INFORMATION FOR
Answers to the most common questions about Residence Life at William Paterson University.
Students interested in living on campus can submit a housing application via the Housing Portal located in WP Connect. Please use your WP credentials to log in and complete the housing application and deposit.
Residence Life has a video tutorial on the Applying for Housing page that walks students through the application and housing deposit process.
The University has set charges that can change yearly. We ask that you look at the University web page for current pricing. Go to Student Accounts for rates. In addition to room and meals, there is a $40.00 ResNet fee per semester, which covers costs for the Internet service in the residence halls.
Students may submit housing preferences after their housing application has been accepted or when submitting a room change. The submission of a preference is not a guarantee of assignment or offer. First year students can submit housing preferences for High Mountain East, High Mountain West or Hillside Hall. Transfer or upper-class students can submit preferences for Century Hall, Skyline Hall or the Heritage and Pioneer Apartments. Please note all assignments and offers are made based upon availability at the time of processing.
You can request a friend to be a roommate; however, the request must be mutual, and both students must confirm each other via the Residence Life Housing Portal.
For the fall semester, information about your assignment and the move-in instructions are emailed to new students in early August. We provide your roommate’s William Paterson University e-mail address so that you can establish contact with your roommate prior to getting to campus. Students also use social media sites – however, we caution students on the use of these sites, and ask that you not prejudge a person based on information obtained through personal profiles. Making contact with your new roommate yourself is the best way to establish a dialogue, and you may find things in common you did not see on the web.
For the spring semester, new residents will receive their e-mailed assignment and move-in information in January or as soon as it is available.
Residence life utilizes the information that students provide when completing their housing application to match students who do not submit roommate or suitemate preferences.
First year students are matched with other first year students and we use the information provided in the housing application to do our best to match students based on the information provided. Transfer students can be either matched with another transfer student or a continuing upper-class student.
Single room are available to students via two separate processes.
Single Accommodations - students seeking single accommodations need to apply for accommodations via the Accessibility Resource Center (ARC). The Office of Residence Life work with ARC to provide single accommodations for all students who have been approved.
Elective Singles - these spaces are limited on campus and are available to continuing students during the housing selection process. Elective single rooms for incoming transfer students would be based upon availability after the room selection process.
Elective single and single accommodations are not available in all residence halls.
Pioneer Hall is a living option for all upper-class and/or transfer students. Pioneer is also the community in which 9-month housing is available.
Heritage Hall is a living option for any student who is 20 years of age or older.
Students assigned to the apartments are not required to have a meal plan.
Each residence hall room is furnished with a bed, wardrobe (including drawers), desk and chair for each student. The rooms are not carpeted, but students often bring small area rugs.
All beds are twin extra long, and require the larger size linens.
Please refer to the Residence Life handbook for a list of items that students are permitted to bring to the residence halls.
Our residence halls are overseen Graduate Resident Directors and student Resident Assistants, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Residents can contact these individuals for information, concerns, or emergencies. The Residence Life staff work to provide resources and support for students regarding any academic or personal concerns they may have.
Laundry Services - All residence halls have laundry facilities that are free to residents.
Work Order Support - Students can place enter work order requests for repairs in their living spaces online or they can contact the hall staff for assistance in urgent situations.
Office Support - The hall offices are open 5 days a week from 10am to 4pm for students to come in and ask questions. Mail is delivered to the residence halls daily and students are contacted via email when a package is received in the office for them.
All of our residential facilities are air conditioned. The Office of Residence Life works with our Physical Plant Operations team and state guidelines related to air conditioning and heat. Students may bring fans to regulate the room temperature as needed. Please note that space heaters are not permitted.
All students living a traditional residence halls (Century, High Mountain East & West, Hillside, and Skyline) are required to have a meal plan.
Students assigned to live in the apartments (Heritage & Pioneer) can opt out of the meal plan since the apartments have kitchens in each shared unit. Apartment residents are also eligible for the all debit meal plan.
Students can choose a variety of meal plans to best suit their preferences. Details about each individual meal plan options can be found on the dining services page on the Hospitality Services website.
Hospitality Services is the department that oversees food services, the University Commons food court, and the Pioneer Express account. This office also administers University’s ID cards. Student ID cards are needed for meals, residence hall access, vending machines, and Pioneer Express debit accounts.
Before the start of each semester, students have the opportunity to change their meal plans. Once the semester begins, this option becomes limited. Any students with meal plan concerns should contact Hospitality Services at 973-720-2672.
Residence Life and University Police work to ensure the safety and security of our residential communities.
The residence halls feature front desk security 24 hours a day by university personnel (a combination of student staff and a security guard service).
Residents must present their valid William Paterson ID to the guard to gain entry to their buildings. Non-resident WPU students and other guests of our resident students must be signed in at the desk as visitors by a student who lives in the residence hall in which they are visiting.
All residential students are expected to know and follow all university and residence life policies and procedures as outlined in the Student Code of Conduct and the Residence Life Handbook.
Students should contact University Police or Residence Life Staff with any personal or community safety concerns.
Visitors are permitted in the residence halls as outlined in the Residence Life Handbook. Residence Life reserves the right to limit visitation for an individual student or community based upon student behavior or during the move-in or 24-hour quiet hours periods around final exams each semester.
Please refer to the Visitation Policy as outlined in the Residence Life Handbook for full details.
Students are required to carry their WP ID card on them at all times, as various buildings, such as the residence halls and recreation center and dining hall require students to present their ID card before the are permitted access.
Students also need to use their ID card to access their Pioneer Express account, borrow books at the Library, and utilize some other services and functions sponsored by the University.
Some residence halls use the ID card to unlock your room door.
Student are required to present their photo ID card when asked for by University Police and Residence Life staff.
All resident students are allowed cars on campus and are expected to park cars in the appropriate University parking lots. Students must apply for a resident student parking permit. Currently, resident student parking is permitted in Lot #6, Lot #2 and the Apartments Lot.
Mailing addresses for each building are different in that there is a PO Box specific to each area. Once you are assigned to your building, you can verify the correct address. Packages sent via USPS, UPS, FEDEX, and DRL should be addressed to the student, William Paterson University, 300 Pompton Road, Wayne, NJ, 07470.
Mail should be addressed as follows:
Century HallP.O. Box 923Wayne, NJ 07474-0923
High Mountain East or WestP.O. Box 939Wayne, NJ 07474-0939
Hillside HallP.O. Box 921Wayne, NJ 07474-0921
Pioneer or Heritage HallsP.O. Box 888Wayne, NJ 07474-0888
Skyline HallP.O. Box 934Wayne, NJ 07474-0934
White HallP.O. Box 940Wayne, NJ 07474-0940
Move in details, including how to sign up for a move in date and time, is sent to student's housing portal in early August. Students must be registered full-time in order to be able to sign up for a move-in timeslot.
Students are expected to complete all of the Preparing to Move-In tasks in their housing portal, including printing out a car pass for the day of move-in. Students who are assigned to live in Pioneer or Heritage apartments do not need car passes and can go directly to the apartments lot at their scheduled move in date and time.
All students living in our traditional residence halls should go to Lot 5 when they arrive on campus. Students they will be directed by University Police to the appropriate parking lane based on their building of assignment. University police will allow students and their families to bring their vehicle down close to their building of assignment. Students will be allowed to a short amount of time to unload their car and then can move their cars back to the parking lot and walk back to the building to get settled into their space and unpack.
We suggest using the Move In Guide to help know what to pack!
We ask that you give the relationship time before you rush to ask to move. Residence Life needs to verify who has checked into their assignments. This can take time, so we may not be able to process room change requests for two weeks after the start of the semester.
Resident Assistants can help mediate differences between roommates. Roommate/Suite mate Agreement tools can be used to assist with clarifying issues for both parties. Students are not permitted to make room changes without Residence Life approval.
Our buildings do not have extra storage areas for personal items. Everything must be stored somewhere in your room.
The residence halls are closed during the Thanksgiving break, winter break, which is from the end of the fall semester until the beginning of the spring semester and again during spring break in March. Students are sent information regarding break closing each semester.
Only students who are in approved 9-month housing contracts, which are available in Pioneer Hall are eligible to remain on campus during the break periods.
Questions? Contact us at:
📱 1-973-720-2714📧 athome@wpunj.edu
