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A dormitory (originated from the
Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...
word ''dormitorium'', often abbreviated to dorm) is a building primarily providing sleeping and residential quarters for large numbers of people such as
boarding school A boarding school is a school where pupils live within premises while being given formal instruction. The word "boarding" is used in the sense of "room and board", i.e. lodging and meals. As they have existed for many centuries, and now exten ...
,
high school A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper seconda ...
,
college A college (Latin: ''collegium'') is an educational institution or a constituent part of one. A college may be a degree-awarding tertiary educational institution, a part of a collegiate or federal university, an institution offering ...
or
university A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, t ...
students. In some countries, it can also refer to a room containing several beds accommodating people.


Terminology


Dorm and residence hall

The terms "dorm" is often used in the US. However, within the
residence life Residence Life is the comprehensive program that surrounds the experience of living "on and off campus" in a residence hall at a college or university. Residence Life is usually structured with planned events, a code of conduct and ethics, and a rel ...
community, the official term "residence hall" is preferred. According to the
University of Oregon The University of Oregon (UO, U of O or Oregon) is a public research university in Eugene, Oregon. Founded in 1876, the institution is well known for its strong ties to the sports apparel and marketing firm Nike, Inc, and its co-founder, billion ...
, their facilities "provide not just a place to sleep, but also opportunities for personal and educational growth. Highly trained Residence Life staff and Hall Government officers support this objective by creating engaging activities and programs in each hall or complex." In the UK, the preferred term in the context of student housing is "halls," short for "halls of residence." In English-speaking Canada, the common term is "residence" or "res" for short. In Australia the terms "halls of residence" and "halls" are common, but
college
(or, more formally, "residential college") is also used in the cases of halls of residence that are named as such (''e.g.''
Robert Menzies College Robert Menzies College (RMC) is an Anglican residential college of Macquarie University. Established in 1972, the college was named after former Prime Minister Sir Robert Menzies. Its Latin motto is ''Vera Cogitate'', and the college's stated ...
,
Trinity College Trinity College may refer to: Australia * Trinity Anglican College, an Anglican coeducational primary and secondary school in , New South Wales * Trinity Catholic College, Auburn, a coeducational school in the inner-western suburbs of Sydney, New ...
, and Mannix College); residential colleges commonly have a Christian ethos.


Dormitory, hall of residence, house, hostel and barracks

In United Kingdom usage, the word dormitory means a room containing several beds accommodating unrelated people. In the United Kingdom, this arrangement exists typically for pupils at a boarding school, travellers or military personnel, but is almost entirely unknown for university students. In United Kingdom usage, a building providing sleeping and residential quarters for large numbers of people is called a hall of residence (university students), house (members of a religious community or pupils at a boarding school), hostel (students, workers or travellers) or barracks (military personnel). In the United Kingdom, halls of residence almost entirely have single occupancy rooms, are almost always mixed sex, with residents being allocated to adjacent rooms regardless of sex.


Off-campus residence

Halls located away from university facilities sometimes have extra amenities such as a recreation room or bar. As with campus located residence halls, these off-campus halls commonly also have
Internet The Internet (or internet) is the global system of interconnected computer networks that uses the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to communicate between networks and devices. It is a '' network of networks'' that consists of private, pub ...
facilities, either through a network connection in each student room, a central computer cluster room, or
Wi-Fi Wi-Fi () is a family of wireless network protocols, based on the IEEE 802.11 family of standards, which are commonly used for local area networking of devices and Internet access, allowing nearby digital devices to exchange data by radio wave ...
. Catered halls may charge for food by the meal or through an termly subscription. They may also contain basic kitchen facilities for student use outside catering hours. Most halls contain a laundry room. As of 2015 there was an expanding market for private luxury off-campus student residences which offered substantial amenities in both the United States and Britain, particularly in
London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
.


College and university dormitories

Most colleges and universities provide single or multiple occupancy rooms for their students, usually at a cost. These buildings consist of many such rooms, like an apartment building. The largest dormitory building is
Bancroft Hall Bancroft Hall, at the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland, is said to be the largest contiguous set of academic dormitories in the U.S. Bancroft Hall, named after former U.S. Secretary of the Navy, and famous historian/author Geor ...
at the
United States Naval Academy The United States Naval Academy (US Naval Academy, USNA, or Navy) is a federal service academy in Annapolis, Maryland. It was established on 10 October 1845 during the tenure of George Bancroft as Secretary of the Navy. The Naval Academy ...
. Many colleges and universities no longer use the word "dormitory" and staff are now using the term residence hall (analogous to the United Kingdom "hall of residence") or simply "hall" instead. Outside academia however, the word "dorm" or "dormitory" is commonly used without negative connotations. Indeed, the words are used regularly in the marketplace as well as routinely in advertising.


United States

Typically, a United States residence hall room holds two students with no
toilet A toilet is a piece of sanitary hardware that collects human urine and feces, and sometimes toilet paper, usually for disposal. Flush toilets use water, while dry or non-flush toilets do not. They can be designed for a sitting position popu ...
. This is usually referred to as a "double". Often, residence halls have communal bathroom facilities. In the United States, residence halls are sometimes segregated by sex, with men living in one group of rooms, and women in another. Some dormitory complexes are single-sex with varying limits on visits by persons of each sex. For example, the
University of Notre Dame The University of Notre Dame du Lac, known simply as Notre Dame ( ) or ND, is a private Catholic research university in Notre Dame, Indiana, outside the city of South Bend. French priest Edward Sorin founded the school in 1842. The main campu ...
in
Indiana Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th s ...
has a long history of Parietals, or mixed visiting hours. Most colleges and universities offer coeducational dorms, where either men or women reside on separate floors but in the same building or where both sexes share a floor but with individual rooms being single-
sex Sex is the trait that determines whether a sexually reproducing animal or plant produces male or female gametes. Male plants and animals produce smaller mobile gametes (spermatozoa, sperm, pollen), while females produce larger ones ( ova, of ...
. In the early 2000s, dorms that allowed people of opposite sexes to share a room became available in some public universities. Some colleges and university coeducational dormitories also feature coeducational bathrooms. Many newer residence halls offer single rooms as well as private bathrooms, or suite-style rooms. Most residence halls are much closer to campus than comparable private housing such as apartment buildings. This convenience is a major factor in the choice of where to live since living physically closer to classrooms is often preferred, particularly for first-year students who may not be permitted to park vehicles on campus. Universities may therefore provide priority to first-year students when allocating this accommodation.


United Kingdom

In UK universities these buildings are usually called ''halls of residence'' (commonly referred to as ''halls''), except at
Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...
,
Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cambridge bec ...
,
Durham Durham most commonly refers to: *Durham, England, a cathedral city and the county town of County Durham *County Durham, an English county * Durham County, North Carolina, a county in North Carolina, United States *Durham, North Carolina, a city in N ...
,
York York is a cathedral city with Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. It is the historic county town of Yorkshire. The city has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a ...
, Lancaster and
Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...
where the residential accommodation is incorporated in each college's complex of buildings, and simply known as ''rooms''. Members of the college who live in its own buildings are usually said to be ''living in'' or ''living in college''. The majority of bedrooms in UK halls are now single occupancy – offering the first chance at privacy for some young people who shared bedrooms with siblings at home. Many universities offer a range of catering options, from fully catered (with meals served in a canteen or dining hall) to fully self-catered with kitchen facilities within the accommodation. Kitchens are usually shared, as are bathrooms in some halls, though en-suite rooms and self-contained studios are available in some universities for a higher price. At most universities, on-campus or university-owned halls of residence tend to be predominantly occupied by first-year students, and it is common for continuing students to move into privately rented accommodation such as house shares or purpose-built private halls for the remainder of their degree. UK universities have seen increased funding from the Higher Education fees structure which has gradually been replacing direct grants from central government. This increasing reliance on income directly from students, as opposed entirely from direct taxation, in part, has led to an increase in the rental of student accommodation during the winter, spring, and summer vacation periods to house conference delegates and tourists, often at rates similar to those charged by upmarket hotels. During these periods students vacate their rooms if they are not required by them during non-term-time. As a result, several student-focused personal storage and shipping companies have appeared in order to cater for this need. At some institutes in the UK, each residence hall has its own hall council. Where they exist, such individual councils are usually part of a larger organization called, variously, a residence hall association, a resident students' association, or a junior common room committee, which typically provides funds and oversees the individual building council. These student-led organizations are often connected together at a national level by the
National Association of College and University Residence Halls The National Association of College and University Residence Halls Incorporated (NACURH) is an international organization made up of eight regions. The eight regions cover the entire United States and parts of Canada. Previously it has also covere ...
(NACURH). Collectively, these hall councils plan social and educational events and voice student needs to their respective administration. Purpose-built student accommodation (PBSA) has become more popular with developers, operators and students, with an ever increasing array of services and facilities provided in cluster accommodation and studio style apartments. Increasingly in the UK, new "off-campus" student accommodation is being built by private providers who market premium hotel-style rooms to
international student International students, or foreign students, are students who undertake all or part of their tertiary education in a country other than their own and move to that country for the purpose of studying. In 2019, there were over 6 million internati ...
s at higher rates than are charged for university-owned rooms. Some of the companies which have developed such accommodation are based offshore to avoid tax.


Germany

In Germany there are dormitories called "Studentenwohnheim" (plural: Studentenwohnheime). Most Studentenwohnheime are run by the Studentenwerk (an organisation providing social, financial and cultural support services to students in Germany, comparable to student unions in the UK). Some Studentenwohnheime are run by a Catholic or Protestant church. Church-run facilities are sometimes single-sex. Studentenwohnheime may be situated on or off campus. They are usually low cost and serve students with limited budget. Flats may be shared with other students or may be studio-type, with en-suite bathroom and kitchen facilities. The rooms themselves are mostly single occupancy.


India

In India the dormitories are called "PG housing" or "student
hostel A hostel is a form of low-cost, short-term shared sociable lodging where guests can rent a bed, usually a bunk bed in a dormitory, with shared use of a lounge and sometimes a kitchen. Rooms can be mixed or single-sex and have private or shared b ...
s". Even though most of the colleges/universities have hostels on-campus, however in most of the cases it is not enough for the total students enrolled. Majority of the students prefer to stay off-campus in PGs and private hostels as they usually have better amenities and services. For example, in 2015 estimated 1.8
lakh A lakh (; abbreviated L; sometimes written lac) is a unit in the Indian numbering system equal to one hundred thousand (100,000; scientific notation: 105). In the Indian 2,2,3 convention of digit grouping, it is written as 1,00,000. For ex ...
(180,000) students enrolled with
Delhi University Delhi University (DU), formally the University of Delhi, is a collegiate university, collegiate Central university (India), central university located in New Delhi, India. It was founded in 1922 by an Act of the Central Legislative Assembly and ...
, there are only about 9,000 seats available in its hostels for both undergraduate and postgraduate students. The university admits an average of 54,000 students every year. Which leaves a majority of students to find accommodation off-campus. This is led to a lot of student hostel or student PG chains to be established near Delhi University.


France

In
France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
dormitories are called "chambres universitaires" managed by regional public services called CROUS. They are usually located nearby or inside university campuses but many exceptions occur as universities may be settled within cities. Rooms are usually individual, costing around 300US$ per month with a collective kitchen and often collective bathrooms. Some "University cities" are famous such as the
Cité Internationale Universitaire de Paris Cité may refer to: Places * Cité (Paris Métro), the metro station on the ''Île de la Cité'' * Cité (Quebec), type of municipality in Quebec * Citadel, the historical centre of an old city, originally fortified * Housing estate A hou ...
.


Hong Kong

Universities in
Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...
are modeled on the British education system, with halls consequently being similar to those in the
United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...
.


China

In China, dormitories are called "宿舍" (pinyin: sùshè). Dorms for
mainland Chinese Mainland Chinese or Mainlanders are Chinese people who live in or have recently emigrated from mainland China, defined as the territory governed by the People's Republic of China (PRC) except for Hong Kong ( SAR of the PRC), Macau (SAR of the PRC), ...
students usually have four to six students of the same sex living together in one room, with buildings usually being entirely gender-segregated and sometimes intentionally placed at some distance from each other to make inappropriate fraternization between male and female students more difficult. Sleeping hours may be enforced by cutting electricity at a given time, for instance at midnight. Chinese students from
Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...
,
Macau Macau or Macao (; ; ; ), officially the Macao Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (MSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China in the western Pearl River Delta by the South China Sea. With a pop ...
and
Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the nort ...
live separately in their own dorms, as do foreigners. Mainlanders who are fluent in English or any foreign language may live in the foreigner- Hong Kong/Macau/Taiwan dorms, assuming they will be a roommate and participate in the foreign student activities, in order to help people get accustomed to mainland Chinese life. The quality of these dorms is usually better than that of mainland student dorms, with rooms either shared between only two people or completely private for a single student. Sexual decency attitudes are laxer than in mainlander dorms, with males and females sharing the same buildings and sometimes corridors (though not rooms). Students are allowed to bring visitors – including mainlanders – of the opposite sex to their rooms. Guests may or may not be allowed to stay overnight, depending on the rules of the dorm. Electricity is usually available at all hours of the day. Most dormitories for foreigners are run by the Foreign Students' Education Office (a department providing support services to students in China). They may be on campus or off campus. They are usually low cost and serve students.


Notable halls and complexes

Michigan State University Michigan State University (Michigan State, MSU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State of Michigan, the fi ...
,
Ohio University Ohio University is a Public university, public research university in Athens, Ohio. The first university chartered by an Act of Congress and the first to be chartered in Ohio, the university was chartered in 1787 by the Congress of the Confeder ...
, the
University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee The University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee (UW–Milwaukee, UWM, or Milwaukee) is a public urban research university in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. It is the largest university in the Milwaukee metropolitan area and a member of the University of Wiscons ...
, the
University of Texas at Austin The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public research university in Austin, Texas. It was founded in 1883 and is the oldest institution in the University of Texas System. With 40,916 undergraduate students, 11,075 ...
, the
University of Copenhagen The University of Copenhagen ( da, Københavns Universitet, KU) is a prestigious public university, public research university in Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark. Founded in 1479, the University of Copenhagen is the second-oldest university in ...
, and
London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
are six diverse and relevant examples of notable residential campuses that each display different relevances to contemporary dormitories in higher education. Michigan State has the largest hall; Ohio possesses four residential greens built into the campus; Wisconsin-Milwaukee has four notable tower constructions to house students; Texas maintains a residence hall with several high-tech amenities; Copenhagen has one of the world's oldest residence halls; and London possesses one of the largest metropolitan living quarters for
university A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, t ...
students.
Rutgers University Rutgers University (; RU), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a Public university, public land-grant research university consisting of four campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's ...
in
New Brunswick, New Jersey New Brunswick is a city (New Jersey), city in and the county seat, seat of government of Middlesex County, New Jersey, Middlesex County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey.residence hall system in the United States. 16,429 students live within a myriad of housing options, including apartments, suites and graduate housing. Freshmen are guaranteed on-campus housing to live on the 39,950+ student campus for at least their first year.
Watterson Towers Watterson Towers is a student residence hall at Illinois State University, and is one of the tallest dormitory buildings in the world at 298.5 feet. Located in Normal, Illinois Normal is a town in McLean County, Illinois, United States. As of ...
at
Illinois State University Illinois State University (ISU) is a public university in Normal, Illinois. Founded in 1857 as Illinois State Normal University, it is the oldest public university in Illinois. The university emphasizes teaching and is recognized as one of th ...
are among the tallest residence halls in the world. The 28-story complex, which was built in 1967 holds over 2,200 students and its buildings are 91 meters tall. Like many
national universities A national university is mainly a university created or managed by a government, but which may also at the same time operate autonomously without direct control by the state. Some national universities are associated with national cultural or po ...
, Ohio University includes its residence halls as a part of its campus architecture, augmenting the dormitories within plans for large sections of the urban campus. Ohio University includes three primary quadrangle residential lawns, also known as "greens," that have dormitories surrounding the central area per each. The greens, named for cardinal directions, include East Green, South Green, and West Green. Despite the appearance of the map, Voigt Hall and Scott Quadrangle are grouped onto East Green. There are no residence halls on College Green. The
Sandburg Halls Sandburg Residence Hall is a student residence hall on Maryland Ave, Milwaukee, Wisconsin on the campus of University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee. The building consists of four high rise towers and is the largest student residence hall of the scho ...
at University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee consists of four high-rise towers, with the tallest being the northernmost tower reaching tall (building), and (radio antenna). The halls combined have a total housing capacity of 2,700 students.
Dobie Center Dobie Center, named after J. Frank Dobie, is a formerly privately-owned 27-story residence hall located on the University of Texas at Austin campus. On October 12, 2021, the University of Texas announced it was purchasing the center to provide ...
, an off-campus, 27-story private dormitory next to the
University of Texas at Austin The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public research university in Austin, Texas. It was founded in 1883 and is the oldest institution in the University of Texas System. With 40,916 undergraduate students, 11,075 ...
, stands at . In addition to being a private residence for students, Dobie also contains a small 2-story mall, restaurants, and specialty stores. The Turku Student Village in
Nummi New United Motor Manufacturing, Inc. (NUMMI) was an American automobile manufacturing company in Fremont, California, jointly owned by General Motors and Toyota that opened in 1984 and closed in 2010. After the plant was closed by its owners, th ...
,
Turku Turku ( ; ; sv, Åbo, ) is a city and former capital on the southwest coast of Finland at the mouth of the Aura River, in the region of Finland Proper (''Varsinais-Suomi'') and the former Turku and Pori Province (''Turun ja Porin lääni''; ...
has more than 4,700 dormitories, of which 138 are youth hostels. Notable landmarks in the area also include the more than 40-meter-high dormitory tower called Ikituuri, which maintains nearly 100 dormitories. The residents of the entire student village consist mainly of students from the
University of Turku sv, Åbo universitet , latin_name = Universitas Aboensis , image_name = University of Turku.svg , motto = ''Vapaan kansan lahja vapaalle tieteelle'' , established = 1920 , type ...
,
Turku University of Applied Sciences Turku University of Applied Sciences (abbr. ''TUAS'', Finnish ''Turun ammattikorkeakoulu'') is a multidisciplinary higher education institution, located in the city of Turku and Salo ithe Southwest Finland The institute began operations as a tem ...
and
Åbo Akademi University Åbo Akademi University ( sv, Åbo Akademi , ) is the only exclusively Swedish language multi-faculty university in Finland (or anywhere outside Sweden). It is located mainly in Turku (Åbo is the Swedish name of the city) but has also activiti ...
. The
Valkendorfs Kollegium Valkendorfs Kollegium is a dormitory located in Sankt Peders Stræde in Copenhagen, Denmark. With a history that dates back to 1589, it is the oldest dormitory in Scandinavia. History The dormitory was founded on 26 February 1589 by the noble ...
at the
University of Copenhagen The University of Copenhagen ( da, Københavns Universitet, KU) is a prestigious public university, public research university in Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark. Founded in 1479, the University of Copenhagen is the second-oldest university in ...
was founded in 1589. Though not as old as some of the colleges of
Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...
and
Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cambridge bec ...
, it is among the oldest dormitories in the world. In Canada, student dormitories are more commonly called "residences" and students live "in residence". The
Stone Frigate A stone frigate is a naval establishment on land. "Stone frigate" is an informal term that has its origin in Britain's Royal Navy after its use of Diamond Rock, an island off Martinique, as a ' sloop of war' to harass the French in 1803–04 ...
at
Royal Military College of Canada '') , established = 1876 , type = Military academy , chancellor = Anita Anand ('' la, ex officio, label=none'' as Defence Minister) , principal = Harry Kowal , head_label ...
in
Kingston, Ontario Kingston is a city in Ontario, Canada. It is located on the north-eastern end of Lake Ontario, at the beginning of the St. Lawrence River and at the mouth of the Cataraqui River (south end of the Rideau Canal). The city is midway between Toro ...
was constructed in 1820 to store part of the dismantled fleet from the War of 1812. The former warehouse was converted into a residence and classrooms when the college was established in 1874. The Stone Frigate, a designated heritage building, was closed for more than 18 months for major renovations to the interior and exterior of the residence. The Capstone House at University of South Carolina in
Columbia, South Carolina Columbia is the capital of the U.S. state of South Carolina. With a population of 136,632 at the 2020 census, it is the second-largest city in South Carolina. The city serves as the county seat of Richland County, and a portion of the city ...
completed in 1967, standing at 18 stories, has the only revolving restaurant on an American college campus located on the 18th floor known as Top of Carolina Dining Room. Chapter Spitalfields in London is the world's tallest student accommodation building, standing at , with 33 floors. It was completed in 2010 and claimed the title from the previous record holder,
Sky Plaza Sky Plaza (also known as The Plaza Tower) is a 34-storey, residential skyscraper, in Arena Quarter, Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. Description The building is the second phase of a development in Leeds city centre, consisting of 572 student a ...
in
Leeds Leeds () is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the third-largest settlement (by populati ...
which stands just two metres lower.


Hall councils and staffing


Hall councils

At some institutes, each residence hall has its own hall council. Where they exist, such individual councils are usually part of a larger organization called, variously, residence hall association, resident students' association, or junior common room committee which typically provides funds and oversees the individual building council. These student-led organizations are typically connected at a national level by the
National Association of College and University Residence Halls The National Association of College and University Residence Halls Incorporated (NACURH) is an international organization made up of eight regions. The eight regions cover the entire United States and parts of Canada. Previously it has also covere ...
(NACURH). Collectively, these hall councils plan social and educational events, and voice student needs to their respective administration.


Staffing

In the United States, university residence halls are normally staffed by a combination of both students and professional residence life staff. Student staff members,
Resident Assistant A resident assistant (RA), also known by a variety of other names, is a trained peer leader who coordinates activities in residence halls in colleges and universities, mental health and substance abuse residential facilities, or similar establishm ...
s, or community advisers act as liaisons, counselors, mediators and policy enforcers. The student staff is supervised by a graduate student or a full-time residence life professional, sometimes known as the hall director. Staff members frequently arrange programming activities to help residents learn about social and academic life during their college life. In the United Kingdom, halls often run a similar setup to that in the U.S, although the resident academic responsible for the hall is known by the term of "warden" and may be supported by a team of vice-wardens, sub-wardens or senior-members; forming the SCR (Senior Common Room). These are often students or academic staff at the relevant university/college. Many UK halls also have a JCR (Junior Common Room) committee, usually made up of second year students who stayed in that hall during their first year. The facilities in the hall are often managed by an individual termed the Bursar. Residence Halls may have housekeeping staff to maintain the cleanliness of common rooms including lobbies, corridors, lounges, and bathrooms. Students are normally required to maintain the cleanliness of their own rooms and private or semi-private bathrooms, where offered.


Other dormitories


Military dormitories

At most U.S. military installations, dormitories have replaced
barracks Barracks are usually a group of long buildings built to house military personnel or laborers. The English word originates from the 17th century via French and Italian from an old Spanish word "barraca" ("soldier's tent"), but today barracks are u ...
. Much new construction includes private bathrooms, but most unaccompanied housing still features bathrooms between pairs of rooms. Traditional communal shower facilities, typically one per floor, are now considered substandard and are being phased out. U.S. military dormitory accommodations are generally intended for two junior enlisted single personnel per room, although in most cases this is slowly being phased out in favor of single occupancy in accordance with newer
Department of Defense Department of Defence or Department of Defense may refer to: Current departments of defence * Department of Defence (Australia) * Department of National Defence (Canada) * Department of Defence (Ireland) * Department of National Defense (Philipp ...
standards. All branches of the U.S. military except the
Air Force An air force – in the broadest sense – is the national military branch that primarily conducts aerial warfare. More specifically, it is the branch of a nation's armed services that is responsible for aerial warfare as distinct from an a ...
still refer to these dormitory-style accommodations as "barracks". The Air Force, in contrast, refers to all unaccompanied housing as "dormitories", including open-bay barracks used for
basic training Military recruit training, commonly known as basic training or boot camp, refers to the initial instruction of new military personnel. It is a physically and psychologically intensive process, which resocializes its subjects for the unique deman ...
that house dozens per room, as well as unaccompanied housing for senior ranking personnel, which resemble apartments and are only found in a select number of overseas locations.


Sleeping dormitories

In the US, China, UK,
Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...
and Canada, a dormitory may be a room containing more than one bed. Examples are found in British boarding schools and many rooming houses such as hostels. CADs, or cold-air dormitories, are found in multi-level rooming houses such as fraternities, sororities, and cooperative houses. In CADs and in hostels, the room typically has very few furnishings except for beds. Such rooms can contain anywhere from three to 50 beds (though such very large dormitories are rare except perhaps as military barracks). Such rooms provide little or no privacy for the residents, and very limited storage for personal items in or near the beds. Cold-air dorms get their names from the common practice of keeping the windows open year-round, even in winter. The practice emerged based on the theory that circulation and cold air minimizes the spread of disease. Some communal bedrooms keep the name ''cold-air dorms'' or ''cold dorms'' despite having modern heating or cooling.


Company dormitories

While the practice of housing employees in company-owned dormitories has dwindled, several companies continue this practice in the U.S. and other countries. Cast members in the
Disney College Program The Disney College Program (DCP) is a United States national internship program operated by the Disney Programs division of The Walt Disney Company, located at the Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando and the Disneyland Resort in Anaheim. The pro ...
at the
Walt Disney World Resort The Walt Disney World Resort, also called Walt Disney World or Disney World, is an entertainment resort complex in Bay Lake, Florida, Bay Lake and Lake Buena Vista, Florida, Lake Buena Vista, Florida, United States, near the cities of Orlando ...
have the opportunity to meet and live with other cast members within their housing complexes in
Lake Buena Vista, FL Lake Buena Vista () is a city in Orange County, Florida, United States. It is mostly known for being the mailing address for Walt Disney World—although almost all of the resort facilities, including all four theme parks, are physically located ...
. In the Netherlands, the law forbids companies to offer housing to their employees, because the government wants to prevent people who have just lost their job adding to their stressful situation by having to search for new housing. In
Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...
, many of the larger companies as well as some of the ministries still offer to their newly graduated freshmen a room in a dormitory. A room in such a dormitory often comes with a communal cook (for the men) or rooms with furnished kitchen blocks (for the women). Usually the employees pay a very small amount of money to enable the men (especially) to save money to buy a house when they get married.


Prison dormitories

Housing units in prisons that house more than the one or two inmates normally held in cells are referred to as "dormitories" as well. Housing arrangements can vary widely. In some cases, dormitories in low-security prisons may almost resemble their academic counterparts, with the obvious differences of being locked at night, being administered by jailers, and subject to stricter institutional rules and fewer amenities. In other institutions, dormitories may be large rooms, often converted from other purposes such as gymnasiums in response to overcrowding, in which hundreds of prisoners have bunks and lockers.


Boarding school dormitories

Boarding schools generally have dormitories as resident halls at least for junior or younger children around age 4 to 9 years of age. In classic British boarding schools these typically have bunk beds that have traditionally come to be associated with boarding schools. The
Department for Children, Schools and Families Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF) was a department of the UK government, between 2007 and 2010, responsible for issues affecting people in England up to the age of 19, including child protection and education. DCSF was replac ...
, in conjunction with the
Department of Health A health department or health ministry is a part of government which focuses on issues related to the general health of the citizenry. Subnational entities, such as states, counties and cities, often also operate a health department of their ow ...
of the
United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...
, has prescribed guidelines for dormitories in boarding schools. These regulations come under what is called as the National Boarding Standards. The National Boarding Standards has prescribed minimum floor area or living space required for each student and other aspects of basic facilities. The minimum floor area of a dormitory accommodating two or more students is defined as the number of students sleeping in the dormitory multiplied by 4.2 m², plus 1.2 m². A minimum distance of 0.9 m should also be maintained between any two beds in a dormitory, bedroom or cubicle. In case students are provided with a cubicle, then each student must be provided with a window and a floor area of 5.0 m² at the least. A bedroom for a single student should be at least of floor area of 6.0 m². Boarding schools must provide a total floor area of at least 2.3 m² living accommodation for every boarder. This should also be incorporated with at least one
bathtub A bathtub, also known simply as a bath or tub, is a container for holding water in which a person or animal may bathe. Most modern bathtubs are made of thermoformed acrylic, porcelain-enameled steel or cast iron, or fiberglass-reinforced ...
or shower for every ten students. These are some of the few guidelines set by the department amongst many others. It could probably be observed that not all boarding schools around the world meet these minimum basic standards, despite their apparent appeal.


Floating dormitories

A floating dormitory is a water-borne vessel that provides, as its primary function, living quarters for students enrolled at an educational institution. A floating dormitory functions as a conventional land-based dormitory in all respects except that the living quarters are aboard a floating vessel. A floating dormitory is most often moored in place near the host educational facility and is not used for water transport. Dormitory ships may also refer to vessels that provide water-borne housing in support of non-academic enterprises such as off-shore oil drilling operations. Other vessels containing living quarters for students as ancillary support to the vessel's primary function – such as for providing maritime or other training given aboard the vessel – are more appropriately categorized as training ships. Notable among floating dormitories is SS ''Stevens'', a 473-foot, 14,893-ton ship operated by
Stevens Institute of Technology Stevens Institute of Technology is a private research university in Hoboken, New Jersey. Founded in 1870, it is one of the oldest technological universities in the United States and was the first college in America solely dedicated to mechanical ...
, a technological university, in
Hoboken, New Jersey Hoboken ( ; Unami: ') is a city in Hudson County in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 U.S. census, the city's population was 60,417. The Census Bureau's Population Estimates Program calculated that the city's population was 58,690 i ...
. From 1968 to 1975, ''Stevens'' served as the floating dormitory for as many as 150 students of the institute.


See also

*
Barracks Barracks are usually a group of long buildings built to house military personnel or laborers. The English word originates from the 17th century via French and Italian from an old Spanish word "barraca" ("soldier's tent"), but today barracks are u ...
*
Hostel A hostel is a form of low-cost, short-term shared sociable lodging where guests can rent a bed, usually a bunk bed in a dormitory, with shared use of a lounge and sometimes a kitchen. Rooms can be mixed or single-sex and have private or shared b ...
*
List of dormitory buildings This is a list of notable dormitory buildings. Historic buildings in the US The following ones have been individually listed on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places and hence are individually notable. * Ranger's Dormitory, Grand Canyon, ...
*
Public housing Public housing is a form of housing tenure in which the property is usually owned by a government authority, either central or local. Although the common goal of public housing is to provide affordable housing, the details, terminology, def ...
* Student Village (disambiguation)


References


External links


Association of College and University Housing Officers - International
{{Authority control House types