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Information for Parents

Support from parents is an important part of a student's transition to college life.

A student's transition to college can be a challenging time for parents. For the first time, your child will be living away from home, doing laundry (you hope), deciding when and what to eat (not just pizza, please), and generally far away from your watchful eye. As a parent, you will be worried, and the Office of Residence Life is committed to providing you with as much information as you need to help alleviate your concerns.

Residential Buildings

Get acquainted with the USF residence halls by going to www.usfca.edu/residence_life/residential_buildings. This website will contains photos and information on each building, including a brief history, a list of amenities, and photos of building exteriors, community areas, and rooms.

Room rates

It is important that you and your student understand the cost of living in a residence hall. For complete information on the cost of room and board, go to www.usfca.edu/onestop and click on the "Tuition & Fees" link under the "Tuition & Billing" menu.
Applying for Housing

Applying for on-campus housing at USF is an easy process that is completed entirely online. Students can log in, view buildings they are eligible to live in, create a profile, find a compatible roommate, and more. For more information about applying for housing, including user guides and FAQ, visit www.usfca.edu/housing/apply.
Regulations and Policies

The Fogcutter Student Handbook contains important information on student rights and responsibilities, University policies and regulations, student organizations and more. Parents may refer to the Fogcutter for complete information on Residence Life policies and regulations. To get started, go to www.usfca.edu/fogcutter, and then click on "Residence Life Policies, Regs and Information" from the menu on the left.

Further information on University policies and regulations, can be found in the USF General Catalog. To get started, go to www.usfca.edu/catalog and click on the "Academic Regulations" and "University Policies" links on the left. Once you've clicked on either of these links, make sure to click through the submenu links on the right as well.

Some of the areas included in the Fogcutter and the General Catalog include: housing guest and visitation policy, emergency procedures, academic honesty, leaves and withdrawal, grading system, probation and disqualification, academic requirements for graduation, drug and alcohol use, smoking, privacy of student records, sexual offenses, and more.
Packing List

To get a list of what students should pack and what they should leave behind, take a look at What's In My Room. This web page will list the furniture included in each room, essential items to bring, recommended items, and items that are not permitted in rooms. Just remember: your child will inevitably forget to pack something essential. If you want to mail him/her a package, make sure it is clearly marked with his/her name, room number, and residence hall name.
Note: Residence halls have different addresses than the USF campus. To find out the address for a residence hall, go to www.usfca.edu/housing/residential_buildings and select the appropriate building.
Holidays

Parents often want to buy plane tickets in advance for their children to return home for holidays. Before you book any tickets, make sure to look at the Academic Calendar to find holidays and school breaks. To download the latest Academic Calendar, go to www.usfca.edu/onestop, and click on the "Academic Calendar" link in the Quicklinks menu on the right.
Exam times

Students typically have two major exam periods per semester: midterms and final exams.

Midterms are scheduled by each instructor, so they may fall whenever the instructor deems appropriate. Typically, they take place sometime in late October or early to mid-November for the Fall semester, and in March or April for the Spring semester. Some instructors may assign a project, a paper, an in-class exam, or no exam at all. The best way to find out what to expect is to talk to your son/daughter about it.

Unlike midterms, final exam times are scheduled by the Office of the Registrar. Each course is assigned a final exam day and time during the last week of classes in the Fall and Spring semesters. However, instructors may still choose to give a final paper, project, or presentation in lieu of a traditional in-class final. Even though final exam times are assigned to classes at the beginning of the semester, they often have to be changed. Therefore, if you are buying your child plane tickets home or planning a vacation, make sure to plan around the final exam period. To find out the final exam period, download the Academic Calendar by going to www.usfca.edu/onestop and clicking on the "Academic Calendar" link in the Quicklinks menu on the right.
Dining

Students living in residence halls (except Loyola Village and Pedro Arrupe) must purchase a meal plan that can be used at six dining locations. The dining locations include:

  • The Market Cafe, located in University Center, second floor
  • Crossroads Cafe, located in University Center, first floor
  • Outtahere Cafe, located in University Center, first floor
  • Outtakes Cafe, located in Lone Mountain, first floor
  • Club Ed Cafe, located in School of Education, first floor
  • Kendrick Cafe, located in Kendrick Hall, first floor

All of these locations offer a selection of healthy food choices, including vegetarian and vegan options. For more information about dining on campus, visit www.cafebonappetit.com/usf/.
Parking

USF has limited parking and therefore cannot offer a parking space to every USF community member. Parking on campus is by permit only. USF students may enter the Student Parking Lottery for Full-Time and Part-Time parking permits. Student lottery applications are available each year at the beginning of January. Applications must be turned in by the end of July. Winners are notified via US mail during the first week of August. For more information, visit www.usfca.edu/Public_Safety/Parking_Permits/.
Public Safety

The Office of Public Safety is committed to maintaining a safe and secure campus for all students, faculty, staff, and visitors. Some of the services Public Safety offers include:

  • 24-hour campus patrol by Public Safety Officers, on foot, in marked vehicles, Segways, and electric motorbikes.
  • A Dispatch Communications Center that operates 24-hours per day. USF community members may call the 24-hour emergency number to report accidents, crimes, suspicious persons, hazards and other emergencies.
  • Direct-dial emergency phones located outside campus buildings, in most parking lots and all multi-level parking garages. These phones are housed in yellow boxes and are labeled with red and white signs. Several phones are also accompanied by steady burning blue lights.

  • A Safety Escort service that operates from 7:00 p.m. to 1:00 a.m. with the USF campus shuttle, Monday through Sunday. Uniformed Public Safety Officers also assist in providing Safety Escorts when the USF Shuttle is not in service

Non-emergency business number: (415) 422-4222
Non-emergency dispatch number: (415) 422-4201
Emergency dispatch number: (415) 422-2911

For more information about Public Safety, visit www.usfca.edu/Public_Safety/.
Privacy

Students enrolled at USF are protected by the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), also known as the Buckley Amendment. Under this federal law, students are afforded the right to privacy. Institutions of higher education may not disclose personally-identifiable student information without the consent of the student, except to the extent that FERPA authorizes disclosure without consent. This means that information such as grades, GPA, class schedule, hours enrolled, financial aid, tuition and billing information, etc., may not be disclosed to any third-party, including parents, without the written consent of the student. The directory information that may be disclosed without student consent includes the following at USF: student's name, school of enrollment, credit hour load (full-time, part time), periods of enrollment, USF email address, degree(s) awarded and date(s) of conferral, honors, participation in athletic activities, weight and height of athletic participants, major and minor fields, and dean's list.

Students may choose to authorize the release of information to a third-party (i.e. parents) by completing the Student Consent to Release Information form. For complete instructions on completing this form, visit www.usfca.edu/onestopforms and scroll down to the "Student Consent to Release Information" links under the Records and Registration menu.

To learn more about FERPA, visit www.usfca.edu/onestop/privacy or www.usfca.edu/Catalog/University_Policies/Privacy_of_Student_Records/.
Books

Your student will need to have required textbooks for the courses in which s/he is enrolled. S/he can order go to the USF Bookstore in University Center, order the books online, or even rent textbooks. For more information, visit the USF Bookstore's website at www.usfca.edu/bookstore.

You can view what books are required for each course and even find the ISBN numbers in the online Schedule of Classes. To get started, go to www.usfca.edu/schedules, click on the "Search for Classes Here" link, and then follow the links to search for classes. Once you have found a course, click on the "View Book Info" button to view the required books for the course.