The Enlightened Parent carleton.ca/parents February 2011 The second-year student housing edition! Off-campus housing tips Deciphering a rental listing Second year residence opportunities And MORE! Plus… Valentine’s Day date ideas for students A great summer job opportunity Fun February activities Inside every issue… Featured Service: Department of Housing and Conference Services Parent Perspective: Helen Brydges This month in Ottawa Dates and deadlines The Enlightened Parent 2 Happy Valentine’s Day Budget-friendly dates for your student If your student is celebrating Feb. 14 with a Date 3: The artistic afternoon special someone, here are ideas for some Your student and their special someone can inexpensive, but special ways for them to spend experience an afternoon of cultural indulgence in their day. downtown Ottawa. A romantic afternoon can start with a trip to the National Art Gallery, where Date 1: Skating on the Rideau Canal, Beavertails admission for Carleton students is free. After, they can In Ottawa, there is no cuter date than skating on stroll over to Le Moulin de Provence, a popular café in the canal. By Valentine’s Day, the Rideau Canal the Byward Market and share an inexpensive but should be open all the way from Carleton to delicious lunch of warm quiche and French pastries. downtown. Your student can skate under the stars, Cost: Anywhere from $5 to $25 for food, based on stopping to get a Beavertail at one of many how many delicious desserts your student buys. vendors along the way. Cost: $13 for two Beavertails and two hot Date 4: Date night in residence chocolates Valentine’s Day doesn’t have to cost anything! Students can start off with a nice dinner in the residence dining Date 2: Movie date at the Mayfair Theatre hall, where they often serve an assortment of There’s nothing quite like the traditional movie Valentine’s Day-themed desserts. Head back to date. The Mayfair is a cozy theatre just a short bus residence where couples can watch a downloaded ride from campus. From Feb. 12–14, the Mayfair movie on their computer. Make a bag of popcorn in the is playing films like “The Tourist” and “Love and floor’s common microwave, and students are set for Other Drugs” so students can snuggle up and enjoy an evening in. the show. Cost: Free! Cost: $25 for tickets and a large popcorn DATES AND DEADLINES This month in Ottawa Feb. 7-9: Through a Global Lens February 1 photography exhibit Application for fall residence opens at 10 Run by the International Student a.m. Services Office, this photography February 16 contest is a way for the CU community to showcase their Residence applications from current Carleton worldwide experiences. The students close, to reopen after lottery exhibit in February is a chance for February 18 your student to see the art and April exam schedule available online vote on their favourite piece! February 18-26 carleton.ca/isso Deferred fall exams to be written February 21 Feb. 4-21: Winterlude Statutory holiday, university closed Winterlude is Ottawa’s most February 21-25 famous winter festival and attracts Winter break, classes suspended thousands of people from all around the world. Free events February 25 like ice sculpture competitions and concerts are just a short skate away. Residence room lottery for current Carleton canadascapital.gc.ca students Last month the Rideau River Residence Association hosted the annual Residence Idol competition. The Enlightened Parent 3 Second-year Student Housing Check out the next two pages for valuable information, tips and advice regarding living arrangements for your student’s second year! HOUSING OPTIONS Left: Frontenac House in the summer Right: the room layout of Frontenac House suites 1. Living in Residence For students going into second year, there is the option to remain living in residence. Frontenac House was opened in 2008 and has occupancy for 250 students. Unlike first-year residences, all the rooms in Frontenac are suite style (see room layout image above). It is important to note that upper year students in residence are not required to purchase a meal plan, but the option is available for them if they choose. If your student has a friend that they want to live with but doesn’t want to leave the comforts of on campus living, applying to Frontenac may be for them! The application for residence opens on Feb.1 at 10 a.m. Second year residence is not guaranteed, and spots are distributed based on a priority and lottery system. To be considered for the priority round of residence spaces, students must apply by Feb. 16, 2011, and have a GPA of 10.0 (A-) or above. 2. Off-campus Living The second option for students is to move off campus. If your student has a group of friends that they want to live with, encourage them to look into renting a house or townhouse off campus. Depending on the number of friends they want to live with, students can rent an entire house or just a smaller apartment- style section. There are several student- friendly areas found close to the Carleton 1. Ottawa West 7. Vanier 13. Centretown Bolded areas campus. Remember that off campus hous- 2. Hunt Club 8. Alta Vista 14. Glebe represent the ing goes on a first-come, first-serve basis, 3. South Keys 9. Billings Bridge 15. Civic most common off 4. Gloucester 10. Mooney’s Bay 16. Westboro campus living so encourage your student to start their 5. Orleans 11. Ottawa South 17. Experimental locations for search sooner rather than later. 6. Rockcliffe 12. Lowertown Farm Carleton students The beds in Frontenac House are double beds, unlike the twin beds offered in first-year residence. The Enlightened Parent 4 1. The neighbourhood where Deciphering an off-campus housing listing the rental property is located. 2. The name of the landlord Here is what the listings on Carleton’s off-campus housing site look like... 3. The total rent that the tenants must pay. Since this 1 property is for four students, they pay $500/month each in rent. 2 CARLETON 613-520-2600 4. The date the rental contract begins. These dates vary from the beginning of April to the start of September. 5 3 4 5. Notes whether your student will have to pay extra for utilities. Encourage your [email protected] student to discuss utilities (water, hydro, etc.) with the 6 landlord before renting. 6. Any additional comments about the property, travel times, etc. Off-Campus Housing Advice Must-have information for the student house hunt 1. Ask the important financial questions before you sign the lease. These can include questions like: When is rent due and how much is it? Are utilities and parking extra? In what way does the landlord want you to pay your rent (deposit, post-dated cheques, etc.)? What are the rules regarding subletting? What are you and the landlord responsible 3. Check the condition of the property for? Ensure that you know the following information: Do all the locks on the doors work? 2. Location, location, location If there are fire alarms/extinguishers Check the location’s proximity to: Are there enough electrical outlets? The Carleton University campus - can you Are water pressure and hot water sufficient? walk or bike or will you have to take public What type of heating is there? transportation? Bus stops - how long will it take to get to Tips compiled from Carleton’s Housing and Conference campus? To downtown? Services website, carleton.ca/housing. For off-campus Grocery stores, Laundromats and other housing listings, visit carleton.ca/housing/off-campus- facilities housing/off-campus-housing. Even after their second year, students can apply to live in Leeds House for third and fourth year. The Enlightened Parent 5 temperatures. I find it funny that when I check the CU Parent Perspective Environment Canada website to get the weather report for Brampton, I find myself looking at Ottawa as well, and commenting to my husband “Ottawa is Helen Brydges expecting snow; or Ottawa is going to be really cold, Proud mother of a I hope Colton stays warm.” 2010-2011 first-year Carleton My motherly instinct is in full gear, even though we’re student miles apart. Rather than holding up in his room during the cold, Colton and his girlfriend bought skates and experienced skating on the Rideau and have taken advantage of the many warm museums. This is part of a monthly series written by Helen. To read about the Brydges’ We’re now in to the second half of the school year experiences from earlier in the school year, and now that we feel like “well seasoned veterans” check out our archived issues! and have adjusted to this new life style, we are now finding ourselves looking ahead to what will soon be Welcome 2011 and I wish everyone a year the end of first year! Yikes! It’s hard to believe, but filled with health, happiness, and wonderful true, and with that comes more planning and more memories! Colton is back at Carleton settling into decisions to make, not only by us, but most importantly, his routines, and we’ve begun to settle back into by Colton. He needs to start thinking about living our routines as well. We’ve been reflecting on the time we spent together over the holidays and arrangements for September, and choosing a major in his program. it seems that we appreciate the time we spend together more (not that we ever took it for We are looking forward to February when Colton granted; or at least we didn’t think we did).