Housing FAQs

Vaccination for COVID-19 is not required at UW-Madison, but is strongly encouraged for the health and safety of you and the campus community. The COVID-19 vaccines authorized and approved in the United States remain highly effective, especially against severe illness and death. Booster shots help safely increase protection against infection and severe outcomes in fully vaccinated people. UW-Madison University Health Services (UHS) is providing free COVID-19 vaccination and booster shots to UW–Madison employees and students ages 18 and older by appointment through myUHS.

If you are vaccinated, remember to upload your vaccination status with UHS, including booster vaccines.

On-campus testing and at-home antigen test kits are available at no charge for all UW-Madison students, faculty, and staff. UW-Madison will continue to have nasal swab PCR testing as well as one at-home antigen test per week for Fall 2022. Details about testing (location, hours) are posted on the COVID Response website.

• PCR Testing: To schedule an appointment for a PCR test, students should visit myUHS and find a time that works for them. To help us be good stewards of our resources, students are encouraged to first use an at-home antigen test and only seek PCR testing if needed. A guide on what to do based on your test result can be found on the COVID Response website.
• At-Home Antigen Tests: One at-home antigen test per week is available to all students. No appointments are required to pick up an at-home antigen test. All students need is their Wiscard.
  • At move-in, all residence hall students will be provided with one antigen test in your “welcome bag” to get you off to a good start. This test is there so you have one on-hand when it is needed.

Students who test positive for COVID are not required to leave their room to isolate; they may isolate in place. However, a limited number of temporary spaces will be available if students do not want to isolate in place. COVID-positive students have the option to use those spaces, stay off-campus, or remain in their room.

Students living in on-campus housing who are sick or have an exposure are encouraged to adhere to self-care practices recommended for other upper respiratory viruses. These include personal hygiene, masking when in spaces where others are present, and resting to allow their bodies to recover. Students who have concerns about staying in their room with a COVID-positive roommate should contact their House Fellow or Residence Life Coordinator to discuss options.

Planning is essential. Due to our limited number of temporary spaces, we encourage students and families to discuss their plans in the event of a positive COVID test or exposure. We recommend an open discussion with roommates regarding each other’s plans before or upon arrival to campus.

If you are unvaccinated and testing to monitor COVID-19, here are some additional steps you can take to protect yourself:

• Continue to wear face coverings in indoor settings and while on public transportation
• Maintain physical distancing of 6 feet indoors when possible
• Follow good hand washing practices and use hand sanitizer
• Avoid touching your face
• Get tested if you learn that you had exposure to someone with COVID-19 or are experiencing symptoms.

Vaccination is the best way to protect yourself and help our campus to return to normal. We strongly encourage you to get vaccinated if you haven’t already.

Being vaccinated against COVID-19 and up-to-date on booster vaccination provides the greatest level of protection against severe illness and hospitalization from the virus. You also remain much better protected from infection than people who are unvaccinated and people who are fully vaccinated but overdue for their booster. In most instances, an unvaccinated roommate does not pose a major threat to you because of the high effectiveness of COVID-19 vaccines against poor outcomes.

Visit the campus vaccination page to make sure you are current with vaccination guidance, to schedule an appointment to get vaccinated, or receive your booster. Once you have been boosted, make sure UHS has your record on file.

If you are being vaccinated off campus, including by a UW Health clinic or by a UW Health provider, wait until you have received either the single dose of a one-dose vaccine or both shots of a two-dose vaccine. Then Upload your record directly to myUHS:

• Log in to MyUHS using your NetID and password.
• Select “Enter my COVID-19 Vaccine information.”
• You will be prompted to upload a copy of your immunization record. This can be an image file (PNG, JPG, JPEG) or a PDF. Attempting to upload other kinds of files will result in an error message. Accepted records include:
  • The official Centers for Disease Control and Prevention vaccination card you receive at your vaccine site. It must contain two patient identifiers, such as name and date of birth; vaccine lot number; vaccine name (for example, Moderna, Pfizer or Janssen/Johnson & Johnson); date of vaccination (there should be two dates for Moderna and Pfizer); clinic name (must be an official clinic name; if the clinic was a chain pharmacy, please include the store number).
  • Your Wisconsin Immunization Registry vaccination record
  • A state vaccination record from outside Wisconsin
  • For vaccination outside the U.S., the most complete record you have available. UHS will recognize vaccines maintained on the World Health Organization’s emergency use listing.
• You will also need to enter the date of your one-dose vaccine and the vaccine manufacturer, or the dates of your two-dose vaccine and vaccine manufacturer in the section labeled “Doses of COVID-19 Vaccine.”
• Click or tap “Done” when you are finished.

Allow up to five business days for the record to be reflected in your myUHS account. While the record is under review your Medical Clearance information will indicate “awaiting review.” Once it is approved, this field will say “satisfied.” Your Badger Badge will turn green once it has been two weeks since your final dose and your record has been approved.

If you received your vaccination in Wisconsin, and cannot find the record in WIR, contact the WIR Help Desk at 608-266-9691 or email DHSWIRHelp@dhs.wisconsin.gov.

University Housing will be offering a limited number of spaces (similar to this year’s returner numbers) to current residents for academic year 2023-2024. Our returning resident process allows current residents their first choice in selecting a room and roommates. For full details, visit our Returning Residents page.

Current residents will need to express their interest, and if selected, will sign a binding contract during returning resident room selection. If demand exceeds our inventory of returning resident spaces, a waiting list will be started. Wait list status is not a guarantee of future on-campus housing.

Timeline:

• Step 1: Notice of Intent & Roommate Selection (Open October 27 at 10:00 a.m. – November 6 at 11:55 p.m.)
• Step 2: Email Confirmation of Selection Time or Waiting List (Sent to residents by November 10)
• Step 3: Room Selection (Starts November 15/16, 2022)
• Step 4: Contract & Advance Payment (Due within 72 hours of selecting a space)

On Monday, November 14, we will send an email to students on the waiting list with more information about their status. The initial returner room selection process runs through November 22. After that is complete, if we still have spaces to offer at that time, we will return to our waiting list to offer additional opportunities for students to select spaces. If you are placed on the waiting list, we recommend that you explore off-campus housing options. If you have questions, please reach out to our Assignment Office through our Contact form, and our staff will respond to your message within 3 business days or less. Please note that our staff will be managing a large volume of messages and will not be able to provide details about waiting list status. Do not send multiple messages about the same topic, as this will inhibit our ability to get back to you and other students in a timely manner.

If you are on the waiting list, your odds of being offered a space will depend on your lottery position and how many students decide to not sign a contract/cancel. We will send you an update on November 14 with more information.

Based on our contacts, there is still good availability in the campus area housing market for next year if students consider all options and use all of the available tools. There are many resources for finding off-campus student housing, including individual property websites, commercial websites like Zillow and Apartments.com, and various social media groups for UW students posting about roommates and sublets. The Campus Area Housing website is another helpful resource to search for privately owned housing options near campus. Many property management companies near campus list their availabilities on this website, and they will continue to update their availabilities for next year throughout the fall semester.

If you have questions about a lease or the leasing process, the Tenant Resource Center is a nonprofit organization that provides information and education about rental rights and responsibilities. They also maintain a list of larger management and rental companies in the Madison area.

A variety of room types are open for returners across most of our residence halls, including singles, doubles, triples, and quads. Roommate groups can only select rooms that fit their group size (i.e. two in a double, three in a triple, etc.).

Depending on demand and a student’s room selection time, it is possible that their preferred residence hall or room type might not be available. Students can either choose from the spaces available at that time or opt to instead find off-campus housing.

Once a returning student makes their room selection and signs the contract, they will not be able to make changes until after the returning resident process closes. After the process closes, they can request a room change in the My UW Housing portal, and room change offers will depend on what spaces are available at that time.

The Housing contract is legally binding for the full academic year. Contract releases to live off-campus while attending UW-Madison are only considered when demand for housing exceeds occupancy. As always, you have an option of a buy-out of your contract at 85% of the remaining financial obligation. To be considered for release, complete the release request form in My UW Housing and follow the instructions on the “Request a Cancellation” form under the “Contract and Room” section.

Students must sign their contract and pay their advance payment within 72 hours of selecting a space. If they do not complete these steps within those 72 hours, they will be placed on the waiting list, and another opportunity to select a space is highly unlikely. The room they selected will be released back into the room selection process.

Please reach out to our Assignment Office through our Contact form, and our staff will respond to your message within 3 business days or less. Our staff will be managing a large volume of messages and will not be able to provide details about waiting list status. Please do not send multiple messages about the same topic, as this will inhibit our ability to get back to you and other students in a timely manner.

Yes, with demand for on-campus housing being higher than ever, we expect to have many first-year students living in triples this year, as well as some quads and hextuples. These spaces provide similar amenities for residents as traditional doubles and allow us to accommodate more students who want to live in the residence halls. Triple rooms are a common practice at many of our peer universities, and resident satisfaction has remained mostly positive in triples.

Triples are larger double rooms that can accommodate 3 residents. Quads and hextuples are lounge/den spaces that have been converted to accommodate 4 or 6 residents. All of these spaces have been assessed to ensure they provide plenty of space, and all include similar furniture and amenities for each resident as what they would find in other resident rooms. Housing has used spaces like these in this way for several years with good success. We simply have more of these spaces being used in this way than in the past. Example images of many of these room setups can be found on our residence hall pages.

All new students in Dejope, Leopold, Ogg, and Smith will be in triples. Some rooms in Adams, Phillips, and Tripp will be triples as well.

Costs for triple, quad, and hextuple rooms are among our lowest resident rates. They are based on the rates established for similar triple and quad rooms that we have used in past years, approved by the UW Board of Regents. These rates also compare well with similar rooms at other Big Ten universities. Rates for all of our buildings and room types can be found on our Billing & Rates page.

With demand for on-campus housing being higher than ever, we have many first-year students living in triples and quads this year. These spaces provide similar amenities for residents as traditional doubles and allow us to accommodate more students who want to live in the residence halls. Our triple rooms have been verified by our Facilities staff to ensure that there is sufficient space for three students, their belongings and furniture in the room. Triple rooms are a common practice at many of our peer universities, and resident satisfaction has remained mostly positive in triples. To be fair to all students, our online room change process opened after move-in on Wednesday, September 7 at 8 am in My UW Housing.

Our Residence Hall Facilities team has assessed all of our spaces to ensure that spaces being used for three roommates provide enough space for extra furniture and living space. These rooms have been configured to maximize the best layout and space for triple living. These spaces being used for triple living are comparable to what our peers are using in other Big 10 campuses as well. In addition, spaces used for 4 or 6 roommates are significantly larger as they were spaces that were formerly used for dens or study rooms.

Triple rooms in Dejope, Leopold, Ogg, Smith have one large walk-in closet for all residents to share. The closets are flexible with a variety of shelves and partitioned hanging areas. They are not strictly designed with one area per resident, so three residents can easily divide up the space in a way that works for all. Closets in these buildings can be seen in photos and renderings on their respective web pages

The most common room arrangement in triples is to bunk two of the beds and loft the third bed, to make good use of the space. In most triple rooms, it is possible to loft all three beds if you place most other furniture underneath the beds. However, rooms may vary slightly and it is possible some would not accommodate lofting all three beds. Lofting information is posted on our Furnishings web page.

We do our best to place students in the communities that they ranked in their preferences, however, we always see a large number of students preferencing the same buildings. Because of this, it is possible for students to be placed in any hall or community on campus, even if they did not rank or prioritize it in their preferences.

Past Learning Community residents report a high degree of satisfaction with their living experience and the support they received in exploring academic and career interests. The learning community fee covers some of the costs of the additional services, programs, and staff that are made available to you while living in the community.Your level of involvement in the community is entirely up to you.

Each learning community offers a for-credit seminar only available to residents in that community. The seminar explores the theme of the learning community while connecting you with other students, faculty mentors, and industry leaders. If you are living in a learning community, you get to take a class with friends while getting insider tips on being successful in college and your future career. Most seminars are 1-credit and easily fit into your course schedule. We strongly encourage you to enroll in the seminar in order to make the most of your experience, but it is not required. If you have more questions, you should talk with your academic advisor.

Visit our Dining locations and hours page to see the latest updates and schedules.

Our dining locations are open to anyone on campus, including students, faculty, staff, and the general public. Guests can purchase meals individually at door price with a credit card, debit card, or Wiscard. When paying with your Wiscard, you’ll receive a 5% discount on all purchases. Guests may also order food for delivery from any location through the Starship Technologies app.

Yes, we use a trayless system for all-you-to-eat so residents take what they would like. Residents are welcome to come back as many times as they would like to take additional food, and this helps reduce food waste. In addition, University Housing Dining takes any leftover unserved food from the Dining Markets and creates pre-packaged frozen microwaveable meals. These meals are available at no cost to any student on-campus facing food insecurity. To learn more about this program and where you can pick-up food see our Instagram and Facebook pages.

No, because staff need to clean and prepare the market between every meal serving period, both the dining room and market will be closed to the public.

Residents who have paid for a meal are welcome to use the dining rooms during meal service periods. Dining rooms will be closed between service meal periods.

No outside food will be allowed in the dining rooms of our six markets.

All-you-care-to-eat or buffet style service means diners will pay for their meal upon entry to the market. In order to help manage food waste, these locations will have trayless service. Diners are able to return as many times as they would like during the meal period to enjoy additional servings.

No, as guests have to pay to enter the market at and these dining rooms are only open to diners. These spaces need to stay open for those individuals actively eating.

Please reach out to us through our Contact Us Form. We have staff providing timely responses to questions and concerns received there.

In the Southeast Neighborhood, there is a Starbucks location in Smith Residence Hall and Southeast Café in Gordon Dining & Event Center offers ice cream. In the Lakeshore neighborhood, there is a Bean & Creamery located in Dejope Residence Hall. To see hours and locations visit our dining hours page. 

The line signs printed and displayed at each venue will always be accurate to what is being served. You can always check those to verify any dietary need or food accommodation. But above all, if you have a question or need please let us know and reach out to a staff member working. We are always happy to help.

Yes. Dining Dollars are retail dollars that a student can use at any food location on campus. This would include any Housing Dining venue or Union location. Think of them like cash on a debit card.

For the 2022-23 Academic Year, residents can make changes to their dining plan selection  prior to the fall tuition/housing bill through August 15, 2022 in the My UW Housing portal. After this date, changes cannot be made until after the fall bill due date.

Between September 17 and October 3, residents will have another opportunity to change their 2022-23 dining plan if they find their original selection isn’t the best one for them and they want to adjust. Any changes made during this period will take effect October 9, 2022, and residents will receive a credit or a bill for the difference of the dining plan changes on October 18, 2022. We will not have any other opportunities for students to change their dining plan later in the academic year after that period.

Unused meals expire at the end of the week and do not carry over to the next week. Your dining plan gives you a designated number of meals per week based on the plan you selected. We can help you decide on the right plan to fit your schedule and eating habits, ensuring you get the full value of your plan. Please reach out to us at dining@housing.wisc.edu.

No, designated meals per week need to be used up within the week. In addition, all Dining Dollars need to be used up by the end of the academic year. They do not carry over to the next year.

Meals are to be used for the student who purchased the plan and cannot be used for friends or guests. Students are not allowed to use another resident’s Wiscard. As part of the GoUnlimited plan, you will receive three guest meals per semester. These meals can be used for guests or friends. Once guest meals are used up, you can use your Dining Dollars to buy meals for others at the door price per meal.

No. Meals aren’t transferable to other students. However, Housing Dining is a part of the Swipe Out Hunger program and residents are able to donate a meal swipe when making a purchase to support UW-Madison’s Badger FARE program. In addition, University Housing Dining takes any leftover unserved food from the Dining Markets and creates pre-packaged frozen microwaveable meals. These meals are available at no cost to any student on-campus facing food insecurity. To learn more about this program and where you can pick up food, see their Instagram and Facebook pages.

Non-housing residents will pay a flat standard fee for their meal upon entry to the market. This will allow you to enjoy all-you-care-to-eat (buffet style service). You are welcome to come back into the market during your meal as many times as you would like for additional food, however you are not able to carry out extra food. If a non-resident pays with their Wiscard, they receive a 5% discount.

Yes, for residents using their dining plan meals, all meal periods – breakfast, lunch, dinner, and brunch (served on weekends) – count as equal meals and will count as one of your weekly meals. If you are a non-resident or if you are using Dining Dollars or other funds to pay for a meal, there are different prices for different meal periods.

If you use all of your designated meals for the week, you can use your Dining Dollars to purchase meals upon entry to the market at standard price. You’ll receive a 5% discount on food when using your Wiscard. If you run out of Dining Dollars, you are able to add money to your Wiscard online or by visiting the Wiscard Office.

In addition, University Housing Dining takes any leftover unserved food from the dining markets and creates pre-packaged frozen microwaveable meals. These meals are available at no cost to any student on-campus. To learn more about this program and where you can pick-up food UW Frozen Meals Instagram and Facebook pages.

Our weeks run Sunday through Saturday. Weekly meal balances renew for the week every Sunday at 12:00 am.

Fill out the Allergy/Dietary Requirement Self-Declaration Form so our Housing Dietitian can make sure your specific needs are addressed. We are happy to work with students regarding individual circumstances. We have several resources we can use to ensure your needs are met.

If you are facing financial emergencies during your time at UW-Madison, you can submit an Emergency Support Request via your MyUW Student Center to be considered for emergency support options, including limited grant funding and loans. 

In addition to direct financial support, UW–Madison continues to connect students with resources to meet and navigate basic needs (e.g., internet/technology, child care, housing and employment) and food assistance. University Health Services has also provided information on available healthy food at https://www.uhs.wisc.edu/prevention/food-assistance/. 

Above all, if you need assistance, please reach out to us at dining@housing.wisc.edu, and we will see what we can do to get you connected with assistance.

Yes, to take food to-go from any location, you will need to use your Ticket to Take-Out token. Upon entry to the Market, provide your token to the cashier. You’ll be allowed to take 1 container to-go. The container must be able to shut. Food that is requested to-go must be consumed off-site and not in the dining room.

You can check your meal balance for the week along with your Dining Dollars balance at any time by visiting the Wiscard online account portal. In addition after your WisCard is swiped for entrance in the dining facility you balance will flash on the POS machine.

A meal exchange is a meal a student can use at Flamingo Run or The Bean & Creamery for a set combination of items during certain hours. One exchange meal may be redeemed per day.

Having a dining plan helps ensure that students get the nutrition they need to be healthy and successful, without having to worry about budgeting for food throughout the year. It also allows us to maintain lower housing rates for our residents, and gives students more value.

Yes, the Sellery renovation is continuing as planned during the 2022-23 academic year, with a planned completion in Fall 2023. Construction workers will not have access to resident rooms or spaces and will not be entering any resident spaces during the school year. There will always be separation between workers and students. This project will be very similar to the recent renovation of Witte, which received mostly very positive feedback from residents.

We have agreements with the construction contractors that they cannot start construction prior to 8am to help limit morning disruptions. Unfortunately, as with any project, residents can expect some noise, dust, and vibration during daytime hours, but we work very hard to keep it manageable and not too disruptive for students. We recommend that students consider bringing noise cancelling headphones. Questions or feedback about the Sellery renovation project can be directed to sellery.renovation@housing.wisc.edu.

While Sellery Residence Hall is under renovation, residents in Sellery will receive a discount on their Housing bill to acknowledge any potential inconveniences. The discounted rate will be displayed on their semester tuition bill. Students benefit from a savings of $300 annually, split between both semesters.

This is the same discount that was given to Sellery residents during the first year of the renovation and to Witte residents during their similar renovation project. Sellery and the Southeast neighborhood are very popular locations among our students, and with the discount, Sellery residents benefit from some of the lowest double room rates in the Southeast. Our rates, which are approved by the UW Board of Regents annually, cover many fixed per-resident costs, including programming, staff support, maintenance, supplies, dining operations, academic resources, and furniture. We operate as a self-funded, not-for-profit operation at UW-Madison, reinvesting our revenues to continuously improve the quality of our services and facilities. University Housing works hard to keep our costs as low as possible, and we offer some of the lowest on-campus housing rates of any Big Ten school while providing exceptional facilities, programs, and experiences.