Winter Break Information

Winter Break Dates
Requesting Permission for Winter Break Housing
Information for Students Approved to Stay During Winter Break
Information for Employers

Winter Break Dates

Deadline to Request Winter Break Housing	Wednesday, December 17, 2008 at 12noon
Residence Halls close (students without permission for Winter Break Housing must vacate)	Saturday, December 20, 2008 at 10am
Residence Hall move-in for new Spring & Transfer & Visiting students	Thursday, January 15, 2009 at 9am
Residence Halls reopen for returning & readmitted students	Friday, January 16, 2009 at 9am

For other important dates, visit our Departmental Calendar.

Requesting Permission for Winter Break Housing

If you need access to your residence hall room during the time the residence halls are closed (see dates above), you must request and be granted permission for Winter Break Housing (including seniors).

The request form will be available at the Residential Life & Housing Office (110 Sulzberger) starting Dec 1 and must be submitted no later than Wednesday, December 17.

Any student wishing to stay (including Seniors) must submit a request form. Seniors are NOT automatically added to the list. All non-seniors must provide written documentation of their need to be here.

Approved students will receive a Winter Break sticker for their ID. Without this sticker, students (including seniors) will not be allowed into the residence halls while they are closed for break.

Students are only eligible for Winter Break housing if they are in housing for both the Fall and Spring semesters. Students who are withdrawing or studying abroad for the Spring semester or are graduating in February are not eligible for Winter Break Housing. Students returning from a Fall study abroad experience, new Spring transfer students, and those students readmitted for the Spring semester may not move in until Friday, January 16 (Thursday, January 15 for new spring transfer students only)) when the residence halls reopen.

Reasons Why Your Request May Be Approved

Note: No students (including Seniors) are automatically added to the Winter Break Housing list. You MUST submit a request form, with documentation attached (if you are not a senior).

You are a Senior (working on your thesis)
You are working for a Barnard office for part/all of the winter break
You are conducting research with a faculty member
You are working at an internship in the city
You are an international student or have a conflict with an international flight
You are an athlete whose team is in practice and/or competition

Examples of documentations include:

a letter from your campus job supervisor, faculty member, Career Development, or coach regarding your work over Winter Break (prefered)
a print out of an email your employer sent to housing@barnard.edu regarding your work over Winter Break
photocopies of international flight tickets

If your employer has questions about providing documentation, forward them this link: http://barnard.edu/reslife/winterbreak/index.html#employers

Reasons Why Your Request May NOT Be Approved

You want to attend a fabulous New Year’s Eve party in the city
You want to bring your friends to the city for vacation
Your domestic flight home leaves after the check-out deadline
Your parents can’t come on the scheduled check-out day
Your bedroom at home is now a guest room!
You scheduled a vacation flight out of a NY airport and want to stay over
You will not be in Housing for the Spring Semester (or were not in Housing for the Fall Semester)

Information for Students Approved to Stay During Winter Break

The residence halls are officially closed from 10am on Sat, Dec 20, 2008 through 9am on Fri, Jan 18, 2009. Security is available 24/7 by calling 88 from your room, or 212-854-3362 from your cell phone.

There is a Residential Life Hall Director and Associate Director on call 24 hours/day during the break. You can contact the staff on duty through the front desk of your residence hall. The phone number to contact the front desk of any residence hall is 212-222-8700, Sulzberger’s ext.#6370, Plimpton’s ext.# 6360, 616 W. 116th St. front desk ext# 6320, 620 W. 116th St. front desk ext.# 6330 and Cathedral Gardens front desk is 616-225-5100 ext.#5188.

Approved students are required to have a valid Winter Break [WB] sticker on their ID to gain entrance into residence halls during this period. No sticker, No entry.

During Winter Break, all residents who have received permission to be in the halls must sign in and out of the building each time they enter and exit.

Guests MUST be escorted at all times. If you have a guest, you must meet them at the front desk, sign them in, and escort them to your room. When your guest leaves, you must escort them back to the desk to sign out.

Students are limited to a maximum of two (2) guests at the same time during Winter Break (other Barnard students who did not receive permission to stay during Winter Break count as guests).

The Brooks desks will close on Friday, December 19, 2008 at 2:45 pm and will remain closed until January 12, 2009. All other desks will remain open throughout the break. All residents and guests entering the quad must do so through Sulzberger Hall.

Facility Emergencies: Please contact Facilities during weekdays at 4-2041 (or 212-854-2041). During evenings (after 5pm), weekends, and Christmas Eve/Day and New Year's Eve/Day, please contact Public Safety at 88 (or 212-854-3362).

Health Services: The Health Center will be open for clinical care through Friday, December 19, and for administrative purposes only until Tuesday, December 23 at 4PM. The Health Center will reopen for administrative purposes on Monday, January 5. Health Services will reopen for urgent care purposes starting at 9am on January 12 - 16. Health Services will be closed for Martin Luther King Day on January 19 and will reopen on its regular schedule at 8:30am on Tuesday, January 20.
During the break, students are allowed to see a clinician of their choice without a student health service referral for urgent care purposes. They may also visit the Columbia Health Service during this period as well ($60 charge at time of service; reimbursable by submitting a claim to Student Insurance). CU Health Service will be closed December 25 & 26 as well as January 1st, 2nd and the 19th. There are no Columbia Health Services available on Saturdays from December 20th until January 17th. All other days they will be open 9:00AM to 4:30PM.
Additionally, students may always call Nurse Response during the break at 866-966-7788 24 hours a day for any health related matter.

Dining Hall: Please visit the Dining Services website.

Mail Services: Please visit the Mail Services website.

Library: Please visit the Library website.

Information for Employers

All students requesting to stay over Winter Break for jobs or internships must have submit documentation along with their Winter Break Housing request form.

The perfered method of documenation is a memo on company letterhead noting that the student will be working over the Winter Break (between 12/20 and 1/16).

If your office employs multiple students who will be requesting to stay over Winter Break, you may write one memo listing all the students and provide each student with her own copy / photocopy to submit along with her Winter Break Housing request form.

If you have any questions, please contact housing@barnard.edu.