J-1 Scholars/Exchange Visitors

Requesting Housing

Scholars are eligible for university housing in Alumni Village or Rogers Hall, on a space available basis. At some times of the year, particularly the end of August and early September, university housing is completely filled and not available to scholars. In those cases, off-campus housing is usually the only option until space in university housing becomes available. If on-campus housing is available, a major advantage is that the contract is month-to-month. If the scholar decides upon arrival that he or she would like to be in a different location, there is no penalty for moving out even after one month.

Rogers Hall is on campus, but is usually shared living space (meaning that the scholar would have a roommate). Some single, not shared, apartments in Rogers Hall are available, but very limited. Alumni Village (individual apartments, appropriate for both single scholars and families) is located about 1.5 miles from campus. Bus transportation is available from this location to the university campus, but many scholars find that being able to walk to their department and the libraries is preferable.

On-campus housing is furnished, including beds, desks, sofas, and lamps, but not including linens (towels, sheets, pillows) or pots, pans, dishes, silverware, and other kitchen items. Scholars may borrow without charge some used household items, if they wish, from the International Center's Lending Closet. The Lending Closet normally contains pots, pans, dishes, and silverware, but not linens or paper products.

To apply for on-campus housing, the inviting faculty member at FSU must send an e-mail to Michelle Gray in the University Housing Office requesting consideration for a particular scholar to be placed in Alumni Village. The request should include the scholar's first and last name, their affiliation with FSU (for example, "a researcher working with Dr....in the Department of..."), the dates of their stay at FSU, the scholar's temporary ID number (or real SSN, if they have one already), and the scholar's e-mail address.

The online housing application is not available to visiting scholars and will not work properly should they try to use it. The scholar must receive an e-mailed pdf version of the housing contract directly from Michelle Gray, and then must complete and return it to Michelle for possible placement.

For cost and other information, scholars can check the university housing web site at www.housing.fsu.edu.

Scholars should know that if they arrive into Tallahassee on a weekend, holiday, or evening and are assigned to Alumni Village, they will need to stay in a hotel until the next regular workday. The University Housing office, where the scholar will check into their housing, is not open on weekends. Their normal office hours are Monday through Friday, 8:00am to 5:30pm. This office is located in the Student Life Building (map: http://www.fsu.edu/cgi-bin/map/zoom?LIST=23). Scholars will also need to have the utilities connected before moving in if living in Alumni Village. The city utility office is also not open on weekends for connection service. See the section on utilities below for more information.

In the case that there is no space available at Alumni Village, scholars may need to have extra funds reserved for a hotel while locating housing. For non-university housing and hotel information, the inviting department should provide assistance as necessary. Scholars may want to visit sites such as www.apartments.com, www.myapartmentmap.com www.forrent.com where they will be able to contact property management for certain facilities through an e-mail system. In this way, preliminary arrangements may be able to be made from abroad. The CGE neither endorses nor recommends any of these services, as this is not our area of expertise, but offers the above sites for informational purposes only. Scholars should be careful of illegitimate offers and scams, particularly in sublease situations.

Scholars should be aware that most off-campus property owners offer leases on a yearly basis. Leases are legally binding agreements which often require that the lease term be paid for, even if the scholar moves out early. If the scholar's program is shorter than one year, they will need to look specifically for a short-term lease. Scholars should read any lease agreement very carefully in order to avoid any unnecessary and excessive fees for moving out early. Some short-term leases require additional advance written notice that you will not be renewing the lease at the end of the lease term, and will charge additional rent if notice is not given in time.

It should also be noted that there are many off-campus properties in Tallahassee that rent one bedroom of a 3 or 4 bedroom shared apartment. Renting only one bedroom in this type of arrangement will not be appropriate if a scholar has a family or will have family visiting during their stay. These also may not be the type of living arrangement that scholars are seeking, so they should be very careful that they understand the apartment layout and what exactly they are renting.