Residence Hall Amenities & Utilities

Planning your living space at the University of Michigan is an exciting part of the college experience. Here you’ll find everything you need to know to make your room your own. Review the following info to learn about your options and DO get in touch with your roommates to discuss what you'll each be bringing to your new campus home.

What to Bring to Campus

There are many ways to customize your space with bedding, lamps, accessories, and more.

The Residence Hall Linen Program, sponsored by our Residence Hall Association (RHA), offers extra-long twin linens, matching towels and other room essentials.

Download our list of What to Bring to Campus now. You’ll find it helpful for planning, shopping, and packing.

Standard Room Furnishings

Whether you will be living with one, two, or three other students, University Housing provides these basic furnishings for every student in the room:

Bed and mattress (extra-long twin size)
Desk and chair
Closet and/or dresser
Desktop organizer
Bookcase

Learn more about furniture.

Room Essentials

Each room contains these essentials:

Computer data port (Ethernet)
Wastebasket
Recyling tote
Set of draperies
Smoke detector
Overhead lighting

Need to Chill?

Rental refrigerators are available by the term or the academic year through Collegiate Fridge, a private vendor.

Visit their website to view the available options and to reserve a refrigerator. Online payment is made by debit or credit card. When your reservation is complete, you will receive an email confirmation.

Use of this vendor's services is optional. All transactions, including delivery, are strictly between you and the vendor.

Refrigerators

Residents may rent a refrigerator or bring their own. Due to space and electrical consumption considerations, only one refrigerator is permitted for each room. If you bring your own refrigerator, the maximum capacity is 5.5 cubic feet with an amperage draw of no more than 1.5.

Telephone

Although the vast majority of our residents use cellular phone services for their local and long-distance calling needs, ITS Communications Systems and Data Centers provides several levels of telephone services. For details on what these services include and how to use them, visit the ITS Networking & Telecommunication website.

UMTV & Cable Service

Cable service is activated and ready to go before you move in. In conjunction with Information Technology Services, University Housing provides dozens of cable television channels to the residence halls. All channels are provided as part of your in-room cable service through UMTV.

Please note that cable is digital only and no analog channels are available. A digital TV or digital-to-analog converter which will receive CATV channels in a clear QAM format is required in order to receive all channels of the UMTV cable service.

Learn more about rates and cancellation policies.

Movies

RHA Movie Channel 56 (sponsored by the Residence Halls Association) offers free movies to residents. Generally the movies are first-run new releases.

View the RHA Movie Channel listings.

Michigan Cable Network Channels

Four of the UMTV cable channels make up the Michigan Cable Network and include academic programming and video conferencing as well as entertainment television. The channels include:

Channel 55: WOLV-TV provides coverage of Michigan athletic events, news programming, game shows and a variety of college events. To get involved, visit the WOLV-TV web site.
Channel 56: RHA Movie Channel (sponsored by the Residence Halls Association) offers free movies to residents. Generally the movies are first-run new releases.
Channel 57: ResComp TV programming is provided by the Housing Information Technology Office as a resource for training information, computer resources, site status, and network status.
Channel 58: Residence Life Cinema provides programming geared to specific issues affecting the lives of University Housing residents.

Computing/Ethernet Service

All U-M residential students have access to the standard computing services at no charge. The package includes email, space for file storage and web publishing, printing, and more. The residence halls provide ethernet services as part of a package of residential computing services called "ResComp" through a mandatory technology fee.

Not Enough Outlets?

If you have more electrical items in your room than outlets, use a 15-amp power strip with an integrated circuit breaker. These power strips are much safer than the lower-cost rubber adapters and also reduce the likelihood that your room will trip a circuit breaker for the entire corridor.

Electrical Devices

Unsafe or excessive electrical devises can pose a fire hazard. Please review the guidelines for electrical devices in the student guide, Community Living at Michigan.

Electrical equipment: Must be certified by Underwriters Laboratory and bear the UL mark.
Students may have one refrigerator per room that is up to 5.5-cubic foot capacity and/or uses up to 1.5 amps of electricity.
Microwaves should be 800 watts or less.
Extension cords: Only 16-guage or lower are permitted.
Power Strips: Only those with 15-amp integrated circuit breakers are permitted.