Off-Campus Housing Services is offering a special “Moving on Moving out” workshop series to help VCU students learn the pluses and minuses of living in apartments and in other off-campus housing.
Kirsten Hirsch, assistant director for public relations and student activities who organized the series, said students attending the program should gain an overview of what to expect.
“Getting your first apartment is really kind of a right of passage, and it’s something that you (students) need a little help with,” said Hirsch, who has conducted the workshop every February for several years. Although the first workshop was last Wednesday, students can attend others on Feb. 22, 24 and March 24.
“What a student can expect if they attend this year would be an overview of everything you need to know from finding an apartment, legal issues and leases to how to move out and how to deal with roommates,” she said, adding that she and her staff are trying to make this year’s workshops a little more interactive than in previous years.
Students such as James King, a double-major in biology and history, have concerns about legal issues when dealing with landlords.
“I guess next time I look for a place I’m not going to apply as a student… because it seems to be a lot easier,” King said, suggesting that landlords are biased against students.
At the first workshop, Hirsch provided information about budgeting, leasing, subleasing and what students might expect when searching for an apartment in her PowerPoint and video presentations, as well as through questions and answers.
Officer Rebecca Shaw of the university police addressed safety issues at the first program, while a representative from Housing Opportunities Made Equal will talk about legal issues at the second.
Young Ji Cha, a first-year undeclared major searching for her first apartment, attended the first workshop.
“I really don’t have any knowledge of renting, so this is a really good seminar,” Cha said. “It answered most of my questions.”
Cha further complimented the university’s efforts in offering such workshops to help students find off-campus housing.
“Considering the fact that they don’t have enough apartments for us I’m glad that they have something like this for us,” she said after the first meeting.