March 21, 2003

Dear Resident:

The time to select residence hall rooms for 2003-2004 is quickly approaching.  If you'd like to live in the residence halls next year, we invite you to go online to Step Inside at http://accessplus.iastate.edu beginning Monday, March 24 to complete a 2003-2004 residence hall contract.  This is NOT the room selection process; this merely replaces the old step of completing a printed contract to indicate that you would like to reside in the residence halls for 2003-2004; however, it is an important step.  After you complete the online contract, you will be given information about your priority for the second step of the process (room selection).  You must complete both steps in order to secure a room for next year, and you must complete an online contract before you can choose a room.

Beginning April 8, 2003, the Step Inside online room assignment system is open to residents of Union Drive, Richardson Court, and Knapp Hall who have completed online contracts.  Residents of Westgate and Storms Halls should not their "displaced resident" priority period on April 11-12.  Rooms within each period of the Step Inside process are available on a first come, first served-basis, so please read the following information and review the attached diagram carefully to ensure that you are taking the best advantage of your opportunity to use Step Inside for room selection.

Day One (April 8)
On April 8, ANY student (there will be no blocks applied as described below) may access the system to select a room in Wallace-Wilson residence halls for upper-division students.

Also, on April 8, the Step Inside system will be opened for students to assign themselves back into their same 2002-2003 rooms (in Union Drive, Richardson Court, or Knapp Hall) for 2003-2004.  However, some students will be initially restricted from accessing the system until future dates.  Students who will receive lower priority to access the system and who will be subsequently "blocked" on April 8 include:

• Students currently on deferred removal or deferred suspension
• Students who currently reside in Maple Hall or Eaton Hall who have not completed the Fresh Start program components
• Current freshmen with a cumulative GPA of less than 2.0
• Current upper-division students (sophomores, juniors, and seniors; based on registrar's classification) with a cumulative GPA of less than 2.5

If you are member of a residential learning community and are planning to return to the house in which you r learning community is located as a upper-class participant for 2003-2004, you will be able to access the system beginning at 7 a.m. on April 8 and April 9.  There will be a priority window for students in learning communities to assign themselves between 7-9 a.m. on both April 8 (same room) and April 9 (same house).  If you are participating in a residential learning community but don't live on the designated learning community house, you will not be eligible to access the system during the priority window.

All other students may access the system beginning at 9 a.m. on April 8, 2003.  The department strongly suggests that all eligible students who wish to return to the residence halls go in on this day as soon as possible and claim their same rooms, even if they wish to move elsewhere in the system.  Doing this secures a spot for you in the residence halls; you will be able to move yourself to a different house or hall on a future date during the Step Inside process, if you wish.

Day Two (April 9)

On April 9, the same students who were eligible to go into Step Inside on April 8 will also be eligible to select different rooms on their same houses from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m.  If you already selected your same room on April 8 but would like to browse around for a different room on your house, you can move yourself into a new room on April 9.

Day Three (April 10)

The Step Inside system will be closed on April 10 for administrative office functions.

Days Four and Five (April 11-12)

If you are a resident of Westgate Hall or Storms Hall (the two residence halls which will not be available in 2003-2004), you will have a special two-day window on April 11 and 12 to select a room in a new hall anywhere in the system, since you did not have the option of selecting your same room or same house on the first two days of Step Inside.  Westgate and Storms residents who wish to move to Wallace-Wilson Halls will be able to do so on April 8.  The only Westgate or Storms residents who will be unable to access the system on April 11-12 will be students currently on deferred removal or deferred suspension.  There will be no grade point restriction applied on these days.

Day Six (April 15)

Beginning on April 14, the Step Inside system will be opened up for Richardson Court and Union Drive students to move to other rooms in their neighborhoods.  At this time, restrictions on grade point average will be lifted, and Maple and Eaton Hall residents who did not complete the Fresh Start program will also be eligible to enter the system.  Students who were previously restricted from access (except for students on deferred rmoval or deferred suspension) may select their same rooms, same houses, or same neighborhoods, depending upon their individual preferences and upon availability of space.

Day Seven (April 15)

On April 15, the Step Inside system will be completely open to all residents.  The block will be removed for students on deferred removal or deferred suspension, and ANY student may assign himself or herself to ANY remaining available room in the residence hall system.

After Day Seven

The system will remain open through 8 p.m. on Friday, May 9, 2003, so if you were hoping to move to a certain area but were initially unsuccessful in finding a vacancy upon first accessing the system, we encourage you to continue checking Step Inside for vacancies through May 9.  Please note that the system will be closed on all Sundays.

Additional Contract Information

You will have an opportunity to choose a meal plan at a later time.  You will be assigned a Cyclone 17 Plus (any 17 meals per week plus 150 Dining Dollar$ per semester) plan with your contract; however, you will be provided information about how to change to a larger or smaller plan beginning April 24.  Please note the cancellation schedule for residence hall contracts as listed in the Terms and Conditions (available for viewing online at www.iastate.edu/~dor/contract.html) .  Projected room and board rates are also listed in the Terms and Conditions and on the Department of Residence's website at www.iastate.edu/~dor/living/rates.html.

Please remember that you must complete an online residence hall contract before accessing Step Inside for room selection.  The system is completely automated.  if you have questions or concerns about your residence hall contract and/or Step Inside, please contact your R.A. or C.A.

Sincerely,

Paul Dosch
Manager, Administrative Services