The Residence Life Office strives to offer the highest quality resident experience possible. Because of this, we focus on:

• Safety and Cleanliness
• Employing Caring & Competent Staff
• Community & Individual Responsibilities
• Supporting Academic Success
• Welcoming Differences & Diversity
• Inclusive Practices

TIPS FOR SUCCESS

Coming to an agreement may involve compromise, so please be open and flexible, yet assertive about your own needs.

Respond: Answer each question with your own individual preference.

Discuss: Examine the differences between yourself and your roommates.

Be Flexible: Try to agree on how to resolve your differences now before conflicts arise.

KNOW YOUR RIGHTS

Every resident in the residence halls has the following basic rights within their room.

YOU HAVE THE RIGHT TO…

• Study in your room free of interference, unreasonable noise, and other distractions. Sleep without undue disturbances from noise, guests, etc.
• Expect roommates will respect personal property.
• Live in a safe, clean, and healthy environment.
• Free access to one’s room and facilities without pressure from a roommate.
• Personal privacy
• Host a guest within the residence life policies. Ensuring that guests are respectful of the rights of all roommates.
• Have grievances addressed and conflicts resolved with the assistance of Resident Assistants.
• Be free from intimidation; physical and emotional harm; and racial, sexual, and other prejudicial harassment.
• Expect reasonable cooperation in the use of the room’s shared items (e.g. fridge, couch, microwave etc.) and a commitment to honor agreed-upon payment agreements for cleaning supplies, snacks, etc.
• Live according to one’s own unique values, beliefs, orientations, and preferences, as long as they do not unduly interfere with the rights of others.

CLEANLINESS AND SAFETY

I agree to lock the door of our room whenever I leave or am sleeping. I also understand that failure to do so could be found to constitute negligence. If theft or vandalism to property in the room results from my negligence, I understand that I might be held liable for the loss.

I agree to not allow “tailgating” to happen. Tailgating is when people who do not live in my residence hall enter the building without a host by following another unrelated person. The building, floor, and room are only as safe as I allow them to be.

We agree to share the responsibilities of sweeping and vacuuming, emptying and taking out the trash, dusting, picking up / tidying the room, and if applicable cleaning the kitchen, bathroom purchasing of toilet paper, cleaning products, etc.

COMMUNICATION

 Communication is key in a good roommate relationship. Use the information below to have a conversation about communication styles and what will be most effective for your room.

HOW TO COMMUNICATE WITH DIFFERENT PERSONALITY TYPES:

THE CONTROLLER       

The controller is easy to spot; they just want the facts and nothing but the facts. Because of this, they can often be perceived as bossy and insensitive; The Controller is extremely goal oriented and their major motivation is to get things done. They'll take a project and run with it. Many times they won’t even have a plan where they begin. They forge ahead with an attitude of ‘we’ll figure it out as we go’.  The Controller thinks broadly and has little use for details, so don’t give them more details than absolutely necessary to get your point across.  

Here’s how to communicate with a bottom line person.

• Be efficient and businesslike.
• Get right to the point.
• Set and clarify goals/objectives.
• Give them conclusions.
• Only provide details if asked.
• Solve problems/objections.
• Talk in terms of results, not methods.      

THE PROMOTER

You know the Promoter… They are the life of the party and lots of fun. They love people and they love to talk. Their natural sociability allows them to talk for long periods of time about almost anything. They have an attractive personality. They are enthusiastic, curious, and expressive.

Here’s how to communicate with the life of the party.

• Leave plenty of time for talk and social niceties.
• Ask them about their family, friends, etc. Be prepared to talk about yours
• If possible, let them ‘experience’ what you are communicating.
• Talk in terms of people and stories.
• Use lots of examples    

THE SUPPORTER

The person with a Supporter communication style typically has a low key personality and is calm, cool, and collected. They tend to be patient, well balanced, and happily reconciled with life. Supporters are the largest percentage of the population, and they are typically competent and steady workers who don’t like to be involved in conflict.  When there is conflict, they may be called upon to mediate the problem. They are good listeners and usually have many friends. One of their major motivations is to avoid offending anyone.  

Here’s how to communicate with the largest percentage.

• Don’t come on too strong
• Earn their trust in small steps
• Provide plenty of reassurance
• Don’t ask for big decisions right away      

THE ANALYZER

These are the ‘facts and figures’ people. They love details and organizing things. They tend to be thoughtful, analytical, serious, and purposeful. Because their communication style includes a need for details, they sometimes hesitate to make decisions if they feel that they don’t have enough facts. They love lists, charges, and figures.  Because they pay too much attention to details, they can sometimes be seen as pessimistic. Many times they are frugal or economical. 

Here’s how to communicate with the detail oriented.

• Make sure you are well prepared
• Have plenty of facts and figures
• Be prepared for skepticism
• Answer all of their questions
• Go relatively slow to give them time to think

STUDY & SLEEP

• Lifestyle choices such as sleep, and study habits are important to discuss to avoid potential conflicts. Our residence hall policies state:
• Quiet hours are maintained to provide an atmosphere that is conducive to good scholarship and to promote an environment where individuals can learn from the experience of group living. The enforcement of quiet hours is the responsibility of each student, with assistance from Residence Life staff as needed.
• Each floor must observe the minimum acceptable quiet hours of 10:00 PM until 7:00 AM on Sunday through Thursday evenings and 12:00 AM until 9:00 AM on Friday and Saturday evenings.
• Courtesy hours are in effect twenty-four hours a day. Therefore, excessive noise, as To read more about these policies, you can learn more on our online resources At np.edu/student-services/residence-life/

 Guest Policy & Preferences

One of the most common problems between roommates lies in the area of visitation. Who visits, when, and for how long are common questions. If you discuss these issues with each other, you should be able to avoid some conflicts. Our residence hall policy states that: 

Students may host guests of either gender in their residence hall rooms provided the following guidelines are met:

• All roommates have agreed upon the appropriate hours of guest visitation.
• All roommates agree on who is visiting and the length of the visit.
• At no time may a roommate deny other roommates access to the room.
• At no time may a roommate force other roommates to share the room with a visitor.
• Overnight guests are not permitted to stay in their host's room longer than TWO days consecutive, no longer then 4 days per month.All roommates involved make reasonable accommodations.

Although NPC allows for visitation of students to other rooms, the College also expects each student to live in their assigned spaces on campus. Only NPC students and staff are permitted to live on campus. A guest is any person who is not assigned to the room in which they are staying.

FINAL STEP

By now you and your roommate(s) have had a chance to establish some policies and guidelines that should help you build a positive relationship — and a living and learning environment in which you both can succeed. You should have identified some problem areas and methods for dealing with them.

If, however, you should encounter any problems you have not discussed in this agreement, feel free to modify this agreement to resolve the issues. But remember, each of you must take part in that process for compromise and cooperation so that they work for both of you. If problems do occur, you and your roommate are encouraged to make every effort to address the issues together. When making revisions to this document, you may consider listing the dates you made changes at the beginning of the agreement as well as signing your initials next to the changes you and your roommates agreed upon.

Although it is best to try to resolve disputes between yourselves, feel free to contact your Resident Assistant if you feel their assistance as a mediator or facilitator would be beneficial.

We as roommates, enter into this agreement in good faith. We fully intend to abide by all policies established and we further agree to address concerns as they occur, all in an effort to create a supportive and enjoyable living and learning environment. 

We agree to be flexible and revise the agreement as it becomes necessary. We understand that failure to adhere to this agreement may result in appropriate responses from the College. It is assumed that all agreements made between roommates take into account all policies and regulations and conform to Residence Life policies.