Besides your favorite outfit and other essentials, we encourage you to pack these items:

1. 1. Cleaning supplies and toilet paper (we don’t provide these)
   2. Laundry supplies and a portable hamper
   3. Room décor that is removable and adhesive-based
   4. An adhesive hook to hang your keys on (trust us, losing your keys is stressful!)
   5. Surge protector or multi-outlet power strip (U/L listed, 15 amps/120 volts per outlet)
   6. Be sure to coordinate with your roommate/suitemates about larger items like a mini fridge (must be 4.0 cubic feet or smaller), small microwave (must be 700 watts or less), area rug, small appliances (must be auto-shut-off), etc. We only allow one mini fridge and/or microwave per room.

We encourage residents to ask ahead of time about items they wish to bring if they feel those items may run counter to our policies. Below is a selected list of items to bring and items to not bring. Please note that all items to not bring have been identified by both our Facilities Office as well as our Safety and Security Office as items that could contribute to a dangerous residential environment. For more information about policies and procedures, please view the Student Handbook.

All full-time (12+ credit hours per semester) students must reside on campus unless he/she is eligible for commuter status. If you have identified eligibility with Admissions, their staff will notify Residence Life staff and a link to the 2023-24 Commuter Student Application, which needs to be completed on the Housing Portal via myMHU, will be emailed to you. One of the following criteria must be met for a student to be approved for commuter status and be released from the on-campus residency requirement:

1. 1. Student must reside with a parent or legal guardian at their legal permanent address in one of the following counties: Buncombe, Burke, Haywood, Henderson, Madison, Mitchell, McDowell, Transylvania, Yancey, and Unicoi in Tennessee;
   2. Student must be legally married and be able to produce a valid marriage certificate; Student must be a single parent or legal guardian with custody of a child under the age of 18 and be able to produce documentation demonstrating this responsibility (court order, power of attorney, etc.);
   3. Student must be a veteran of more than 180 consecutive days on active military duty;
   4. Student must be 21 years of age or older by the first day of Fall semester classes; or
   5. Student must be of Senior status or higher with 90 earned credit hours.

We have a very limited number (less than 25% of all rooms!) of single-occupancy rooms on First-Year Hill. Once we assign single rooms to students with University-approved accommodations, we will then assign any remaining single rooms to students on the single room waitlist. If you select a single room as one of your preferences on the housing application, you are automatically placed on the waitlist for a single room. The Residence Life team will contact you if you are approved for a single room. If you need to request a housing accommodation, please contact Disability Services for more information and to submit a request.

Each residence hall has different bathroom styles: Myers, Gibson, and Laurel Halls have community-style bathrooms on each hallway, while Brown and Turner Halls have a mixture of suite-style and single bathrooms shared by two adjoining rooms.

Yes, first-year students are allowed to bring their car! Before you arrive on campus, you need to register the vehicle with Campus Security to receive a parking permit for the year. There is free parking for residents available outside of each residence hall.

We love our furry friends, we just don’t have room for them all! Residents may only have service animals or Emotional Support Animals (ESAs) that have been approved by Disability Services BEFORE moving into a residence hall. Contact our Disability Services Coordinator, Judith Harris, at judith_harris@mhu.edu for more information.

Each room is furnished with a Twin XL bed, desk, desk chair, dresser, and closet. These items must stay in the room, but bunking beds is an option for you and your roommate. You are not permitted to bring full-sized furniture (such as couches or personal bed frames), but you are welcome to bring small items (such as storage cubbies or a side table).

Each student can select their roommate in the MHU Housing Portal. When you complete your housing application online, you will receive instructions for how to do this.

That’s OK! You can still select a room without having a roommate beforehand. When you view available rooms that already have someone assigned, you’ll be able to see a snapshot of information about that current resident (based on their housing application responses) to help you decide which room is the best fit for you.

There are laundry machines located in each building, usually on the lowest-level floor of the building, that residents may use at no additional cost.

We do not offer apartment-style housing for first-year students. However, there are a few suite-style housing options available to first-year students in Brown and Turner Halls.

Great news: your Room & Board rate automatically includes a meal plan that can be used at any of the multiple dining locations on campus! Once you move in, your meal plan will be automatically added to your student ID for use. The first-year resident Unlimited Plan includes unlimited all-you-care-to-eat meal swipes for meals in Pittman Dining Hall, up to 5 meal exchanges per week at Hilltop Cafe or Lion's Den, and $175 in Cosmo Cash that can be used at any of our dining locations. Additional Cosmo Cash can be added at any time to enhance your meal plan. For more information on plans, visit https://dineoncampus.com/MarsHill/for-residents.

1. We know it can be hard to send your loved one off into a new life season, but we’re glad you’re preparing well to support your future Lion! The best first step is to attend Lion Life with your student. During this day on campus, you can learn all about how our MHU community is prepared to assist new students in the transition to college life. You can also meet with a Residence Life staff member while you’re visiting if you have any specific questions about on-campus housing.
2. When your student is preparing to select a room in the Housing Portal, you can be an advisor and help them decide on which hall—and roommate, if they didn’t pre-connect with another student—might be the best fit for her/him. You can also encourage your future Lion if they don’t get to pick their top choice of residence hall; students who don’t have their top choice of room usually end up happily surprised about their living experience! You can help your student remain optimistic as he/she adjusts expectations.
3. On move-in day, if you’re helping your student move in, we hope you’ll remind him/her to review move-in instructions (these will be emailed to your student ahead of time) before the big day to reduce nervousness and contact Residence Life if she/he has any questions about the process. We also encourage you to bring water and a snack or two to keep energy and spirits up—we all know how tiring moving can be!
4. Once the semester begins, you will be able to receive routine email updates about what’s happening on campus from our awesome Marketing & Communications team. It’s great when a new Lion can receive some encouragement to connect with others on campus; if you hear about a club, event, or opportunity that your student might like, challenge them to get engaged. We promise to do our best to get your student engaged, too!