Moving off campus made simple with online resources
VCU off-campus housing seeks to make transition easier
Eileen Mellon
Contributing Writer
With the spring semester under way, it’s time for some VCU students to start thinking of housing plans for the summer and the following school year.
Off-Campus Student Services offers help and guidance on the important components related to living off-campus. They have information about seemingly easy issues, like roommate choices and lesser-known issues, like tenant rights.
The office offers online services as well, where a student can create a profile and post sublets, find roommates and furniture and look for places to rent. Students can make a personal profile to allow someone to search roommate profiles and availability. It is designed to match students and tries to match students without housing with someone who currently has one. The database is run by a company called Off Campus Partners and works with multiple universities to set up a searchable database.
VCU student Lauren Mock said this particular feature helped her adjust to Richmond when she first moved to the city.
“The database for housing is extremely helpful,” she said. “I transferred here and found my first place through it. I was unfamiliar with the Richmond area and VCU and didn’t know until the last minute that I needed a place.
The service requires landlords to pay to be a part of the service and allows students to comment on the landlords. The online system is specifically for VCU students, but guests can log on, though they are restricted from posting on the message boards.
Martha Harper, director of Off-Campus Student Services, said the main goal of the office is to inform and educate students about the proper steps they need to take when first moving off-campus.
“Most students come in this time of year about housing really unsure of where to start,” Harper said. “This office is really good about sitting you down, talking to you in a counseling sense, seeing where you’re coming from, what your lifestyle choices are, what your cultural barriers may be,to different types of housing and all those types of pieces, and then we can give you the best advice possible.”
Off-Campus Student Services will be holding programs on Feb. 13, March 6 and March 28, called “Moving On Moving Out,” where students and parents can receive information about renting. The program will include a panel of experts from all areas of renting including students, VCU Police, landlords, legal experts and Off-Campus Coordinators.
