Spring break is around the corner and as if students didn't have enough to worry about with mid-terms, papers and registering for next semester's classes; it's time to sign up for UT housing.

If you plan to live on campus next semester, you need to sign-up this week.

The UT housing selection process begins Monday, March 3 for those students who wish to stay in the same dorm and room next semester. Learning communities and displaced students will get to sign up on March 4, and students who wish to stay in the same hall but a different room can sign up March 5. Open room selection will begin March 6 and continue through March 7. If students choose this option they must sign up by their priority date. The priority date is based on when they signed up for housing last year.  Resident assistants will have the priority date for their residents.

Students will have new options next year as Knoxville Place is becoming Volunteer Hall. The dorm will have two, three and four bedroom apartments. Also available to students are townhouses within Volunteer Hall according to the UT housing Web site. Laurel Apartments will become housing for sorority women, while the current sorority housing, Massey, will become a freshman dorm. Strong and Melrose halls will be closing down.

UT housing offers three types of dorms to students; traditional halls, which have double rooms and community bathrooms, include: Hess Hall, Greve Hall and Massey Hall. Suite style halls, which have two rooms connected by a bathroom, include: Clement Hall, Gibbs Hall, Morrill Hall, Reese Hall, Humes Hall and North and South Carrick. Finally apartment-style resident halls, which have 2-4 bedrooms, a bathroom, a kitchen, living area and study area, include: Apartment Residence Hall, Volunteer Hall and Laurel Residence Hall.

Students should know the visitation of their desired hall when signing up. Visitation A has no visitation from members of the opposite sex. Some floors of North and South Carrick have visitation A.  Visitation C allows visitation from members of the opposite sex Sunday through Thursday from 11 a.m. to 1 a.m. and 24-hour visitation beginning Friday at 11 a.m. until 1 a.m. Monday morning.  Halls that have C visitation include:  Hess, Greve, Massey, Clement, Gibbs, Morrill, Reese, Humes and most floors of North and South Carrick. Visitation E allows members of the opposite sex to visit 24 hours. All of the apartment-style resident halls have E visitation. These include the Apartment Resident Hall, better known as Andy Holt, Laurel Residence Hall and the new Volunteer Hall. In all visitation options, all guests must be escorted at all times according to the UT housing Web site.  

Students should also consider their meal plans when selecting halls. Reese, Gibbs, Humes, and North and South Carrick all require students who live there to have a meal plan. The apartment-style resident halls as well as Greve, Massey, Hess, Morrill, and Clement do not require students to have a meal plan.

To sign up for housing, students should go to the UT housing Web site and click on Apply for UT Housing Now. Students will have to have their NetID and password to apply.