Week 2: Residence Life and OSCA

Ready, Set, Oberlin! A week-by-week guide to prepare for your arrival

Issue #2

Residential Education and OSCA

Students Socializing in a Residential Space

Welcome from Mark Zeno, Office of Residential Education

Welcome to Oberlin! As you prepare for move-in day, I encourage you to visit the Office of Residence Life website for information on housing and dining, important dates, and a description of our Residential Education Model (REM). At Oberlin, we are committed to supporting diverse communities that promote learning, leadership, and respect. Your ResLife team is a resource to help you learn, develop, and grow. Living in a residence hall will help you develop interpersonal and leadership skills that you will use during and beyond your college years. Feel free to visit us in Stevenson Hall, Room 115, with any questions or just to say hello!

Welcome again, and we will see you in the fall.Picture of Mark Zeno

 

Mark A. Zeno
Assistant Vice President and Dean of Residential Education and Campus Auxiliary Services

 

Housing Application Opens Soon

The New Student Housing Application is available, with a priority deadline of June 1, 2023. Applications for Theme/ILBC, Disability Accommodations, and Housing Exemptions are due by June 1. Students who apply after the June 1 date will be placed manually into their housing assignment.  Please contact our office (reslife@oberlin.edu), if you have any additional questions about housing.

Here is the link to apply for housing at Oberlin College and Conservatory. Please complete the application honestly and with as much information as possible. Your stated preferences will help us best match you with your roommate(s) and preferred residence hall if you haven’t already selected them during the lottery. 

The Residential Education Model (REM)

by Melanie Hawkins, Assistant Director of Residential Education

The Residential Education Model (REM) is an intentional framework for living communities that furthers student learning and engagement at Oberlin. Residential education focuses on the entire student experience and fosters learning beyond theStudents eating in a dining hall classroom. Living on campus will help you to:

  • build supportive networks
  • develop practical competence
  • explore identities
  • engage in meaningful communities

You will receive regular newsletters with event invitations, links to campus resources, and other means of helping you navigate college. Other REM strategies include community meetings, roommate/community agreements, and educational workshops. Click here to learn more about the Residential Education Model! 

‌Consider a Co-op! 

by the Oberlin Student Co-operative Association Leadership

Consider living and dining with OSCA! The Oberlin Student Co-operative Association is an independent nonprofit entirely separate from the college. OSCA operates four living and six dining cooperatives and saves space for interested first-year and transfer students to either live-and-dine or dine-only cooperatively. Students in OSCA share community and labor, working 4-5 hours a week in various jobs—everything from  head cook or crew member for any of our many weekly meals to  president of the entire organization. OSCA offers at-cost room and board, tasty twice-daily meals made from locally-sourced organic food, frequent snacks and tasty things, the famed Jellyfish Parade, and more! Check out our website at osca.coop or email us at memsec@osca.coop to learn more! If needed, OSCA can provide financial support. Learn more here. OSCA also offers a program of time-aid, where work-study students need not work as many hours in a co-op, and other accessibility-based accommodations.

Complete Your To-Do List in Engage

As a reminder, please complete your “To-Do” list in Engage! This includes Student Health forms, registering with the Office of Disability & Access, and submitting ID Card information!

How to review your checklist:

  • Access your Engage portal with your ObieID and password.
  • Click on the “To-Do Lists” Tile.
  • Review and complete items. Some are required and some are optional.
  • Mark each item as complete by clicking “Update.”
  • If you have questions, email or call the contact listed for each to-do list item.