It is your responsibility to know the following information.  Students who do not checkout properly with a Housing and Residence Life staff member will be subject to an improper checkout fee of $300.

 

Sustainability

Each school year begins and ends with a surge of waste—boxes, packaging materials, and plastic during move-in, followed by piles of unwanted items during move-out. To tackle this challenge, Northern Michigan University launched its Sustainable Move-In/Move-Out program.

Since its start, we’ve been collecting baseline data, reducing waste where we can, and developing new strategies to expand and strengthen the initiative in the years ahead.

Together, we can move more mindfully and help advance NMU’s campus-wide sustainability goals.

Sustainable Move-out Informaiton

Residence Hall Move Out - Winter 2026

All students must be properly checked out by noon on Sunday, May 3, 2026. You will be charged a Late Checkout Fee of $250 if you are not properly checked out by noon on Sunday, May 3, 2026. Exceptions will be made only for students moving into the on-campus apartments/summer housing or approved groups. Contact the Housing and Residence Life Office with questions about this.

Preliminary Checkout

All students need to do a preliminary checkout with their RA / CM by the end of the day on Saturday, April 25th. The purpose of this is to make sure that students understand closing expectations, split cleaning tasks between roommates, and resolve any disputes about potential damages.
Students who don’t have a roommate will still need to do a preliminary checkout with their RA / CM to go over closing expectations.

Final Checkout

  1. To checkout of your room, you must meet with your RA / CM. This involves scheduling a checkout with them at least 24 hours in advance using the paper sign out sheets posted in a designated location (or as otherwise indicated by your RA/CM).
  2. Before your checkout with your RA/CM, you will be expected to clean your residence hall room and empty it of all personal belongings.
  3. Before you check out of your room, you must:
    1. Make sure all of the University furnishings that belong in your room are there.
    2. If you have rented a University loft or bunked bed, please leave it assembled and standing.
    3. Remove all personal belongings.
    4. Trash and items that you no longer want (and don’t donate) should be properly placed in the dumpster. Furniture and carpeting must be placed in the large construction dumpster. Fridges cannot be put in the dumpster.
    5. Close and lock your windows + close your blinds
    6. Turn the heat in your room to the lowest setting
    7. Thoroughly clean your room and bathroom:
      • Clean the shower, sinks, mirror, countertop, and toilet.
      • Wipe down surfaces such as desks, cabinets, dressers, closet shelves, and window sills. Wipe out all drawers.
      • Sweep and mop (or vacuum) the floor in your room and bathroom.
      • Empty and clean waste and recycling bins and properly dispose of trash

Your checkout should be the last thing you do before you leave for the summer – you will not be able to return to your room after your checkout!


Final Room Inspections

Housing and Residence Life staff will inspect all rooms after the residence halls close. Additional charges for cleaning and/or damages to student rooms may be assessed within 30 days of check-out.


Financial Responsibility

Any damages will be assessed and placed on your student account within 30 days of the end of your contract. If it cannot be determined who should be assessed the damage fee, it will be split between the two roommates or suitemates.
You can be held financially responsible for:

  1. Damages to your room beyond normal wear and tear.
  2. Not properly cleaning your room and/or bathroom, and/or not properly disposing of trash.
  3. Leaving personal property in your room – this is a $300 abandoned property charge + $100/hour charge for collecting your abandoned property.
  4. Not properly checking out with your RA/CM, who will do the contract termination with you and collect your room keys. This is a $300 improper checkout fee.
  5. Not turning in your key(s) at checkout – there is no option to turn in your keys after you checkout with an RA/CM.
  6. Checking out after the residence halls close (May 3rd at noon) – this a $250 late checkout fee.
     

If you wish to appeal any charges you will have 30 days after the charge is placed on your student account. You will do this by emailing housing@nmu.edu an explanation of your situation and why you believe you shouldn’t be getting charged.
 

Quiet Hours

For the week of finals, starting Saturday, April 25th at 11:59pm until the halls close at noon on Sunday, May 3rd, Extreme Quiet Hours will be in place. This means that quiet hours will be in place 24 hours a day to allow students a quiet environment to study in. Each hall government will set two hours of “release hours” each day where quiet hours will be lifted. Your resident director / RA / CM will provide more information about when your hall’s release hours will be. Please be mindful of your noise level during finals!


Students Staying for Summer / Moving to Apartments

If you are staying in on campus housing for the summer (Spooner or the on-campus apartments), keep an eye on your email for instructions on how to move into your summer assignment and for more information on when your summer space will be ready. In general, you have a few options for housing while waiting for your summer assignment to be ready:

  1. Complete a checkout (including cleaning and removing all belongings) with an RA/CM before noon on May 3rd, and then return to campus to move into your summer assignment.
  2. Stay in your current housing assignment and move into your summer assignment as soon as it is ready. If you choose this option, you will be charged a daily rate based on your current assignment until you complete your move.
     

Note: if you choose to stay in your current housing assignment until your summer assignment is ready, you will need to be prepared to move as soon as your new assignment is ready. You will have 48 hours to move once your summer assignment is ready, so you will need to stick around the area until you are finished moving.


Your Mail

Housing and Residence Life will forward any first-class mail. Mail, other than first-class mail, will be returned to sender. We will forward mail starting Thursday, April 30th. We recommend that you stop sending mail / packages to your residence hall room after Wednesday, April 22nd, as there is no guarantee that it will arrive before closing.
 

You should change your address with the Registrar’s Office or by going to MyNMU.nmu.edu and then “Address / Phone Update” to make sure your mail is sent to the correct address. It is important that you change your address with those who send you mail – e.g., friends and family, subscriptions, companies you do business with, etc.
 

Cleaning Supplies

The desk has various cleaning supplies (brooms and vacuums) available for checkout, but they are limited in number. Please be patient with our desk staff while waiting for supplies to become available. Also note, you can only get a vacuum from the desk during your halls release hours.


Your Bicycle

If you have a bicycle on campus, please don’t forget it. Bicycles that are left behind will be considered abandoned property and will be handled according to the University’s Abandoned Property Policy. If you had a bicycle that was removed from the bicycle racks last fall or put into Spooner storage, you can retrieve it by attending one of the following bike pickup dates:

  • Wednesday, April 22nd – 2pm to 8pm
  • Thursday, April 23rd – 2pm to 8pm
  • Friday, April 24th – 2pm to 8pm
     

Note: if your bike was removed from the rack, then there will be a $25 retrieval fee to get it back.


To Do List – Before I leave I need to:

  • Do a preliminary checkout with my RA / CM
  • Update my address on mynmu.nmu.edu
  • Remove all of my belongings from my room / bathroom
  • Thoroughly clean my room and bathroom
  • Check my mailbox / the desk for any last mail or packages
  • Checkout with my RA / CM


University Housing Requirement – The Housing Requirement, which is a Condition of Enrollment, states that all undergraduate students must live in a University residence hall unless they: 1) live at home with their parent(s) or spouse, within 60 miles, 2) have lived four or more semesters in residence halls, 3) have 56 or more credits (this only applies to students who lived on campus prior to Fall 2026), 4) are at least 21 years old on or before the last official day of registration for the fall semester, 5) are veterans who qualify for veterans’ benefits by virtue of at least one year of active service in the armed forces, or 6) are taking eight or fewer credits. 

Make sure that you are eligible to live-off campus before making plans to do so!

Apartment Move Out - Winter 2026

Note: All tenants not approved by housing to stay must be properly checked out by 5pm on Sunday, May 3. You will be charged a Late Check-out Fee of $250 if you are not completely checked out by 5pm on Sunday, May 3. Exceptions will be made only for students moving into the on-campus apartments or summer housing. Contact the Housing and Residence Life Office with questions about this.

 

Check Out Procedure for Tenants Leaving their apartment for the summer or participating in summer storage: Every tenant will need to sign up 24 hours in advance with their CA for a check out time. CA’s will either post the checkout sheets on their apartment door or share a google sheet with you. CA’s will arrive at your checkout and conduct the check out with you present. If your CA is unavailable during the time you need, please sign up with another CA within your area, but please add your apartment number on the sign-up sheet so the CA can have the appropriate paperwork. (Summer storage is west side only) 

Check Out Procedure for Tenants moving to another apartment for the Summer/Fall 2026: If you have already requested to move to another apartment the housing office will inform you when you can pick up your keys from Woodland Park Desk. You will need to sign up for a check out time with your CA or the covering CA 24 hours in advance to review the condition of your old apartment. You will turn in your keys from the old apartment at this time, which means you will have had to move out of, and clean your old space. You will also be required to fill out a new apartment inventory form for your new apartment. 

Check Out Procedure for Tenants Staying in their Apartment for the Summer and/or Fall 2026 : If you are signed up for summer housing and are staying in your same apartment, please note that you do not need to do anything. You will be contacted about signing your 12 month lease or summer invoice. If your roommate is not staying, a member of the Residence Life staff will be coming through and checking out your roommate. At this time, your roommate checking out will be charged for all agreed upon damages, and you will assume the apartment in an “As Is’ condition”. Your original apartment inventory will remain, and you do not have to fill out a new one.

 

Final Checkout

  1. To checkout of your apartment, you must meet with your CA. This involves scheduling a checkout with them at least 24 hours in advance using the paper sign-out sheets posted in a designated location (or as otherwise indicated by your CA).
  2. Before your checkout with your CA, you will be expected to clean your space and empty it of all personal belongings.
  3. Before you check out of your apartment, you must:
    1. Make sure all of the University furnishings that belong in your room are there.
    2. Remove all personal belongings. Window screens must remain in place. Your belongings may not be removed through a window.
    3. Trash and items that you no longer want (and don’t donate) should be properly placed in the dumpster. Furniture and carpeting must be placed in the large construction dumpster. Fridges cannot be put in the dumpster.
    4. Thoroughly clean your room and bathroom:
      • Clean the shower, sinks, countertop, and toilet.
      • Wipe down surfaces such as the tops of the desks, dressers, closet shelves, and window sills. Wipe out all drawers.
      • Sweep and mop (or vacuum) the floor in your room and bathroom.
      • Empty and clean waste and recycling bins and properly dispose of trash.
         

Your checkout should be the last thing you do before you leave for the summer – you will not be able to return to your room after your checkout!

Note: If Checking out before roommate

  1. We can not fully check common spaces for cleanliness when your roommates belongings are still in the apartment.
  2. You and your roommates must communicate before anyone leaves to figure out cleaning.
  3. Before anyone checks out a general cleaning in common spaces should be complete, vacuum, sweep, dishes, wipedown, trash taken out.
  4. Ultimately because they are still living in the apartment, whoever checks out last will be responsible for making sure the apartment is fully clean before they can properly check out.
  5. If you are leaving any belongings for your roommate to keep, your CA needs an email from them stating they are keeping the stuff.

Final Room Inspections

Housing and Residence Life staff will inspect all rooms after the residence halls close. Additional charges for cleaning and/or damages to student rooms may be assessed within 30 days of check-out.


Financial Responsibility

Any damages will be assessed and placed on your student account within 30 days of the end of your contract. If it cannot be determined who should be assessed the damage fee, it will be split between the two roommates.
You can be held financially responsible for:

  1. Damages to your room beyond normal wear and tear.
  2. Not properly cleaning your room and/or bathroom and/or not properly disposing of trash or personal items.
  3. Leaving personal belongings behind - this is a $300 abandoned property charge + $100/hour for collecting abandoned items.
  4. Not properly checking out with your CA, who will do the contract termination with you and collect your room keys. This is a $300 improper check out fee.
  5. Not turning in your key(s) at checkout – there is no option to turn in your keys after you checkout with a CA.
  6. Checking out after 5pm on May 3th when not approved to stay late. This is a $250 late checkout fee
     

If you wish to appeal any charges you will have 30 days after the charge is placed on your student account. You will do this by emailing housing@nmu.edu your situation and why you believe you shouldn’t be getting charged.


Your Mail

Housing and Residence Life will forward any first-class mail in Woodland Park. Mail, any other mail will be returned to sender. West Side Apartments must change their mailing address. We do not handle mail on the West Side.


We recommend that you stop sending mail/packages to your apartment after April 22nd, as there is no guarantee that it will arrive before closing.


You should change your address with the Registrar’s Office or by going to MyNMU.nmu.edu and then “Address / Phone Update” to make sure your University mail is sent to the correct address. It is important that you change your address with those who send you mail – e.g., friends and family, subscriptions, companies you do business with, etc..


Your Bicycle

If you have a bicycle on campus, please don’t forget it. Bicycles that are left behind will be considered abandoned property and will be handled according to the University’s Abandoned Property Policy.
 

If you had a bicycle that was removed from a bicycle rack last fall, chances are it is still in storage. If you wish to reclaim it, contact the Housing Office well in advance of your checkout to make plans to retrieve it. Note that if you do so, there will be a $25 Retrieval Fee.


To Do List – Before I leave I need to:

  • Update my address on mynmu.nmu.edu
  • Remove all of my belongings from my room / bathroom / common spaces
  • Thoroughly clean my room / bathroom / common spaces
  • Check my mailbox / the desk for any last mail or packages
  • Sign up at least 24 hours in advance and checkout with my CA
     

Loading Vehicles Driving or parking on sidewalks or lawns is prohibited. Doing so is a violation of State law and violators will be ticketed ($150 misdemeanor ticket).