Living in College: Your Room

Availability and allocation

Clare provides undergraduate accommodation on three sites: Old Court; Memorial, Thirkill and Ashby Courts; and the Colony on Chesterton Lane. Room charges vary according to size and amenities. First-year undergraduates live in Memorial Court, most second-year undergraduates live at the Colony, and third-year undergraduates may stay in the Colony or come back into one of the central College Courts. Accommodation after the first year is allocated by ballot. Under certain conditions, and with the agreement of their Tutor, undergraduates after their first year may choose to find their own accommodation in town.

Clare aims to guarantee accommodation for all students for the first three residential years of their course, and the number of students we admit is closely linked to the number of students we can accommodate on this basis. Some financial assistance is available to fourth-year undergraduates who cannot be housed in College accommodation because of a shortage of rooms.

Where possible, the College will attempt to make appropriate arrangements for students with disabilities.

Administration

Day-to-day oversight and upkeep of College rooms is the responsibility of the Housekeeper, Mrs Jackie Searle and her staff of bed makers (or "bedders", though their duties do not include making beds). The Housekeeper's office is in Memorial Court (N1). Mrs Searle can usually be contacted there in the mornings tel: (3)33256.

The Fellow in charge of undergraduate accommodation in College is the Rooms Tutor, Dr Bill Byrne.  Inquiries should be directed, in the first instance to the Rooms Co-ordinator, Mrs Dawson, who is based in the Housekeeper's office, N1, Memorial Court (am only).

One of the conditions of living in College accommodation is that students allow their bedders access to their rooms at least once a week, for cleaning.  At the start of the academic year, each student will be notified of their regular 'cleaning day', and is expected to allow the bedder access on that day.  It is also an accepted convention that a student's bin placed outside the door means that the student asks not to be disturbed on that particular morning.  However, this convention may not be used on the regular cleaning day.

Maintenance and repairs to all college buildings and graduate housing is controlled by the Buildings Office team in Old Court. All requests for maintenance repairs (for example broken windows, water leaks, electrical failures, heating problems etc) are made through a computerised reporting system. This can be accessed on-line via the College network http://www.clare.cam.ac.uk/maintenance/

The roles of Porters are many and diverse. They oversee safety and security, they are the College's first point of reception for visitors, they deal with incoming mail, issue keys, keep records of room bookings and events, and generally keep an eye on what is going on. The Head Porter, Mr Peter Johnson, is also the College's Safety Officer.

Any problems relating to rooms may be taken up with the UCS Food, Accommodation and Finance (FAF) Officer.

Heating and Energy Costs

Rooms in Clare fall into two categories in terms of heating: some are centrally heated and others have electric heaters.  As rooms are refurbished the heating system is being updated. The attic rooms have all now been fitted with electric heaters which are movement sensitive, and keep the rooms at a fairly constant level.

You will be charged termly for utilities, (gas, electricity and water), with an adjustment made to the Easter Term bills to reflect the actual costs incurred by students as a whole over the whole year, and you should budget for around £350 for the year.