On this page, you will read about policy changes as well as upcoming construction and renovation projects that affect the application process for 2015-16.
Escondido Village Radiant Heat Renovation for 2015-16
For several years now, R&DE Student Housing has been progressively replacing the radiant heating (slab heating) systems in the Escondido Village low-rise buildings with new hydronic heating systems. Residents of buildings 49, 41, 23, 21, 3, 2, and 24 will need to move during the 2015-16 year in order to complete the final phase of renovations. Students are guaranteed alternate housing when the project reaches their building.
To complete the renovations, it is necessary for us to move students into other housing before their buildings are renovated. Renovations will begin on building 49 in January 2016 and building 41 in February. Buildings 23 and 21 will be renovated during Spring Quarter 2016, one at a time. Buildings 3, 2, and 24 will be renovated during the summer, two at a time. Residents will move progressively as the renovations are completed.
Hoskins Midrise Renovation Project
We are planning a renovation project for Hoskins that will take place during spring and summer 2016. This project will improve the kitchens, install a new fire sprinkler system, and replace the water heating boiler and roof.
To complete these renovations, it will be necessary for us to move students who are living on the first and second floors of Hoskins into different housing assignments at the end of the Winter Quarter 2016 (during spring break). After we renovate the first and second floors, the students living on the third and fourth floors will move permanently into the renovated apartments. We will continue to move the next two floors down into the renovated apartments until we work our way up through the eighth floor. We will start with the first two floors the beginning of Spring Quarter 2016 and finish the eighth floor by the end of August 2016. Student Housing will provide you with boxes and moving assistance when your floor is scheduled to be renovated. Each set of two floors will take about five weeks to renovate.
At the end of Winter Quarter 2016, the residents of the first and second floors of Hoskins will be offered priority for reassignment to any of the vacancies that are available in graduate housing for Spring Quarter 2016. We will send out more detailed information to those students after the start of the 2015-16 year.
Rains House Renovation Starting Summer 2015
We are planning to renovate the Rains Houses progressively over four summers, starting in 2015. To complete the renovations, it is necessary for us to move students into other housing before their buildings are renovated. Renovations will take place during the Summer Quarter. Residents will move at the beginning of the summer to another residence.
Rains Apartments Returning to Grad Housing
Rains buildings 201 and 202 have been assigned to undergraduates for the last few years. Starting in the autumn of 2015-16 those spaces will be assigned to graduate students as additional academic-year options.
Bowdoin Roundabout
A new traffic roundabout will be installed this summer at the intersection of Bowdoin Lane/Drive and Campus Drive. The project will begin in April, 2015, and be completed in September, 2015. During the course of this project, lane closures and noise is to be expected. For more information, please visit the LBRE "Heads UP" page.
Unauthorized Sublicensing
Students are generally only able to sublicense (sublet) their apartments during the summer to verified Stanford affiliates who have been approved by Housing Assignments. Over the last year, numerous students and University administrators have brought to our attention that some graduate students are abusing the privilege of living in graduate housing by inappropriately sublicensing their housing space to others. We know that most graduate students appreciate living on campus and abide by the policies that are designed to create a supportive and safe community. Unfortunately, others have chosen an inappropriate approach for their own personal gain by sublicensing to unauthorized individuals not associated with the University or sublicensing to students who want to circumvent the Waiting List. Some are also doing this for financial profit by charging more than the rent that they pay for the unit. Students unable to be assigned to campus housing are particularly upset, given that these spaces could have potentially been assigned to them through the regular assignment process.
We are asking the entire graduate community to assist us in stopping this practice. Students who have chosen to disregard established sublicensing policies for their own personal gain are retaining housing space they do not need at the expense of others who want to live on campus. Please contact Housing Assignments if you know of a suspicious sublet or unauthorized occupant.
If students choose to engage in an unauthorized sublicense agreement, they should be aware that they may not only be violating the R&DE Student Housing Residence Agreement, but also the University’s Fundamental Standard. Students engaged in unauthorized sublicensing activities (contract holders and any unauthorized student sublicensees) will be charged an unauthorized sublicense fee, be required to move out of housing immediately, and permanently lose their on-campus housing privileges. If applicable, their case will be turned over to the Office of Community Standards. In some cases, students may be required to pay back any financial gain that they have received by sublicensing their apartment.
We understand the benefits of having a short-term sublicensing program for students who need to study away for a short period of time, and so we are planning to keep our current sublicensing program. However, we do need to enforce sublicensing policies so we are better able to meet housing demand from students enrolled and studying at the home campus. If you are interested in creating an authorized sublicense agreement, please refer to the sublicensing website.
Subsidized Off-campus Housing
Stanford has secured off-campus leases at twelve apartment complexes in Menlo Park, Mountain View and Palo Alto to help meet the demand for housing this year. These subsidized off-campus apartments will be offered along with the on-campus options in the waiting list and continuous assignment rounds of housing assignments. You may add them to your list of preferences in Axess after the first round Lottery. These units will be furnished and your subsidized housing charges will include Internet and utilities. These apartments are available through Summer Quarter 2016. These apartments were leased to help meet the demand from guaranteed first-year students, so you cannot renew the apartment. A chart of information about the complexes and detailed descriptions, prices and pictures of the individual complexes are available under the Housing Options section of this website.