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Q: How many Residence Halls are there on campus?
There are currently two residence halls: Surfsite and the New Residence Hall.
Surfsite Hall houses 93 men and women in double occupancy rooms on three floors, with three student Resident Assistants. The New Residence Hall, housing 320 men and women opened in Spring 2008 with triple, double and single rooms with connecting bathrooms (two rooms with four students of the same gender sharing a bath). The bathroom has a separate shower stall and toilet stall and two sinks, so it is possible for all four students to use the bathroom at the same time. Each room includes an extra long twin bed, desk, desk chair and wardrobe with drawers for each resident and a microwave – refrigerator – freezer combination unit for each room. There are eight student Resident Assistants in the New Hall. A professional Resident Director lives in each Hall.
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Q: What is your policy on alcohol and drugs?
The Maine Community College System Code of Conduct applies to all students at SMCC. The Code prohibits alcohol and drugs on campus, including in the residence halls, regardless of a student’s age. The Code also prohibits students from being on campus while under the influence of drugs or alcohol, regardless of a student’s age. Students who violate these policies are subject to charges under the Student Code of Conduct and/or violations of their Residence Hall Agreement. Students are responsible for and can also be charged for conduct violations or contract violations due to the behavior of their guests.
Q: Can I smoke in my room?
Smoking is not allowed in the residence halls or within thirty feet of any college Building.
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Q: Does everyone have a roommate?
No, there are a few single rooms in the New Residence Hall. Single room requests will be approved based on a students need and on a first come first serve basis.
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Q: What about housing for second year students?
Housing is limited for returning students. Because returning students are more likely to know someone with whom they would like to live off-campus and because they are generally more mature and more prepared for that experience, 70% of the residence hall spaces are reserved for first time residence hall students. In the Spring, current residence hall students who are interested in returning to the residence halls for the Fall must enter the lottery to win one of the 30% of spaces reserved for returners. Because there is so much competition for these spaces, students must have a clear conduct record with the College and a minimum of a 3.0 cumulative GPA by the end of their first residence hall year (or by the end of the Spring semester in the case of students who move into the halls in January) to be eligible for the lottery.
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Q: What about apartments off-campus or renting rooms in local homes?
Students are welcome to seek apartments or room rentals in the local community. Prices vary widely depending on the distance from the College and the specific town and/or neighborhood. An off-campus housing listserv is maintained by the Housing and Residence Life staff. Students can subscribe to the listserv by logging into the student portal at mysmccme.edu. There is a link to the Off Campus Housing List in the Bookmarks section of the Campus Life tab. Students who subscribe will receive information regarding local housing opportunities as they are provided to the College. Please keep in mind that the Off Campus Housing List is comprised of any local landlord who requests to be on the list and is not monitored or endorsed by the College. It can also include students looking for roommates. Once the student receives a listing in which he or she is interest, the student simply contacts the landlords directly. We highly recommend using all the caution you would normally use when investigating a property and signing a lease.
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Q: Can I have a phone in my room or cable TV? What about internet service?
Rooms are equipped with cable TV (one jack per room, student provides the TV and the coaxial cable) and high speed internet (one jack per resident -- wired – student provides the ethernet cable). Students pay a fee each semester in addition to room and board for these services. Fees are subject to change; please check the billing section of the web site for current fees. Students may purchase digital phone from Time Warner or contact the phone company for wired phone service, but most students just use a cell phone or a calling card from the courtesy phones in each building.
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Q: What items shouldn't I bring to the Residence Halls?
Candles, incense, Halogen lamps, microwaves, toasters, hot pots, electric skillets, etc. are not allowed in Residence Hall rooms because they are fire hazards. Please see the student services downloads section of the web site to obtain a copy of the Residence Life Guide. A complete list of prohibited items may be found there.
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Q: Can I bring my stereo, computer?
Yes, you may bring a stereo and a computer, an IPOD, gaming system, etc.
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Q: Can I bring a refrigerator?
No, residents may not bring their own refrigerators or microwaves. A micro-fridge is provided in every room for the residents to share with their roommate. The micro-fridge is a combination of a fridge, freezer and a microwave.
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Q: How is a roommate chosen for me? Can I choose my own roommate?
When a student receives the notification that he or she has received a space in the on-campus residence halls, the notification includes a roommate preference questionnaire. That questionnaire includes information about likes and dislikes and must be completed and returned by the deadline for consideration. Students who request each other are accommodated if possible.
The questionnaire is used by the staff when assigning a space; however, while every effort will be made to match students up positively, the College reserves the right to make and alter assignments to meet the needs of the College. This does occasionally mean that your room assignment could change between when you receive it and when you arrive for move in or that you will be consolidated mid-semester to make room for other students. It is also important to note that students change significantly even after only a few weeks of being at College, so even a very honestly completed survey is sometimes wrong after a couple weeks. This is why our resident assistant staff are well-trained on mediation techniques so that students can learn to live with each other happily. Mediation is expected before a room change will be considered. Only emergency room changes (as determined by the staff) are permitted during the first two weeks of each semester.
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Q: How do I get mail and packages?
All mail is delivered to the New Residence Hall Front Desk. The New Hall Front Desk staff boxes the New Residence Hall mail in the mailboxes located at the front desk and then delivers the Surfsite mail to the mailboxes in the upper lobby at Surfsite. Students will receive a notice in their mailbox that they have a package and can pick it up at the Front Desk of the New Residence Hall.
The mailing address for all halls is:
Student Name
Name of Hall, Room Number
83 Fort Road
South Portland, ME 04106
The physical address for the New Residence Hall is 83 Fort Road. The physical address for Surfsite Hall is 75 Surfsite Road. You may need the physical address of your hall to register to vote in South Portland but should not direct any mail or packages to the Surfsite Hall physical address. Delivery services like UPS and FedEx cannot deliver to Surfsite directly; please do not send packages to this address in order to avoid lost packages. These packages are frequently mis-delivered somewhere in the community and never recovered.
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Q: What about my meals?
All resident students are required to purchase a meal plan. Meal plan offerings vary from year to year in response to student needs and requests. Typically each meal plan offers a set number of all-you-care-to-eat meals in the dining hall and some “flex cash” for use in the Café. A students uses his/her student ID card for payment at the register. In the Dining Hall, one meal deducts each time the card is swiped. In the Café, flex cash debits by the amount spent.
The required meal plan cost per semester varies from year to year. Please check the billing section of the web site or call the Housing and Residence Life Office for the most up to date rates. Whatever the cost, the price includes costs for overhead and is the same for the fall as it is for the spring, regardless of student usage.
Beacon Bucks: Students who would prefer not to carry cash on campus may deposit funds into a Beacon Bucks account for use in the Dining Hall and the Café. There is a minimum initial deposit of $50 and subsequent $10 deposit minimum. These funds are debited from the student’s Beacon Bucks account on a dollar for dollar basis. For example, if a student purchases a $5 all-you-care-to-eat lunch meal, $5 is debited from the account. Beacon Bucks balances remain active until a student ceases to be enrolled and then is forfeited, so it is in the student’s best interest to deposit only funds that he or she intends to use. Beacon Bucks are considered part of a meal plan by the IRS and so are not subject to sales tax. Resident students most often use Beacon Bucks when they run out of flex cash on their meal plan.
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Q: Are the Residence Halls co-ed?
Currently, Surfsite is co-ed by floor – men on the first and second floors, and women on the basement and third floor. This results in a population that is roughly half male and half female. This can change from year to year to accommodate differences in the applicant population. The New Residence Hall is co-ed but not based on floors.
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Q: Are pets allowed in the Residence Halls?
The only pets allowed are fish – maximum of one ten gallon tank per room.
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Q: Is there a curfew? What about guests?
There is no curfew for resident students; they may come and go from the halls at their leisure. Guests are welcome with the permission of all the roommates and suitemates. Overnight guests are permitted with the permission of the roommate and suitemates but may only stay for three nights in a seven day period. All residents are responsible for obtaining an overnight guest pass from the Front Desk prior to 11 pm on the night the guest would like to stay. Residents are responsible for the behavior of their guests and must escort their guests whenever they are in the building, including when in the resident’s room.
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Q: When do the Residence Halls close for vacations/breaks?
The residence halls close for the following breaks: Thanksgiving, Winter, and Spring Break. All students must leave the residence halls for those breaks but may leave their stuff.
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Q: What is there to do on campus for fun?
Resident Assistants plan activities for students who live in the halls. RAs plan movie nights, bowling, pizza nights, game nights, trips to hockey and baseball games, holiday parties, snow football and more! Students who live in the residence halls are encouraged to get involved in helping to plan these activities or other campus clubs.
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Q: What is a Resident Assistant, how do I become one?
A Resident Assistant is a full time student who has been selected and trained in areas of peer counseling, activity programming, college policies and other topics to assist in helping you. They serve as primary resources to voice concerns or go to in a time of crisis. In the Spring semester, announcements are made for openings for RA positions for the following academic year. Applications can be picked up from a Resident Director, from the NRH Front Desk or in the Student Services Office in the Campus Center. Resident Assistants do not get a salary, but do receive a free single room and meal plan.
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Q: What are the Room and Board charges?
Please check the Tuition and Fees section of the web site for up to date charges.
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Q: How do I apply for Housing?
There is a separate application for housing than the one used to apply to the College. We recommend you apply as early as possible. We begin receiving housing applications for Fall as early as November of the preceding year. However, if you are reading this much later than that, we also recommend you apply even if it seems unlikely that you will get a space. We receive many more applicants than we can house, but we also see quite a lot of turnover in our waiting list as the Spring and Summer pass.
Once a student has been admitted to the College, he or she may request a housing application by emailing
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. An application will be emailed to the student as an attachment and all future communication regarding housing will take place via email, so it is imperative that the student maintain and frequently check his or her email. Housing applications are submitted by U.S. mail to the Student Billing Office and must include the application fee before they will be processed. Completed applications are then forwarded to the Housing and Residence Life Department. Due to the small number of staff available to make assignments, most assignments for Fall are done in bulk in late May, and most assignments for Spring are done in bulk in January.
Eligible students are assigned to residence hall spaces on a first come, first served basis until the halls are full. Then they are assigned in that order to the waiting list. Students on the waiting list will be contacted when a space is available for them up to and including the first week of class, until the waiting list is exhausted. Students may remain on the on-campus waiting list until they get an on-campus space or they can opt to find an apartment. Students and their families are comfortable with different levels of risk when it comes to this decision, and only you can decide which options are right for you. Every year is different, and the Housing and Residence Life Staff has no way to accurately guess what the likelihood that an individual number will come up on the waiting list.
Students may occupy their rooms in the on-campus residence halls on the dates specified in the College's calendar; however, they are expected to vacate the halls during the Thanksgiving, Winter and Spring Breaks. They can leave their belongings but cannot physically live in their room; the College is unable to accept responsibility for personal belongings during the semester or during a break and strongly suggests that students consider insuring property against loss, damage, theft and fire.
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Q: Are there accommodations for married students?
Unfortunately, we have no accommodations for married students at this time.
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