It almost seems like old news wishing you all a Happy New Year seven days into January, however, this is my first opportunity to do so. I hope you all had a restful break, although for some of you, it was probably spent revising! Good luck to those of you with exams over the next few weeks – our thoughts are most definitely with you.
Did you remember to take note of our advice before you left for the vacation? Remember…that advice where we told you to absolutely NOT PANIC about your housing for next year? Ah yes, the memory is coming back to you all now. The reason for this is because the Students’ Guild are holding their annual Housing Fair on Tuesday 13 January 2015 between 11:00am-3:00pm in the Great Hall. At this event, you will have the opportunity to meet many of our landlords and larger providers to see what accommodation will be available from September 2015 and to even arrange some viewings of those properties which really tickle your fancy.
I’m going to tell you straight, so be prepared but it is an absolute myth that there is a shortage of private accommodation in Exeter. How do I know this? Well, we have recently been at the receiving end of a large number of telephone calls and emails from landlords looking to advertise their properties with us for September 2015 – there are a lot! These properties will go live on Studentpad from Tuesday 13 January 2015 (the day of the Housing Fair, so mark the date in your diaries now!)
Tuesday 13 January 2015 is also the date that our applications open for those returning students hoping to stay in university accommodation in 2015/16. There will be limited on-campus accommodation available to students returning after their first year, however, this information will not be available until Tuesday 13 January. Please visit our returning students webpage for further details or come and see members of the Accommodation Office who will have a stand at the Housing Fair.
Some students may have gone home over the vacation and been able to chat to parents/friends about things which don’t seem quite right within their accommodation. This could be anything from not getting along flat mates to really not feeling happy with your room. If you need any accommodation advice or support then a member of our team will be in SID within The Forum between 11am-3pm Monday to Friday throughout the second term to help you out. The Residence Life Teams are also available to offer you any support and can be contacted via the website.
Speaking of our fantastic Residence Life Team, they are soon to be recruiting for 2015/16. Is this something that you would like to do? Are you friendly, approachable and ready to help? Being part of the team can be a great way to develop your skills, enhance your CV and meet new people. In return, you’d receive full training and a rent discount on a range of rooms within university accommodation. Applications open on 13 January, for further information why not come and meet members of the Residence Life Team at the Housing Fair or alternatively, you can contact residencelife@exeter.ac.uk for further information.
Now is the time that we say ‘so long farewell‘ (oh come on, it wouldn’t be me if I didn’t include some sort of song within a blog post) to our Erasmus/Study Abroad students who joined us for semester one. If you are moving out in January, please refer to our moving out pages for information on how to leave your room and where to return your key. You may even have gathered items which could be donated to the British Heart Foundation – see our ‘donate it’ poster for further information. We also say a big ‘‘hello and welcome’ to students joining us for semester two (January-June). If you are joining us in January, please refer to our moving in pages for information about key collection and arrival.
Accommodation Catherine