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Although Ohio State can seem like a large place, there's a lot your student can do to make it feel like home, and a lot you can do to help ease the transition.
Urge your student to check out Learning Communities
Learning Communities are unique, educational residential experiences that create learning opportunities both in the classroom and across campus. Ohio State's 25 different and exciting communities feature substantial faculty and staff interaction, programming and community service activities. Some also allow students to earn academic credit by taking clustered courses and/or specifically designed courses (including short-term study abroad) with their community peers. This is a great way to get involved with students with similar interests and classes and makes the university seem a little smaller.
Let your student know the importance of getting involved on campus
Students at Ohio State spend an average of only 15-20 hours a week in the classroom. That is why it is important to consider how one will spend most of their time outside of the classroom. Most students are a little skeptical about getting involved right away in college. Involvement does not necessarily mean that you step right into a leadership experience. Involvement means finding something that is important to you and applying yourself to that. Depending on the interest, involvement can be a one-time event or an on-going commitment.
Getting involved will allow your student to understand what it is to be a buckeye, gain leadership skills and meet new people.
Organizations are based around everything from academic majors, hobbies, service, beliefs and everything in between.
Here's just a taste of what OSU offers:
Housing Involvement
Multicultural Involvement
The Student Resource Guide
Ohio Union Activities and Organizations
Spiritual Organizations
Know how to approach a roommate conflict
First, the staff of Ohio State's University Housing understands that living situations are not always ideal. Moving into a new environment with new roommates can cause both anxiety and tension - for them as well as you! And that's where our trained staff and abundant campus resources come in.
We will work with roommates to find the source of the conflict, and we'll suggest solutions and provide feedback to help students reach a mutually beneficial agreement. We'll also make sure your student knows what to do and whom to contact should any future conflicts arise.
But sometimes students call you before they call us. In that case, use these tips to guide your student in the right direction to resolve a roommate problem:
- Once your student explains the conflict, ask if it could be a misunderstanding instead of any intentional dispute.
- Find out if your student signed a roommate agreement and whether he or she has reviewed it lately. (Sometimes it's easy to "forget" what we agreed to!)
- Ask whether all the roommates involved have had a sit-down, heart-to-heart talk about the issue. Students often think they've communicated their feelings without having actually expressed them.
- Don't be afraid to question whether your student may have played a role in creating the conflict. Let him or her know you're not criticizing - only suggesting a little self-examination.
- Ask if student has contacted University Housing Staff - a Resident Advisor, Assistant Hall Director, or Hall Director - about the problem. If not, please encourage him or her to do so.
To speak with your student's Hall Director, contact us, indicate in which hall your student lives and ask for the Hall Director's name and phone number OR click on the student's hall.
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