Residence Services offers students $500 through referral program

By Scott Strasser, July 14 2016 —

University of Calgary Residence Services will offer a $500 credit to students who can successfully refer a friend to live in residence.

The referral program — a limited time offer that expires July 30 — comes with several conditions.

Applicants must be upper-year students who live in Cascade, Glacier, Olympus or Crowsnest Hall. Both students need to move into residence before September 12 and the referred resident must not have already paid in advance for the fall 2016 term or 2016–17 academic year.

U of C director of ancillary services Voula Cocolakis said the referral program is an incentive for students to live in residence.

“It’s a soft rental market in Calgary right now. Many landlords are offering amazing incentives and we have to remain competitive in the marketplace,” Cocolakis said.

The U of C Board of Governors approved residence fee increases last year, despite Calgary’s average rental prices for apartments and condos going down. U of C residence fee increases ranged from 0.25–5.75 per cent and went into effect on May 1.

The largest of those increases mainly impacted first year residence buildings such as Kananaskis and Rundle Hall.

Cocolakis said fee increases haven’t deterred new students from choosing to live on campus.

“We are [actually] seeing a large intake in our first and second year numbers,” she said.

Referred students for the program can include undergraduates in their third year onward, transfer students, international students, graduate students and even non-students.

Cocolakis said the referral program is not due to falling residence acceptance rates or lack of applicants. She said acceptance rates are on par with last year, as well as previous years.

“We have not seen a drop in applications for the upcoming school year,” she said.

Cocolakis said successful referrers will receive the $500 credit in their student account in two equal instalments — one by September 20 and one by January 24. Those students must also live in residence for the entire academic year.

The referral program runs until July 30, or until 100 referrals are reached. Residence Services last offered a referral program following the opening of Yamnuska Hall in January 2011.