Living Essentials
We are committed to fostering a campus environment that supports a healthy mind, body, and spirit for all members of the university community and to ensuring that students’ basic and most essential needs, including housing, food and transportation, are met.
Housing
Campus advocate: Glenn Smith | gsmith14@umd.edu | 301.314.2350
College is a big adjustment, and living on campus can be a great benefit to students. Students who live on campus have greater access to campus resources and become more fully immersed in the Terp experience. They come to rely on the friendship and support found in a roommate or suite- or floormates, or from the resident assistant. The residence hall is where students find someone to share a pizza with, watch favorite TV show, or host a late-night study session.
Any Fostering Terp Success student entering as a freshman who wants to live on campus will be housed. The Department of Resident Life is also committed to identifying accommodations for any Fostering Terp Success student facing housing insecurity, including housing in between terms (Winter and Summer). The Department of Resident Life can work with students to find the right housing option.
Campus advocate: Jennifer Lindstrom | jlindstr@umd.edu | 301.314.3645
Off-Campus Housing Services is an excellent resource for students looking for housing in College Park and beyond. It provides personalized information about housing and off-campus living, a searchable database listing available rental properties in the area and an online database where students can search for roommates with similar housing needs and interests.
Food
Campus advocate: Bart Hipple | bhipple@umd.edu | 301.314.9413
Dining Services operates three dining halls on campus, as well as food courts in the Stamp Student Union and Kirwan Hall, cafes in academic buildings, and convenience shops around campus. Several dining plans are available for students who live on and off campus. Emergency assistance and access to the dining halls are also available for students facing food insecurity.
Campus advocate: Larry Tumlin | ltumlin@umd.edu | 301.314.8072
The Campus Pantry distributes good quality and nutritious emergency food in a safe space to UMD students facing food insecurity. The Campus Pantry is located in the lower level of the South Campus Dining Hall Building and may be accessed by staff/faculty on Mondays noon-5pm and by students Monday to Friday 10am to 5pm. Hours change during breaks and in the summer. Individual appointments are available by calling 301.314.8054 or emailing campuspantry@umd.edu.
Transportation & Parking
Campus advocate: Amanda Long | along126@umd.edu | 301.314.1438
Whether you live on campus or off, the Department of Transportation Services makes it easy to get around. Shuttle-UM buses operate several campus-based routes and serve a six-mile radius beyond, taking students to the College Park Metro station, shops, restaurants and more than two dozen apartment communities. All that’s needed to ride Shuttle-UM is a student ID. It’s also a snap to travel to Washington, D.C., Baltimore and local airports by using Metrorail and MARC trains.
For students living off campus, permits for campus parking are available for purchase from the Department of Transportation Services.
