WEBVTT 1 00:00:05.090 --> 00:00:28.630 Leanne Caron: Good morning, everyone! Welcome to Living on Campus, Living in Residence, Living in Guelph, everything you need to know about housing when you come to the University of Guelph. My name is Leanne Curan, I'm the Manager of Occupancy for Student Housing Services, and I am privileged to be joined today by some of my colleagues, and I'll let them introduce themselves. Kayla, do you want to start? 2 00:00:29.820 --> 00:00:45.240 Kayla Da Silva: Sounds good. Hi, my name is Kayla. I work at Student Housing Services. My position is Marketing and Communications Specialist, and I'm really excited to be here and speak with all of you today about really important information about residents and living on campus. 3 00:00:46.490 --> 00:01:05.710 Aadya K: Thanks, Kayla. Hi folks, my name is Adia. I am a fourth-year undergraduate student here at University of Guelph. I also work as a student staff at Student Housing Services, and I'm an international student from India, and I'm really excited to just chat about living on residence and the amazing experience you can have. 4 00:01:06.010 --> 00:01:30.879 Leanne Caron: Great. Thanks, Aja and Kayla. So we're going to get started with our presentation. Just as we're presenting, there is an open Q&A, and if you have questions, we hope that most of your questions are going to be answered in the presentation. If they are not, please feel free to add them to the Q&A, and we're fortunate to have folks from International Admissions, Annalise and Shabir here with us. They are going to be answering questions 5 00:01:30.880 --> 00:01:54.650 Leanne Caron: in the Q&A, and at the end, if we have time, we'll answer some of those questions live, so we'll get started. Let's just, let's just say we are ready for you in Fall 26. We're really excited. We believe that living on campus is where… is where, really where your experience as a Griffin is going to come to life. Thankfully, we have lots of capacity for you, over 5,000 spaces and residents. 6 00:01:54.650 --> 00:02:19.599 Leanne Caron: And over 3,000 of those spaces are in single rooms. We have 15 different residence buildings, we call them communities, offering all different types of residence. We have 5 living learning communities, we're going to talk about what that means. We have 5 full-service dining halls, over 150 residence life staff, and we're ranked number one for residents living in our 7 00:02:19.600 --> 00:02:22.000 Leanne Caron: Canadian magazine, McLean's. 8 00:02:22.340 --> 00:02:28.340 Leanne Caron: There's lots of great reasons to live on campus, but Ajaya, you're an international student, what are those great reasons? 9 00:02:28.340 --> 00:02:45.409 Aadya K: Yeah, so when I was planning to move to Canada, I was very much debating, should I live off campus or on campus? And I'm so glad I chose to live on campus, because living on campus helps you get a taste of independence along with a lot of supports. 10 00:02:45.410 --> 00:02:59.800 Aadya K: One of the best things about living on campus is it is really convenient to go to your classes. Almost all of our residences kind of surround the campus, so it's about a 5-10 minute walk from wherever you're living on campus. 11 00:02:59.800 --> 00:03:09.349 Aadya K: There are a lot of extracurricular opportunities you can get involved in within residence and outside, too. There are opportunities for the Interhall Council that we'll talk in the 12 00:03:09.610 --> 00:03:26.379 Aadya K: slides, further in the slides, and other opportunities to just connect with your community. I, myself, currently live in International House, which I'm going to talk about it again in the further slides, but you can connect with other international students and get a lot of, exposure. 13 00:03:26.380 --> 00:03:45.390 Aadya K: And there's a lot of academic support and mentorship available when you're living on campus, too. So, we have clusters, we're gonna talk about that, academic clusters, where you basically live with an upper-year student who is in the same program as you, and they help you navigate the transition from high school to university life. 14 00:03:45.820 --> 00:04:03.219 Aadya K: There's 24-hour assistance on campus, so there are 3 desks. There is East, North, and South. South and north desks are 24 hours, and East Desk is open till 3AM, which is amazing, because when you get locked out of your room in the middle of the night, they're there to get you back in. 15 00:04:03.630 --> 00:04:21.329 Aadya K: And you meet and make your lifelong friends. I still talk with my first-year suitemates and housemates from my townhouses, and I have lived in on residence as staff since my second year, and I still continue to make those friendships and have connections. 16 00:04:22.250 --> 00:04:45.330 Leanne Caron: Great, thanks, Adya. So, it's really simple. If you are an international student coming for your first year at the University of Guelph, you are guaranteed a place in residence for the full duration of your studies in your undergraduate degree. Your part of the deal is you have to submit your residence application and your $750 deposit. 17 00:04:45.330 --> 00:04:55.959 Leanne Caron: by June 1st. And that is all done online. You can submit your deposit online, you'll get a confirmation as soon as everything gets submitted, so you'll know that it's gone through successfully. 18 00:04:55.960 --> 00:05:02.579 Leanne Caron: But you are guaranteed a space for the full duration of your undergraduate degree if you continue to live in residence each year. 19 00:05:03.450 --> 00:05:12.490 Leanne Caron: We're going to talk a bit now about the different resident styles, because when you fill out your application form, you're going to be asked what your preferences are for different residents. So, over to you, Kayla. 20 00:05:13.180 --> 00:05:38.100 Kayla Da Silva: Yeah, so we have lots of different residence styles on campus. We have lots of stuff here, so for our traditional style, you'll find that style of room in the south residences, North Residences, and Gordon Hall. We also have suite styles, so usually you would share… you would have a bedroom, a kitchenette, sometimes even a full kitchen, depending on the residence, and a shared washroom between your roommates within those suites. 21 00:05:38.100 --> 00:06:02.859 Kayla Da Silva: suites. Those suites are available in Lambton and also the East Residences, and we also offer townhouses. So these townhouses are located, in East Village or West Village. In the townhouses, usually there are four bedrooms, so you'd have four roommates, you would share a common space, and a full kitchen. The great thing is, all of our residences are 22 00:06:02.860 --> 00:06:08.009 Kayla Da Silva: About a 5-7 minute walk from the heart of campus, which is incredibly convenient. 23 00:06:08.010 --> 00:06:30.760 Kayla Da Silva: As you can see here, we have a beautiful bird's-eye view of our campus. Isn't she lovely? You can see here the different residences, everything is really close, to Central Campus, so even walking through those winter, those Canadian winters, you can still get to your classes or visit another friend on campus really easily. 24 00:06:32.320 --> 00:06:57.270 Kayla Da Silva: So let's get into, some room layouts. So here we have a typical single room. On the left-hand side here, we have the South Alcove. This is a single room located in one of our biggest residences, South Residence. In every room, you'll have a standard twin bed, a wardrobe, or a closet, depending on the residence. You'll have a 25 00:06:57.270 --> 00:06:58.680 Kayla Da Silva: A desk, a chair. 26 00:06:58.680 --> 00:07:10.279 Kayla Da Silva: lamp, lots of storage space, and unlimited Wi-Fi. And then on the right-hand side here is another sample of a single room layout, in Lenox and Addington. 27 00:07:11.500 --> 00:07:36.209 Kayla Da Silva: And here is a typical double room. On the left-hand side, we have a sample of a layout in East Residence. As you can see, this one has more wardrobe storage space, lots of space to store your belongings, and here on the right-hand side, in Johnston Hall, in this double room, you'll be provided with your own walk-in closet, and you would be living with your roommate there. 28 00:07:36.210 --> 00:07:45.050 Kayla Da Silva: And again, all rooms come with the standard twin bed, wardrobe, desk, chair, lamp, storage space, and unlimited Wi-Fi. 29 00:07:53.430 --> 00:08:02.890 Aadya K: So, you all must be wondering, why should I live on campus? What is something that you get offered when you're living on residence? So. 30 00:08:02.890 --> 00:08:21.750 Aadya K: you're not just coming here to live, you're making this place your home for 8 months, and maybe a little bit more, if you choose to come back. And we offer a lot of different kind of opportunities for students to get involved and enhance their experience. So we have 3 residence living and learning communities. 31 00:08:21.750 --> 00:08:28.460 Aadya K: So, we have our academic learning communities, we have living learning communities, and we have themed learning communities. 32 00:08:28.460 --> 00:08:48.159 Aadya K: So academic learning communities, you can apply or choose to be in one of those, so you'll specify that on your application, and here you're placed based on your program. So students who are in the same program get placed together. So, for example, in a whole tower, it's all students who are in Bachelor of Arts. On a whole floor, it are students… 33 00:08:48.280 --> 00:09:06.170 Aadya K: It's all students from a Bachelor of Science program, and you'll have an upper-year student who has gone through what you're going through, and can help you navigate different challenges that you come across, that you may come across while transitioning to university. In the past, we have seen students who live in our academic learning communities 34 00:09:06.170 --> 00:09:08.779 Aadya K: Form 3% better than other students. 35 00:09:08.860 --> 00:09:14.029 Aadya K: Our Living Learning communities are really cool. This is somewhere I live right now. 36 00:09:14.300 --> 00:09:21.469 Aadya K: I am the RALLC, which is Residence Assistant Living Learning Communities. I host different kinds of events. 37 00:09:21.470 --> 00:09:38.740 Aadya K: So we offer 5 of these. We offer Arts House, International House, Eco House, Indigenous House, and La Maison Francais. And in next year, we are also introducing a leadership house, so that will help you, kind of, get exposure to leadership opportunities. 38 00:09:38.740 --> 00:09:42.210 Aadya K: And a lot of different kind of hands-on experiences. 39 00:09:42.210 --> 00:09:57.929 Aadya K: Something really good about this is it is not program-based, so someone who's in Bachelor of Science can opt… can apply for Arts House, and when they do that, you can live with students who are really artistically inclined and decorate your place and make it really fun. 40 00:09:58.210 --> 00:10:10.200 Aadya K: And finally, we have theme learning communities. So, theme learning communities are based on students who have similar lifestyle preferences. It can be either if you're a substance-free, if you choose not to, 41 00:10:10.200 --> 00:10:23.350 Aadya K: engage with different substances and choose to be substance-free. If you would like a study-intensive space, these two are more so, like, you can opt into these and be like, I want a space that is not that loud, so I would like to be in a study-intensive place. 42 00:10:23.350 --> 00:10:41.949 Aadya K: But if you're a Wars Day athlete, your coach will nominate you to be a part of the worst day athlete cluster, and once that is through, you can be a part of a cluster and live with your teammates, which is a really great opportunity for you to connect and make those strong bonds. So, these are some really great options for you to get connected with people. 43 00:10:41.950 --> 00:10:43.680 Aadya K: And food, oh my god. 44 00:10:44.040 --> 00:11:07.270 Aadya K: I did not know the food was gonna be so amazing when I moved here. So, I've lived here for 4 years, I have still not gotten tired of the food. We are number one in all of Canada for campus food, and it is amazing. I'm vegetarian, and I've never had a problem finding food. When I was moving to Canada, my mom was like, what are you gonna eat? You are a vegetarian, you don't eat meat. 45 00:11:07.270 --> 00:11:11.540 Aadya K: And I was like, it's okay, mom, they have great food there. And then I came here, and… 46 00:11:11.540 --> 00:11:32.450 Aadya K: It's beautiful. If you are vegetarian, vegan, kosher, halal, they have all options, and if you have any allergies, you just have to tell the person who's making your food, and they'll make sure that they abide by it, and it's just really accommodating, and very tasty food, like, looking at it, my mouth is watering, I might go for brunch later. 47 00:11:34.030 --> 00:11:38.299 Aadya K: And… When you're living on campus, there is… 48 00:11:38.300 --> 00:12:00.900 Aadya K: So all that support that I was talking about, you know, getting taste of independence with those supports. So your biggest support when you're moving on campus is your residence assistant. I loved my residence assistant in first year. He helped me connect with different clubs on campus, different community groups. He helped me… he introduced me to Indian Student Association, and also Student Wellness Services. 49 00:12:00.900 --> 00:12:08.100 Aadya K: So they are a really good touchpoint for you to connect with different resources within your campus, and just, like, kind of. 50 00:12:08.580 --> 00:12:26.849 Aadya K: get all the good use of resources that you may or may not know about. And to support residence assistance, because we are students as well, we are residence life managers, who are basically building managers that just, make sure that RAs are supported well, and if there's something that is beyond our scope, they help us with it. 51 00:12:26.850 --> 00:12:43.469 Aadya K: There's Interhall Council, who are phenomenal at hosting different kinds of events for students. They also host the Orientation week, which is one week full of a lot of fun activities, club stays, there are concerts and fun events happening all over the campus. 52 00:12:43.510 --> 00:12:45.869 Aadya K: And at the core of all of this. 53 00:12:45.870 --> 00:13:05.709 Aadya K: It's community building for us. We always want to make sure that we are helping you create those connections, and we achieve that by working with our campus partners. We work with our student experience department, our student wellness services, just to make sure that you have a phenomenal experience when you're living on campus. 54 00:13:06.050 --> 00:13:12.770 Aadya K: So, I'm gonna pass it on to Leanne to talk a little bit more about applying to residence and how that might work. 55 00:13:19.310 --> 00:13:21.799 Aadya K: Lane, you're on mute, I think. 56 00:13:56.890 --> 00:14:01.109 Aadya K: I can talk about the application process, till… 57 00:14:01.760 --> 00:14:26.519 Aadya K: That works out. So, basically, application process, it's available on our residence website, so if you go to housing at yogwelf.ca, we have the entire process outlined there. There's step-by-step instructions on each and every point when you're applying. So, some of the most important things when you're applying for, residence is make sure that you keep in mind that, what's your deadline? 58 00:14:26.520 --> 00:14:30.579 Aadya K: which is June 1st, just to make sure that, 59 00:14:30.830 --> 00:14:48.300 Aadya K: I believe international students are guaranteed, so your guarantee is in place for that. Also, there are residence tour videos and different ways outlined on how you can pay your deposit. So, for international students, I believe there's credit card option that you can pay. 60 00:14:48.440 --> 00:14:50.079 Aadya K: You deposit through. 61 00:14:50.080 --> 00:15:09.489 Aadya K: And, some things that to keep in mind when you're applying for a residence is there's different process… When you're filling out the application, we ask you different questions. So we ask you questions like, what residence would you like to live in? And you can pick up to 6 options of where would you like to live. 62 00:15:09.490 --> 00:15:27.029 Aadya K: And we ask two things. We ask what kind of room type you want to live in, and what building you want to live in. So, just when you're selecting, make sure you're like, I want to live in a single room in Johnston Hall, or I want to live in a double room in Johnston Hall. The reason we ask you for all these options is because when 63 00:15:27.030 --> 00:15:41.489 Aadya K: When we're placing you in a room, it is based on the lottery system, so it might not… it could be possible that you don't get your first option, but you get your sixth option. And how that works is basically, when we roll the random lottery. 64 00:15:41.850 --> 00:15:56.450 Aadya K: you were randomly assigned a number, and based on that number, we see, for example, Kayla got, lottery number 50, and she asked for her first option to be, 65 00:15:56.730 --> 00:16:20.639 Aadya K: Johnston single. 50 number is not a really bad lottery number, and we have Johnston rooms available, so we gave Kayla her Johnston single. But, I rolled a lottery number of 4500, and my first option was also Johnston singles, but we had very limited of those available, so we went to my second option and see if that is available. I asked for a South Single. 66 00:16:20.640 --> 00:16:27.650 Aadya K: There are a lot of South Singles available, so I get South Single. So it basically depends on how many of what we have. 67 00:16:27.650 --> 00:16:38.449 Aadya K: That is available for you, and how many rooms we have available, what your lottery number is, what you asked for, and what your preferences are. 68 00:16:38.450 --> 00:16:44.520 Aadya K: So, we also ask what your preferences are, as in would you prefer to live in a single room… in a room type? 69 00:16:44.520 --> 00:16:58.949 Aadya K: a building type, or a living learning community. So you will have to specify that on your application. So just make sure when you're filling it out, you read through properly, and you ensure you are making… putting your choices according to what you want. 70 00:16:58.950 --> 00:17:11.080 Aadya K: And check out the tours online, because more times than not, international students cannot visit in person. So that was my biggest support, was just checking out the tours online and making sure I see what I like and what works the best for me. 71 00:17:11.150 --> 00:17:17.560 Aadya K: And we also ask you some personality questions, which help us pair you with roommates, in case you. 72 00:17:17.560 --> 00:17:41.339 Leanne Caron: So I can… sorry, I can cover that, because I… sorry, I lost my mouse there for a bit, and I hope you can hear me now. I just want to note on this slide, if you are an international student, your deadline is that June 1st date, so I don't want anyone to be confused. The gold bar, if you're offered by March 1st, that's for, Ontario domestic students. 73 00:17:41.340 --> 00:17:47.289 Leanne Caron: They have an earlier deadline, but you, as an international student, your deadline is June the 1st. 74 00:17:48.240 --> 00:18:04.039 Leanne Caron: So, you don't have to worry about getting your application in early. And then, as Adia was about to, to cover for me about the roommates and suitemates, thank you, Adya. After the application has closed, so after June 1st. 75 00:18:04.090 --> 00:18:25.600 Leanne Caron: We will go back out to you, and we will reopen the portion of the application where you can add information about a preferred roommate. So if you do have someone coming, a friend that you know, and you do want to add someone to your application for, to be your roommate or suitemate, you can add them to your application. 76 00:18:25.680 --> 00:18:29.050 Leanne Caron: And that'll be open from June 3rd to June 15th. 77 00:18:29.080 --> 00:18:33.189 Leanne Caron: You must request each other, and you can add up to 5 people. 78 00:18:33.190 --> 00:18:54.640 Leanne Caron: But, as Agia was about to say, if you don't know anyone coming, and you still want to have a multi-occupancy room, because you want the experience, or for cost, you can fill out some personal questions. Not too personal, don't worry, we ask you things like, what time you like to wake up in the morning, what time do you do your best studying? 79 00:18:54.640 --> 00:19:07.970 Leanne Caron: Are you a neat person, or are you a little bit more freestyle? And then, we use those questions to help to match you with someone who is compatible. So, that's part of your application as well. 80 00:19:08.280 --> 00:19:11.730 Leanne Caron: And, and you can do that right up until June the 15th. 81 00:19:13.440 --> 00:19:36.909 Leanne Caron: So one of the things that we hear a lot is, what is the best residence? And the answer we always give is the one you live in. And the reason we say that is because there… everyone wants something different from their campus experience. So, if you're looking for a busy area with lots of people all around, lots of opportunities for events and activities, you're going to choose a different residence. 82 00:19:36.910 --> 00:19:47.600 Leanne Caron: If you're… if you want a single room, you want quiet study space, you want a smaller group of… of people, say a townhouse, 4 people in a townhouse. 83 00:19:47.600 --> 00:19:56.859 Leanne Caron: you're going to choose a different residence. So there's no best residence in general, there's only what's best for you and what you're hoping to get from your experience on campus. 84 00:19:56.990 --> 00:20:20.630 Leanne Caron: As well, almost all of our residences are 98% first-year students, so everyone you're living with is creating the community from the ground up. Every residence is different every year based on the people who live there. Our experience has been, no matter what residence you are assigned, you're going to be meeting people and having a great experience. 85 00:20:20.630 --> 00:20:27.260 Leanne Caron: That's the most important thing. So once you get your mind all around that, What comes next? 86 00:20:27.840 --> 00:20:28.960 Leanne Caron: Move in. 87 00:20:29.010 --> 00:20:53.959 Leanne Caron: your move-in date, you're going to go to your room, bring some things from home that personalize it. We know you might not have a lot of room in suitcases, you can bring small things that can personalize your room. And every year we have a room decorating contest, and I always love seeing some of the room decorations that people… how they've created space within their own environment to make it 88 00:20:53.960 --> 00:20:55.270 Leanne Caron: feel like home? 89 00:20:55.470 --> 00:21:06.759 Leanne Caron: The other thing we offer is we do have a bed in a bag, so you can pre-order all of your linens, so you don't have to bring those from home. That'll really save… save space when packing. 90 00:21:06.810 --> 00:21:22.780 Leanne Caron: You can rent a fridge, a small mini fridge in your room, so you've always got room to put beverages and things that need to stay cold, and that can be delivered to your room before you get here. An easy way to do that is just to order online. We'll send you all that information in the summer. 91 00:21:23.970 --> 00:21:48.929 Leanne Caron: Move-in is the first weekend in September, so this year it's September 4th until the 6th. However, as an international student, you will likely, participate in START International. START International is an orientation program designed for you, designed for international students to help orient you to campus, orient you to, living in the city of Guelph. 92 00:21:48.930 --> 00:22:13.919 Leanne Caron: getting a bank account, the transit system, all the things to help you feel comfortable in your new community. And all international students attending START International will be given early arrival approval to come and move into residence early, before all of the other students arrive, so you can get settled in a little early. You'll be sent lots of information in advance about that. So don't make any travel arrangements. 93 00:22:13.920 --> 00:22:18.190 Leanne Caron: until you receive that information. Last but not least. 94 00:22:18.370 --> 00:22:24.539 Leanne Caron: This conversation doesn't end today. This is just preliminary information. 95 00:22:24.870 --> 00:22:27.340 Leanne Caron: We've got lots of other ways for you to contact us. 96 00:22:28.420 --> 00:22:51.180 Kayla Da Silva: Yeah, so, if you feel like there's more you want to learn about student housing, I definitely recommend, following us on Instagram. We're always posting updates on there, whether it's about campus life, or different programming happening in our residences, or even, point of views of our students making reels of their experience of living in residence. 97 00:22:51.180 --> 00:23:00.320 Kayla Da Silva: So definitely follow our Instagram. We also have a TikTok as well. If you do have any more questions, please feel free to email us. We have wonderful staff who are here to answer your questions. 98 00:23:00.320 --> 00:23:12.839 Kayla Da Silva: We have a lot of information on our website as well, virtual tours if you want to learn more about what the residences look like, about the academic support, our community living, just… 99 00:23:12.840 --> 00:23:20.359 Kayla Da Silva: Go to our website, and if you prefer asking your questions verbally, definitely give us a call as well, and we are more than happy to help. 100 00:23:21.160 --> 00:23:39.630 Leanne Caron: Great. So we've got a little bit of time, we've got about 7 minutes of time, which we… we planned on, because we'd like to be able to answer your questions online. So I'm gonna… I'm gonna stop sharing, and I'm going to, bring us all back together into a, a room, and we're gonna look at the, we're gonna look at the… 101 00:23:39.960 --> 00:23:49.669 Leanne Caron: the, Q&A, and get a flavor of your questions, and, and get those questions answered online. 102 00:23:50.140 --> 00:23:52.690 Leanne Caron: So, 103 00:23:53.340 --> 00:24:17.269 Leanne Caron: let's… I don't know who wants to moderate these questions, but we're getting a lot of off-campus questions, so let me… let me address some of those. Yes, you can absolutely live off-campus. Sometimes, depending on what you're looking for, it can be less expensive, and there is lots of off-campus housing close to the university. As part of your student fees, you also receive 104 00:24:17.270 --> 00:24:31.220 Leanne Caron: a transit pass, and the transit pass, allows you to use our local transit system, unlimited, and you can live anywhere in the city. We're a city of about 150,000 people. 105 00:24:31.220 --> 00:24:55.740 Leanne Caron: And we're very much a university town, so there's lots of rental housing available. We do have an off-campus living office that can help you with finding a place to live off-campus. For international students, it can be very difficult to find off-campus housing while you're living internationally. And I will warn that there are some scams out there where 106 00:24:55.740 --> 00:25:04.679 Leanne Caron: landlord might try to give you… ask you for a deposit without seeing the accommodation, so we do recommend that you arrive in Canada. 107 00:25:04.850 --> 00:25:15.949 Leanne Caron: And arrange any of your off-campus housing while you're in Canada, so you can physically look at the space that you're renting, and that will protect you from 108 00:25:15.950 --> 00:25:40.809 Leanne Caron: any unscrupulous landlords who might be taking… trying to take advantage of you. For your second, third, and fourth year, the guarantee that we give you when you come to residence is that you can live on campus for the full four years, as long as you continuously move in residence… live in residence. But I would say about half of our students do go off campus in their upper years. They meet people, they find roommates. 109 00:25:40.810 --> 00:25:50.079 Leanne Caron: They get involved in clubs, they want more independent living, or for cost, and can find off-campus housing after your first year. 110 00:25:50.370 --> 00:26:14.699 Leanne Caron: There's also opportunities to… and maybe I'll let Adya take this if you're not in the middle of a Q&A, but if you are… if cost is a factor, and living off campus is a cost savings, there are ways for you to fund your education. You can become a residence assistant and work in residence. It covers about the cost of living in residence, including, a basic meal plan. 111 00:26:14.770 --> 00:26:25.529 Leanne Caron: There's other desk services jobs, or jobs with athletics or hospitality services. But, Ajay, you've lived in residence all of your university years. Can you talk about that? 112 00:26:25.530 --> 00:26:38.310 Aadya K: Absolutely. Before I jump into that, Leigh Ann, I was wondering, if students do opt to live off campus, and they have applied for residence, can they cancel and get their full deposit back? 113 00:26:38.340 --> 00:26:47.980 Leanne Caron: That is correct. So, if you, if you, apply, you can get a fully refundable deposit up until June 1st. 114 00:26:48.160 --> 00:27:04.470 Leanne Caron: After June 1st, your deposit is non-refundable. Now, there are exceptions to that rule. If you cannot register, if you do not get your study permit approved, we will defer your offer of admission, and we will give you a full refund of your deposit. 115 00:27:05.650 --> 00:27:22.709 Aadya K: Awesome, thank you, and now I can talk a little bit about being an RA! So, I lived in residence in my first year as an international student, and in my second year, I applied… well, in my first year and my second semester, I applied to be a residence assistant. So. 116 00:27:22.920 --> 00:27:29.289 Aadya K: The benefit of being an RA, there are so many of them, but some of my favorite ones are being able to live on campus. 117 00:27:29.290 --> 00:27:45.770 Aadya K: connect with the incoming class of students. I am… it's like taking an older sibling role, and just supporting students while they're living on campus, and I really enjoy connecting with the incoming students. I love talking with international students, that's why I'm an international house. 118 00:27:45.770 --> 00:28:09.660 Aadya K: And it helps me offset the cost of housing in a way that, I pay for housing, but I also get paid, so that kind of offsets it. But at the same time, I will definitely say, look into the RA position if that is something you would be interested in, because even though, it is an on-campus position, there are definitely duties of the job that you need to, make sure 119 00:28:09.660 --> 00:28:14.430 Aadya K: You, like, make sure you like the job, and don't just apply for the job, because 120 00:28:14.430 --> 00:28:31.129 Aadya K: It gives you on-campus housing, just because it is a really great opportunity to connect with students on campus, and also make connections with campus departments, for future, and it will also help you make some connections for the future once you graduate. 121 00:28:32.090 --> 00:28:43.950 Leanne Caron: Okay, great. There's a question about what are the different gender, definitions, gender inclusive, co-ed, and single gender. Adya, can I ask you to address that one as well? 122 00:28:43.950 --> 00:28:57.640 Aadya K: Yes, absolutely. So, we offer different kinds of gender options. So, when I say that, when you're filling out your application, we ask you if you would like to be in a single gender space, a co-ed space, or a gender-inclusive space. 123 00:28:57.640 --> 00:29:10.900 Aadya K: So, when we say single gender space, it means that people who will be living either in your suite or the person who's your roommate, where you're sharing the same room, would be the same gender as you, or the gender that you identify as. 124 00:29:10.900 --> 00:29:16.039 Aadya K: We have one building, which is entirely single-gender, which is Watson Hall. 125 00:29:16.070 --> 00:29:33.550 Aadya K: Which is all female residents, but other than that, all of our residents are co-ed. So when I say co-ed, it's basically in the building, there will be people of all gender identities living, but if you're in a multi-occupancy room, so if you're in a double, triple, or a quad room. 126 00:29:33.550 --> 00:29:38.509 Aadya K: The people living in the room or sharing the space with you would be the same gender as yourself. 127 00:29:38.510 --> 00:29:41.519 Aadya K: Unless you opt for gender-inclusive housing. 128 00:29:41.820 --> 00:29:43.949 Aadya K: So, in general, also, sorry. 129 00:29:43.950 --> 00:29:44.890 Leanne Caron: Nope, go ahead, go ahead. 130 00:29:44.890 --> 00:29:54.429 Aadya K: Okay, so in gender-inclusive housing, it's basically, like, when you apply and you opt in for gender-inclusive housing, so there's a check mark that you have to do for, like. 131 00:29:54.430 --> 00:30:06.740 Aadya K: single gender co-ed or gender-inclusive housing, and if you choose that, basically, we do not look at your gender or another person who might have asked for gender-inclusive housing when we're placing you together. 132 00:30:06.740 --> 00:30:25.750 Aadya K: And you could be room with someone of opposite gender, someone who's non-binary or gender inclusive, just to kind of make sure that everyone is in a comfortable and safe environment, and there will be option… well, there will be gender-inclusive bathroom either on that floor or closer to that suite. 133 00:30:27.400 --> 00:30:36.889 Leanne Caron: Thanks, Adjia, and I'm going to ask you to address the third question, only because I know how much experience you have. How does the meal plan work? Can you kind of describe how the card works? 134 00:30:36.890 --> 00:30:51.889 Aadya K: Absolutely. So, I have my student card right here. Oh, you folks can't see it, but my student card is a lot of things for me. It is my bus pass, it is my meal plan card, it is also my building access card, so it is kind of… 135 00:30:51.890 --> 00:31:05.359 Aadya K: one of the most important physical things you'll have when you're on campus, and what happens is, it's like a debit card. So, basically, whichever meal plan that you purchase, so there are different levels of meal plans that are offered, there is 136 00:31:05.360 --> 00:31:15.109 Aadya K: Ultra Plan, there's minimum, there is, light, varsity, so I think there are 5 of them. I think we can put in a link in the 137 00:31:15.110 --> 00:31:32.879 Aadya K: chat to just share it with you folks, what all we have. But based on whichever you purchase, the money will be put on your student card. And basically, you go to the dining hall, and everything has the price listed right next to it. You'll be like, okay, I want, for example, the Shorma Bowl. 138 00:31:32.880 --> 00:31:55.120 Aadya K: whatever the Sharma Wolf price is, there will be residence meal plan cost and cash cost listed there. So you will be charged for the residence meal plan cost, and you will go to the register till you have to cross through it, and you will just tap your student card, and you'll pay for it. And you can add meal plan money at any point in time on, 139 00:31:55.120 --> 00:32:02.420 Aadya K: The online portal for it, that hospitality has, and you can also change your meal plan. 140 00:32:02.450 --> 00:32:14.110 Aadya K: If you'd like. And there's also something called Flex Dollars. So, a part of your meal plan is put as flex dollars, which you can use either at the university bookstore. 141 00:32:14.500 --> 00:32:37.159 Aadya K: Or you can use some of the off-campus food partners. So, for example, Dairy Queen, I don't know how many of you folks might know about it, but it's an ice cream shop, and they take our student cards. So, you can use your flex dollars to pay for ice cream, if you have any, put on your student card. So it's really helpful to just, like, pay for some off-campus food, too, when you get a full meal plan. 142 00:32:38.170 --> 00:32:41.949 Leanne Caron: Okay, believe it or not, folks, we are at the, 143 00:32:41.950 --> 00:33:06.729 Leanne Caron: We're at the 10.30 mark, so our webinar is officially over. Hopefully, we've been able to answer all the Q&As. I see they've been flying by the whole time, but please note, if you did not get your questions answered today, or you come up with something, after this webinar is over, please feel free to contact us. We have a pretty good turnaround time. Within one to two days, you'll get an answer from us. 144 00:33:06.730 --> 00:33:17.480 Leanne Caron: Thank you so much for joining us today, wherever you are in the world. We really look forward to meeting you and having you join us as a University of Guelph Griffin, next fall.