UniFlats
You will be staying in self catered residence halls called UniFlats. Your rooms in UniFlats will have a fully equipped kitchen and your bedroom will come with a linen pack.
During your time at Otago you will be in a single room with shared bathroom, lounge space, and kitchen facilities.
Your accommodations will be different than what you’ve come to expect in your home country. In general, be prepared for a relatively small living space in an older building with very basic amenities. Now is the time to open your mind and get ready to experience something different; this attitude is in the spirit of your decision to study abroad. Please also remember, that when you are abroad, you will be representing your home institution and your home country; behave appropriately.
There are no housing changes allowed during the first 2 weeks of the program. There is a natural adjustment period to life abroad and making any housing change decisions during this time is usually premature.
Cleanliness:
Keep your room and the common areas clean; this is especially important when you are sharing a bedroom, apartment, residence, or dormitory.
Noise:
In order to avoid disturbing the neighbors or housemates, please use headphones when listening to music, or keep the volume low, and please keep your voices down.
Utilities and use:
- Heating and air conditioning should be used sparingly. NEVER leave heating or air conditioning units while you are not home. If you must have them on when you are sleeping, keep them low.
- Always turn off the lights when you leave the apartment and when you are not in the room.
Safety:
- You should lock the room door at all times. Also, when leaving your room, make sure the windows are closed and locked. Neither the study abroad company nor the housing company will not be responsible for any stolen items.
- If the keys to the room are stolen, lost or misplaced, all locks to the apartment will have to be replaced at the student’s expense, including key copies for all apartment members.
Guests and Alcohol Policies:
- Disrespectful behavior related to alcohol consumption will end up in dismissal from the housing and you will have to find your own housing at your own expense.
- Smoking is not allowed anywhere inside the apartment.
- The consumption of drugs, as well as keeping or dealing with them, is absolutely prohibited
Financial Liability:
- You will have to pay for any damage done to the apartment (doors, walls, floors, furniture, kitchen supplies, washing machine, etc.).
- If extra time is needed to clean the apartment, or if items are damaged or missing, you will be charged and those charges will be deducted from your housing deposit. Housing deposits will be returned 8-12 weeks after the program has ended
Helpful tips for living with other people:
- Respect your hosts and the other people that live in the building.
- Remember that you are not on a college campus and not in your own home. Respect the property and get out of the “college campus” mentality.
- Talk to your roommates if they do something that bothers you. Talking it through is the easiest way to solve a small problem before it gets bigger.
- Talk to the staff if a problem arises and you cannot work it out with your roommates.
Warning process:
- If any of the above rules are broken, you will receive a first verbal warning. This warning will also be written and sent to your sending study abroad program and your home school.
- The second infraction of any of the above rules will result in you being evicted from your apartment. You will need to find a new place to live at your own expense.
- Please read through all of our behavior policies noted in the CISabroad Policy Handbook, linked inside of the attachment to your acceptance email