Moving Out of a Room

When moving rooms or leaving the college, please complete the following tasks to ensure a smooth transition and avoid potential fees.

Moving rooms

1. Remove items: Take all belongings, including any food from common areas.
2. Remove trash: Take all garbage to the trash room.
3. Remove tape: Carefully remove any tape or adhesives from walls, doors, and windows.
4. Rearrange furniture: Restore your side of the room to its original setup. Unstack any furniture and return bed pegs to the RA Office.
5. Clean: Wipe down all your furniture tops, drawers, top of mattress, and shelving. Sweep under your bed and, if necessary, scrub out any floor stains you caused. If you have carpet, please vacuum your side. Vacuums are not provided in every hall so please consider bringing one or borrowing one from a friend during the year. Facility and Custodial teams do not clean just one side of a room during the year when one student leaves
6. Secure your room: Close and lock windows and the door if your roommate is not present.
7. Return your room key(s): Return any residence hall keys for your old room to either the Residence Life office (business hours) or Campus Safety (24/7).
   
   1. Forgotten keys: Contact us and mail the keys as soon as possible. Use a padded envelope for security. If keys are lost in transit, you are responsible for replacement costs. Consider postage that includes insurance and/or delivery confirmation. If you need to declare the value of the item inside, refer to Door - Key lost, recore (per lock) on our Approximate charges for damages and fees page. Our address is: Residence Life. 600 1st St SW. Mount Vernon, IA 52314.

Leaving the residence halls mid-year

In addition to the above tasks, please complete the following:

1. Return other keys: Turn in student employment, club keys, etc. to either the Residence Life office (business hours) or Campus Safety (24/7). Missing keys have associated fees to replace them.
2. Return or destroy your student ID: Return your ID with your keys for secure destruction.
3. Coordinate parking with Campus Safety: If you're bringing a big truck, storage pod, or will be parked directly outside the building, call Campus Safety (319-895-4299) to receive guidance on where to park large vehicles/storage pods or ask permission to park in front of a building.

Abandoned property

Personal items left behind will be held for 30 days, during which we will contact you about retrieval. You may request mailing or extended holding (fees may apply). After 30 days, unclaimed items will be declared abandoned and disposed of or donated.

Details will be sent to your Cornell College email if property is found.

Damage to student rooms

Facilities Services and Residence Life will inspect student rooms after the halls close to determine necessary repairs and assess damage and cleaning fees as appropriate. Room damages are billed to student accounts through the Division of Business and Enterprise Services.

RAs are not responsible for assessing damage charges, nor can they provide assurances that a student will not be charged for damages. The best assurance is to return the room to its original condition.  Students concerned about potential charges should contact their assistant director of residence life prior to moving out.