Roommate Living Agreement for West Campus
In this agreement, you will be asked to talk with your roommate(s) about study time, guests, sleeping/waking arrangements, use of personal belongings, cleanliness and space utilization, communication, room security, and finances. When groups of people come together as a community everyone has both rights and responsibilities that must be balanced with the needs of others.
Your rights as a residence hall student include:
- The right to a clean and healthy environment.
- The right to read and study free from undo interference or noise.
- The right to sleep without disturbance.
- The right to privacy and freedom from interference with personal activities.
- The right to free access to your room without pressure or intimidation from your roommate.
- The right to be free of any unnecessary emotional distress, discrimination, or harassment (physical, sexual, verbal, etc).
- The right to have conflicts resolved in a timely fashion.
- The rights listed above are also your responsibilities to other members of your community.
Your Resident Assistant can play a valuable role in assisting you and your roommate address concerns before they become conflicts. He or she can provide, impartial objective mediation aimed at helping roommates talk to each other and resolve conflict. RAs won’t make decisions for you, but they can help you to your own.
RAs can be effective mediators in any of the following situations:
- When roommates are at such odds that they cannot speak to each other without arguing.
- When one roommate refuses to recognize that a problem exists even though it is apparent to others.
- When, after a trial period, a previously agreed upon solution has not worked out.
- When a roommate is concerned about the health and safety of his or her roommate.
- When two or more people have continually talked about a problem and cannot seem to reach any reasonable solutions.
Another resource for conflict resolution is the Dean of Students Office Mediation program. For questions regarding our mediation program, e-mail Christine Pesetski at christine.pesetski@duke.edu.