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Office of Housing & Residence Life

Welcome to Cedar Crest College and life on our picturesque campus! The Office of Housing & Residence Life oversees four residence halls with roughly 500 students living on campus. Our residence halls are a diverse community with students from various majors, interests, and backgrounds.

All of the residence halls are located close to academic buildings, campus resources, and dining facilities. Stop driving to campus each day for classes and come live in our vibrant, diverse, and exciting on-campus community. We look forward to meeting you and having you on campus… APPLY TODAY!

Our Mission Statement

The Office of Housing & Residence Life at Cedar Crest College provides a safe, comfortable, and educational living environment for all students living on-campus. Our staff is committed to the overall growth, development, and academic success of each resident. Our office believes that the residential experience is transformative and strives to encourage growth, connection, and empowerment for all resident students.

GROW. CONNECT. EMPOWER.

GROW: Students living on campus are given the tools to grow into the person they want to become… a valued member of the community, a friend, a leader, a scholar, and more! The residential experience provides opportunities for our students to learn more about themselves and the world around them, while providing support for personal and professional growth.

CONNECT: By living on campus, students become a part of a diverse and inclusive community where they can connect with students from around the world. These connections help to enhance the residential experience, providing moments of learning, self-discovery, and creating memories that will last a lifetime. The relationships forged in the residence halls are carried over time in the personal lives of our students and in the professional world, creating connections to job opportunities and alumnae.

EMPOWER: The residential experience is transformational and helps to empower our students to become valuable members of the Cedar Crest community. The experience allows students to become more independent, refine valuable life skills, and truly be engaged in their college learning process. Whether it is participating in an event in the residence halls, working to resolve an issue with your roommate, or becoming a leader on your floor, students leave the residence halls empowered to conquer the challenges ahead.

By choosing to live on campus, students are provided with several opportunities to connect with the Cedar Crest community through various activities, events, and traditions that take place within the residence halls. Each residence hall is overseen by members of the Residence Life Staff. There are live-in, professional staff members assigned to oversee each residence hall and there are also student staff members, Resident Advisors, who live on each floor/wing of the building. These staff members are here for students to make their residential experience the best it can be!

Residential Curriculum

Students living in the residence halls will be exposed to activities and programming focused around our Residential Curriculum. The Residential Curriculum centers our programming efforts around four key areas to aid in the student’s development and learning. These four areas include:

  • Holistic Wellbeing
  • Community Engagement & Responsibility
  • Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
  • Personal & Professional Development

Join the Community

Throughout the year, students will have the opportunity to attend and get involved with a variety of activities, events, and programs to enrich their residential experience. These events can range from fun, social events to more educational or informational events.

  • Residence Life Events: Floor meetings, movie nights, ice cream socials, health and wellness events, and so much more! There’s always something going on in the residence halls.
  • Student Engagement Events: Bingo, Movie Nights, and much more!
  • Athletic Events: Come cheer on your fellow Falcons at their home games on campus!

Below you will find the dates of major events for the Office of Housing & Residence Life. These dates outline important events like move-in/move-out, break closings and re-openings, and other noteworthy dates for resident students.

August 2023

  • Wednesday, August 16th: Early Move-in for Athletics (FH. VB, Soccer)
  • Sunday, August 20th: Early Move-in for Student Leaders
  • Wednesday, August 23rd: Early Move-in for Athletics (XC)
  • Thursday, August 24th: New Student Move-in
  • Saturday, August 26th: Returning Student Move-in
  • Sunday, August 27th: Returning Student Move-in

October 2023

Monday, October 23rd: Spring 2024 Housing Application Opens for New Students

November 2023

Tuesday, November 21st: Residence Halls close at 10:00pm for Thanksgiving Break
Sunday, November 26th: Residence Halls reopen at 10:00am after Thanksgiving Break

December 2023

Wednesday, December 20th: Residence Halls close at 12:00pm for Winter Break

January 2024

Sunday, January 14th: Residence Halls open for Spring 2024 Semester, New Student Move-in

February 2024

Monday, February 19th: 2024-2025 Academic Year Housing Application Opens for New Students

March 2024

Friday, March 1st: Residence Halls close at 10:00pm for Spring Break
Sunday, March 10th: Residence Halls reopen at 10:00am after Spring Break

May 2024

Thursday, May 9th: Residence Halls close for non-graduating students
Sunday, May 12th: Residence Halls close for graduating students
Sunday, May 12th: Summer Session 1 Move-in

June 2024

Thursday, June 27th: Summer Session1 Move-out

One of the best, and one of the most rewarding aspects of college life is having the opportunity to live with a roommate. The skills you will develop while adjusting to life with a roommate will inevitably help you out down the road as you work on communication and compromise. Here are some tips to help you adjust to living with a roommate:

Respect! Respect! Respect!

Approaching your living situation with an open mind is necessary in making the most of the living experience.  The fastest way to have a wonderful year is to respect your roommate’s differences and living space.

Communication is Key!

Developing a relationship with your roommate is important for setting the groundwork for a good year. Especially initially, getting to know your roommate and what she expects from you and the living situation will help you down the road. Roommate contracts are available from your RA and are an excellent way to set the rules for the year. Talk over everything from how you prefer to study, to what is okay to share. Be sure to discuss how you will deal with conflict—is a note the best way to communicate when something is making you unhappy, or do you need to go out for a cup of coffee to chat things through?

Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff, But Also Don’t Ignore It

The best way to keep your roommate relationship running smoothly is to address concerns as they arise. Your initial reaction to this might be to ignore small problems and pretend like they don’t bother you.  However, the more you do this, the larger the problem becomes. Recognize that small problems will normally have an easy solution.  Don’t stress about talking to your roommate, you’ll be relieved once you’ve talked about your concern.  Roommate conflict is natural, but communication and a positive attitude will help you resolve conflicts.  Trained Resident Advisors are also available on each floor to assist with conflict resolution.

Give Them Space to Grow

Be attentive to your students’ needs, but not overly attentive. Listen to everything that is going on in their lives if they are willing to share. Give lots of encouragement and support while recognizing that their time in college is their time to develop into an independent critical thinker. Resisting the temptation to solve your students’ problems for them will be difficult for everyone, but will ultimately help them grow into mature individuals.

Never Underestimate the Value of “Snail” Mail

Most college students love getting mail. Sending newspaper clippings, photos, stories, cards, letters, and care packages can very easily make your students’ day and will help them still feel connected to home.

Encourage Your Student to Stay on Campus, Especially for the First Few Weekends

The temptation to go home will likely be strong for your students, and you’d likely love to have them visit. However, developing connections to the campus during the first few weeks of school are essential to creating a positive college experience. Instead of having them leave campus, offer to come visit and encourage them to take you to an event on campus such as a show or sports event.

Encourage Them to Find and Use the Campus Resources

If your students are having a problem, encourage them to find the people on campus that can help them. Again pointing them in the right direction will be much more helpful than picking up the phone and trying to solve the problem for them. Provide unlimited support and encouragement to them, reminding them of all the skills they have as they work on solving the problem.

Stress the Importance of Involvement

Your students will soon realize that there is more to college life than just classes. While they might need some time to adjust to the new rigors of college course work, encourage your students to explore the involvement possibilities on campus. Starting small by volunteering once a week or attending hall programs is a great way to start meeting new people and making the most of all the possibilities Cedar Crest affords.

Don’t Shy Away from Difficult Conversations

Talking to your students about alcohol, drugs, money, sex, mental and physical health is incredibly important. Take the time while your students are still at home to remind them about the importance of making good decisions and remind them about the resources available on campus to help them learn more about these topics.

Living on campus at Cedar Crest allows you the opportunity to engage the campus community in a variety of ways and become more of leader within the community. The Office of Housing & Residence Life is always looking for student leaders to become staff members, like Resident Advisors (RAs), or also looking for students to get involved in Hall Council (student government for the residence halls).

Resident Advisors

Resident Advisors (RAs) are student staff members who live and work in the residence halls. Resident Advisors help to build community in the residence halls and serve as an administrator, educator, mediator, and role model for the students living on campus. The role of the RA provides them the opportunity to better connect with faculty, staff, students, and other members of the college community to help make the student residential experience the best it can be.

RAs are expected to develop an awareness and sense of responsibility for all matters in the residence halls. The ability to develop a good rapport with students, to foster individual responsibility and personal growth among residents, and to respond to emergencies are all important considerations in selecting an individual for this position. Desirable characteristics for RAs also include maturity, acceptance of others, honesty, openness, initiative, flexibility, reliability, a sense of humor, emotional stability, good communication skills, and leadership.

The Office of Housing & Residence Life typically starts the application process for the upcoming academic year in late January. Other search processes may occur throughout the year if positions are available. Students can access the Resident Advisor application by going onto the Leadership tab (under Leadership opportunities) in MyCedarCrest.

Students are advised to check their Cedar Crest e-mail account for additional information regarding individual and group interview dates in addition to important deadlines.

For any further information or questions, please contact the Office of Housing &Residence Life at  or at (610) 606-4603.

Resident Advisor Job Description

RHRA (Residence Hall Representatives Association)

This association is a group of resident students from each residence hall who are excited to grow the residential community and get more involved in their community. This group helps to advocate for resident students and supports programming efforts within the residence halls.

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