GSAS Residence Halls

Living in the GSAS Residence Halls

Residence Hall Brochure 2012-2013

 

Overview

The Graduate School of Arts and Sciences (GSAS) Residence Halls and Dudley House Meal Plan offer exciting opportunities for graduate students to meet and interact with colleagues in informal settings. They are also the area's most convenient and affordable residential housing options for Harvard graduate students who wish to take full advantage of the services provided by GSAS.

Perkins and Conant halls were built in the late 1890s and are traditional Harvard-style buildings. Richards and Child halls, designed by the well-known architect Walter Gropius, were built in the 1950s. The GSAS Residence Halls are located on Oxford and Everett Streets just north of the Science Center and a brief walk to Harvard's museums, libraries, and laboratories on the Cambridge campus and to Harvard Square. Free shuttle service is available to Harvard's Medical School campus.

Academic-year housing usually begins in late August and extends to the end of the academic year, generally the third week of May. The process of obtaining on-campus graduate housing begins each year in March. Information about the application and assignment process can be found on the Housing Application Info page.

The Halls

 

 

 

 

Facilities Information

Single Sex Floors

All floors in the Residence Halls are coed except for the basement of Child Hall, which houses only men, and, the third floor of Richards Hall, which houses only women. Both male and female residents and visitors are welcome to the single-sex floors.

Bathroom Designations

Each floor has one bathroom, except in Perkins Hall, where there are two bathrooms per floor. All bathrooms are designated for single sex use. For one term during the academic year, students in Child, Richards, and Conant may need to use the bathroom on the floor above or below the floor on which they reside. Bathroom designations in these buildings will be reversed at the beginning of the spring term.

Two-Room Accommodations

The two-room suites in Child and Richards Halls consist of two small connecting rooms. Students may live in the Child Hall suites alone or with a staff-approved roommate. The price indicated below (under Room Fees) is for single occupancy. If two students choose to share a two-room suite, the room fee will be split between them equally. The Richards Hall suite is more appropriate for single occupancy only.

Services

Furnishings

All rooms have basic furnishings: a bed, desk and chair, desk lamp, bookcase, bureau, and closet or wardrobe. Room furniture provided by the University cannot be removed. All rooms in Child Hall and Richards Hall are carpeted. Other rooms are not carpeted. Pillows, linen, towels, and blankets are not provided.

Computers

All GSAS Residence Halls are equipped with wireless internet access. In addition, all rooms in the GSAS Residence Halls are equipped with data jacks through which personal computers can access the campus network, which in turn connects to the Internet. To connect a personal computer to the network, an internal Ethernet board or card is needed.

In addition to in-room computer access, residents have access to a computer lab in Child Hall that contains both PC and Macintosh computers. The computer room is networked to provide access to all applications provided by the University's Computer Services. Access to printing is also available in this lab.

Kitchens

All floors in the Residence Halls have at least one kitchen. Perkins Hall has two kitchens per floor. Kitchens are equipped with a microwave, stove, oven, and refrigerator for use by all members of the floor.

Telephone Service for the 2011-12 Academic Year

There is a telephone outlet in each room that is active upon move-in, however, residents must supply their own telephone. As a service to residents for the 2011-12 academic year, GSAS provides unlimited calls to all metro Boston exchanges on the room phone lines. In order to make long distance calls, students will need to have to pay for a Personal Billing Number (PBN) through PaeTec Communications, the telephone provider for Harvard University. Additional information regarding telephone service in the GSAS Residence Halls will be distributed at check-in. If you have questions regarding telephone service, please contact Pae Tec at 1-800-960-6555 or visit the PaeTec Web site at www.campuslink.paetec.com/harvard.html.

Please note that the University's  telephone service offer as described above is expected to come to an end after May 17, 2012.

Televisions and Cable

Individual rooms in the residence halls are not equipped for cable TV; however, there is at least one lounge in each building with cable television. There are also several DVD players in lounges.

Laundry Facilities

Washers and dryers, operated by both coins and Crimson Cash, are located in the basements of each of the four GSAS Residence Halls.

Linen, Laundry, and Dry Cleaning

Linen service is available through HSA Cleaners (Harvard Student Agencies Cleaners), located at 17 Holyoke Street. HSA Cleaners offers a weekly linen exchange, personal laundry service, a professional laundering service for shirts, and a dry cleaning service. If you have any questions, please call HSA Cleaners, 617-496-3412, www.hsa.net.

Rentals

Refrigerators, TVs, fans, and more are available for rental through Harvard Student Agencies in The Campus Store, 17 Holyoke Street, 617-496-3624.

Insurance

Student property insurance is available through private insurance companies. Information about one provider used by the University is available in GSAS Housing Services, Dudley House B2.

Parking

Parking in Cambridge is extremely limited. On-street parking is reserved for city residents with Cambridge vehicle registrations; parking stickers are available through the City of Cambridge Traffic, Parking, & Transportation Department located at 238 Broadway. Graduate students with out-of-state license plates are NOT eligible for non-resident registration with the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and have 90 days to transfer their plates. Before this can be done, Massachusetts Auto Insurance must be obtained. Private rental parking is limited and expensive.

The University suffers from a general lack of parking facilities in Cambridge and encourages all students to use public transportation and not bring automobiles to campus. The only campus parking available for residents is in Soldiers Field Park garage in Allston or Peabody Terrace garage in Cambridge. For more information about campus parking, contact Parking Services at 617-495-4785 (recorded information), 617-495-3772, or www.uos.harvard.edu/transportation/.

Policies

Below we have included information about a few important policies applicants should consider before applying to the GSAS Residence Halls. We recommend that applicants also review the GSAS Residence Hall Handbook to ensure that they understand and are amenable to all policies in effect in the GSAS Residence Halls. The 2011-12 GSAS Residence Hall Handbook can be accessed online. If you feel that any of our policies are unacceptable, we encourage you to pursue other housing arrangements. The 2011-2012 Handbook will be accessible online by August, 2011.

Occupancy Restrictions

With the exception of the two-room suites in Child Hall, all rooms in the GSAS Residence Halls are single occupancy only. Families with children are not eligible to reside in the halls. Couples may apply for housing in a two-room suite only if both individuals are full-time, registered Harvard graduate students.

Animals

Except for living-assistance animals (such as a seeing-eye dog), no animal, including birds, fish, and reptiles, may be kept in rooms in the residence halls. Pets are not allowed to visit.

Smoking

The GSAS Residence Halls are smoke-free environments, and, smoking is strictly prohibited in all areas, including common areas and individual rooms on all floors.

Residential Life

Resident Advisors

Graduate students serving as Resident Advisors (RAs) live and work in the halls to help improve residential life and to act as resources for new and continuing graduate residents. RAs help students adjust to residence-hall living, aid in emergency situations, and act as liaisons with the GSAS administration. Applications for Resident Advisor positions are available in January for the following academic year.

Graduate Dormitory Council

The primary goal of the Graduate Dormitory Council, an organization of hall residents, is to improve the quality of life in the halls by funding social events, overseeing recreational equipment, and maintaining a DVD/VHS library.

Dudley House, The Graduate Student Center

Dudley House is where the GSAS community comes together for socials, meals, lectures, and other events. Located in Harvard Yard and about an eight-minute walk from the residence halls, Dudley House serve the extracurricular needs of students in the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. Services and facilities include Cafe Gato Rojo, a dining hall, meeting space for student organizations and teaching fellows, computer/printing facilities, a library/reading room, a game room, and lockers. Of special note, GSAS students who serve as Dudley House fellows plan activities throughout the academic year, including lectures, dinners, dances, social events, movies, films, theatre, and music.

For more information, please visit the Dudley House Web site, www.fas.harvard.edu/~dudley/.

Note: Students from Graduate Schools other than GSAS who are not living in one of our four residence halls and therefore not on the Dudley Meal Plan, are not eligible to be Dudley House members.

Dudley House Meal Plan

All residents are required to enroll in the Dudley House Meal Plan. For the 2011-12 academic year, the meal plan consists of any four (4) meals a week, lunch or dinner, plus 16 floating meals each semester for a total of 160 meals during the academic year; 160 at Dudley Café and four interhouse on Columbus Day, Veterans Day, Martin Luther King Day, and Presidents Day. Residents must use four meals per week out of the ten offered (lunch and dinner), except for the weeks when the Dudley Cafe and/or the University is closed for a portion of the week: Thanksgiving week,  specific days prior to the University's Holiday Break in  December, and the first week in January (notices of exact number of meals these weeks will be emailed to residents by housing office). The Dudley Cafe is closed during winter and spring recess. Any of the four required meals not used during a given week are forfeited and cannot be carried over. Sixteen floating meals each semester can be used for guests or carried over from one week to the next, providing greater flexibility to meal plan participants.

Lunch is served from 11:30 am - 2:30 pm and dinner from 5:00 pm - 8:00 pm, Monday - Friday, in the main Dudley House Dining Room. Vegetarian options are available, and, meals can either be eaten at Dudley House or accommodations for a boxed lunch or dinner to go can be made in advance with dining hall staff.

The cost of the meal plan for the 2011-12 Academic Year is $2,214.00

Room Fees

Room fees vary based on the room size and building. The room fee does not include the meal plan. The fees for each room type are as follows:

Building	Room Type	Room Size (in sq. ft.)*	Price (08/19/11 - 05/17/12)
Child Hall	Small	111'	$5,900
	Two-Room Suite	276'	$9,266
Conant Hall	Large	234' - 265'	$8,460
	Small	164'	$6.766
Perkins Hall	Large	217'	$7,968
	Small	146'	$6,360
Richards Hall	Small	111'	$5,900
	Two-Room Suite	266'	$8,460

*Please note: Room sizes are approximate and may vary.