For students in need of housing for next school year, the spring housing fair this weekend will give them a chance to meet with landlords and property managers from the State College area.
Held from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday at the HUB-Robeson Center, the annual spring housing fair is a joint venture between the Office of Off-Campus Living, the Off-Campus Student Union and the Council of Commonwealth Student Governments.
The fair is for those students who are looking to move off campus next school year, or those who are currently living off-campus and looking for a new place to live, Loretta Doss, assistant director of off-campus living, said.
“This is a time where they will get direct and accurate information as to what things cost, what is included and not included,” Doss said.
Doss said the fair is a day dedicated to moving off campus, and students should come prepared.
“I encourage students to ask as many questions as possible because they’re the consumer,” Doss said. “I don’t want a student to sign something and they don’t know what they are signing.”
While a contract is needed to secure an apartment, the fair is for informational and educational purposes and no leases will be signed that day, Doss said.
The spring housing fair is the second fair of the year, following the fall housing fair in October.
Dylan Rappold, the director of student life for CCSG, said from the commonwealth perspective, the fair provides a “good opportunity.”
“We offer a spring housing fair because there are people who transition up to the campus this semester, so they were unable to go to the fair in the fall,” Rappold (junior-communications) said.
The fair is also targeted to those students who expected to receive on-campus housing, but were not offered a contract, Joe Nichisti, president of the OCSU, said.
The final round of contracts for regular housing was offered Jan. 21. Students that did not receive a contract in that round had another opportunity for an offer on Jan. 24, according to the University Park on-campus housing website.
But not all students who apply for a contract receive an offer to live on campus.
“Some students will be panicked,” Nichisti (senior-chemistry) said. “Housing is a big concern for students.”
Though housing can be overwhelming, the fair is a “great resource to bring all the information together,” Nichisti said
