Elements of Student Success

Weeks of Welcome

Weeks of Welcome (WOW) begins a few days before classes begin in the fall and continues through the first six weeks of school. WOW is designed to both welcome new students to the CUC community and returning students back to campus. Highlights of WOW include new information sessions about University services, Service of Welcome and Induction, Opening Service & BBQ, Involvement Fair, service projects and more!

Students who begin their studies at CUC during the spring semester receive a personalized orientation to the services the University has to offer and the procedures that have been designed to facilitate their collegiate experience. For more information about Weeks of Welcome or Jump Start, CUC’s orientation program, please contact the Office of Campus Engagement at Jump.Start@CUChicago.edu.

Residence Life

Phone: 708-209-3505
Email: Housing@CUChicago.edu
Location: Kreft Student Success Center
Website: https://www.cuchicago.edu/concordia-experience/campus-life/living/

Living in the Residence Halls

The Department of Residence Life at Concordia University Chicago is dedicated to providing housing to those students who need it. Due to the potential for limitations in housing space, priorities for housing are on a first-come, first-served basis. The Department of Residence Life and Housing work to provide housing first to our traditional undergraduate populations, in double-occupancy rooms. Housing Agreements are binding for the entire school year.

All full-time freshman, sophomore and junior students are required to live in CUC residence halls. Degree-seeking students taking less than 12 semester hours in a 16-week semester (part-time students) are considered ineligible for campus housing but exceptions will be considered (subject to housing availability) on a case-by-case basis. CUC, under its parietal rule (for bond revenue projects), reserves the right at any future dates to require all students to live in University housing. Exceptions to the required housing policy are:

• Full-time senior students, based upon earned credit hours
• The student is living with parent(s) or legal guardian(s) and commuting to campus from that residence
• The student can claim an independent designation as defined by federal aid requirements and standards
• The student is married
• The student, because of a disability, provides the college with appropriate documentation for reasonable accommodations that the University is unable to provide
• The student is 22 years of age at or before the first day of the semester
• The student has children or is the one that provides direct care for a legal guardian

Change of Housing Status and Reimbursement of Payment

The housing agreement is viewed as a contract, according to the prescribed requested housing occupancy time by the resident at the time of application. For the majority of our residential students, this is for full Fall/Spring semesters. Any student canceling a housing contract and approved by the Director of Residence Life to move off campus will be assessed a $500 cancellation penalty for breaking the agreed-upon housing contract.

The cancellation penalty will be assessed to returning students beginning on July 1 of the summer prior to the upcoming year they have applied for and will be deducted automatically from any room and board refund they might be receiving, or after the 8-week point in the semester when no refund is available, will be added as a penalty charge. Payments for room and board are made each semester, and as such, the reimbursements only apply to payments already made. If a change of residency status occurs after July 1 for returning students and after occupancy for new students, the reimbursements occur according to the following timeline:

Full reimbursement: As established by the housing agreement, students who withdraw their housing application prior to occupancy, or by the end of the first week of classes for either semester, are eligible to a full reimbursement of paid charges, minus the $500 cancellation fee. If any meals or Cougar cash were used, then a student would be charged for that usage accordingly.

Fifty percent (50%) reimbursement: As established by the housing agreement, any student withdrawing from housing after the first week of classes, but prior to the end of the 8-week mark of the semester, is eligible for a 50 percent reimbursement of room and board charges for the semester, minus the $500 cancellation fee.

No reimbursement: As established by the housing agreement, any student withdrawing from housing after the 8-week mark of the semester (the exception being hardship cases) will receive no reimbursement of room or board charges for the semester and will be charged a $500 cancellation fee.

If the cancellation of the housing contract or the change in housing status is due to a significant financial burden, the $500 cancellation fee and reimbursement for housing can be adjusted or waived with approval from the Dean of Students.

ADA  Accommodations

Requests for accommodations must be made through the Academic Center for Excellence. The Application for Accommodations and the disability documentation forms can be found on the CUC website at https://www.cuchicago.edu/academics/success/accessibility-accommodations/. Forms can also be found on CUConnect. All requests for accommodations are subject to review and approval prior to any allowable updates to status or account. Students must have the Application for Accommodations on file, along with disability documentation completed by an appropriate licensed healthcare professional, before any requested accommodations will be implemented. While every attempt is made to meet all reasonable requests, submission of the Application for Accommodations does not guarantee receipt of stated request.

Single Rooms

All rooms on campus are designated as double-occupancy, with the exception of a limited number of single rooms in Concordia Hall. These single rooms are available at a premium price.

Medical Single Rooms & Other Accommodations Relating to Residence Life

Students who have a disability, defined by ADA laws as a significant impairment in a major life activity, may apply for accommodations in the residence hall. To be considered for any accommodation, the student must complete the Application for Accommodations and submit disability documentation completed by their physician or appropriate licensed healthcare professional. Determination of eligibility is made based on ADA guidelines. Students should be aware that not every medical diagnosis will constitute a disability as defined by ADA. Housing accommodations are approved for one academic year at a time. For subsequent academic years, a new application must be completed and new, updated disability documentation must be submitted to the Academic Center for Excellence for approval.

Non-Traditional Housing

Graduate student and non-traditional undergraduate (22 years old or older) student housing is available on campus as space permits. Students looking for non-traditional housing must contact the Department of Housing to inquire about and gain approval for on-campus housing based upon availability, suitability and need. Currently, Concordia University Chicago does not offer on-campus housing for married students or families. The Department of Residence Life Housing will work with students to make referrals for off-campus housing options as questions arise.

Worship Life

Concordia-Chicago is an institution that places significant emphasis on providing a quality liberal arts education within the Lutheran theological tradition. Although many students are Lutheran, a wide variety of Christian backgrounds, including Catholic and other Protestant denominations, are represented. Its educational philosophy is based on the biblical principles of service to God and humankind; CUC remains a University centered in the gospel of Jesus Christ.

In this light, chapel services are conducted daily for the CUC community as well as guests and visitors, with special festival services scheduled frequently. Attendance is voluntary, but all Christians are encouraged to regard chapel as a unique opportunity for spiritual growth. As such, to provide faculty, staff, and students with an opportunity to attend chapel, no classes, office hours or meetings will be scheduled during services (11:00 a.m. to 11:20 a.m. on days when classes are in session; please note there is an alternate schedule during finals, breaks and summer). A Lutheran Service of Holy Communion is celebrated weekly as well as Sunday evening student-led Prayer and Praise, and other evening worship and devotional activities. Sunday morning campus worship is hosted by Resurrection Lutheran Church. Transportation can be arranged for students to participate in worship at area churches of various denominations.

Student Handbook

A Student Handbook containing the Student Code of Conduct, information about student activities and policies and support relative to student life is provided online in the forms repository on CUConnect. Copies also are available in the Dean of Students Office.