For some programs abroad, you'll be asked to assign student housing. Use the information in the "housing report" of the database to help match students to successful roommates. Here are some hints for roommate assignment:
Look for compatible study and sleep habits and for similar majors, interests, and degrees of neatness (remember--self-described!). Seniors may not want to room with freshmen. Don't put one "stranger" in with a group of long-term friends.
Don't put smokers with non-smokers unless the non-smokers emphatically say they do not object. If students are living with families, check on families' preferences about smoking.
To ease anxiety, distribute roommate information as far in advance as possible and encourage students to get to know their roommates.
Suggest that roommates work out study hours.
Be prepared to make changes during the session if there is genuine incompatibility. Faculty directors are responsible for adjudicating roommate or host family problems.
If students live with local families, the on-site administrator, if your site has one, can usually help you learn about host families' characteristics and preferences.
IMPORTANT: If your program has an on-site housing coordinator who prefers to assign roommates, we can provide that person access to the housing report in our databases.
