For residents of Centennial Place, rooms in buildings beginning with a 1 or 2 have the extra long (80″) twin sheets, residents of rooms beginning with a 3 or 4 have regular full sized (double) beds.
When can my student start applying for housing next fall?
Beginning November 1, your student may apply for housing once they are accepted to Georgia Southern University and receive a letter by mail or email. They may access the application site with their EagleID and their initial password which will be sent via the email address on file with Admissions.
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