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Shared Living Expectations

The Shared Living Expectations Form is the foundation for roommates to develop shared expectations of their room space and negotiate areas of concern on a small scale. Residents who engage in these conversations can mitigate difficulties by discussing potential concerns and negotiating space expectations before they develop into conflicts.

Through completing this worksheet, residents will examine each other's living styles and preferences and help ensure that each resident's rights are respected. Accepting each other's differences without infringing upon one another is an important skill and makes residence hall living easier.

Helpful Starting Questions, give these questions a thought before completing the agreement, you may return at anytime to complete this agreement

1. Have you ever shared a room with someone before? Have you ever shared a bathroom, living space, and/or kitchen with someone before?  
2. What was that experience like? What did you learn about how you best share space with someone? 
3. How do you want to communicate about questions or needs as they come up? 
4. What will we do when an expectation has been broken? 
5. What will we do when conflict or tension arises? 
6. How do you typically handle conflict with friends and family? What is most challenging for you to do in conflict? What do you want others to know about you in conflict? 

Helpful Tips

• Before talking together, think about: 
• What do you need in a living space to thrive in your life? 
• What aspects of shared living matter most to you and least to you? (ex: noise level, bathroom cleaning, shared items).  
• Most roommate agreements involve compromising on some issues, so be prepared to find a middle ground on some areas.  
• Add topics to the list as needed – there might be things that aren’t included here. 
• All agreements should abide by Â鶹Æƽâ°æ’s Student Handbook policies and Housing Agreement. 
• Assume that you and your roommate will have conflict at some point in the year – this is a normal part of life together! Spend time now talking about how you want to navigate those conflicts. 
• Â鶹Æƽâ°æ has many resources to help you navigate issues in your shared living space.  
• Your RA is your best, first resource when an issue arises. They can help you plan for how to address it, or refer you to other resources.  

Conflict coaching is available to all students – meet with a trained student who can help you navigate conflict well.