Residence Halls
St. Olaf has 11 residence halls and 11 town houses on campus:
- Ellingson
- Hilleboe-Kittelsby
- Hoyme
- Kildahl
- Larson
- Mellby
- Mohn
- Rand
- Thorson
- Ytterboe
- New Res Hall (opening Fall 2022)
All freshmen (first-year students) will be assigned to live in one of these halls: Ellingson, Hoyme, Kildahl, Kittelsby, or Mohn. This arrangement encourages new students to get to know their peers better and bond over first experiences with one another.
The layouts and rules for all the Halls include:
- Floors split by gender (also known as “co-ed” floors).
- Girls/Boys share their respective bathrooms on separate floors.
- Laundry: Each dorm includes various washing and drying machines on different floors, depends on the dorm. All students have access to laundry services without any additional charges (FREE!). You only need to get your own detergent, drying sheets, etc. Check out this website for tips on how to operate these machines!
- All freshmen bedrooms are mostly shared by two people, “doubles”.
- Students have access to all the dorms on campus until 10:59 pm (Your student ID is always required to go in dorms!). After that hour, you can only access your assigned dorm.
- Campus is known to be very safe although it is highly recommended to remember to lock your room when you are not inside, as it is always better to be safe than sorry.
Roommates
Generally, freshmen are NOT ALLOWED to pick their own roommates and therefore have to live a year with an assigned relative stranger. This can be seen as an adventure but may also cause some anxiety, which is why it is important for all of you to ANSWER THE ROOMMATE QUESTIONNAIRE SERIOUSLY before arriving on campus. Take the time to evaluate your habits and daily timetables, as this will help Residence Life (a.k.a. “Res Life”) pair you up with other freshmen with similar preferences.
Residence Hall Staff
Junior Counselors (JC) & Residence Assistant (RA)
JC’s are important friends during your first year. Selected upperclassmen are chosen to help first-year students adapt to their new environment both residentially and academically. Throughout the year, your JC’s will organize different activities to help you get to know each other. Be sure to get to know them after you arrive and feel free to ask questions or express your concerns. They are there not just to exemplify campus leadership but also to provide immediate help for you.
Area Coordinators (AC)
They are the supervisors of all residential workers. So if there is something that needs to be resolved under a higher authority, their presence will be called. You will also receive emails from them providing important information about the important residential events during the year, such as the check-out process and storage hours.
Front Desk Staff
All Halls have student desk workers from 7 am – 1 am during weekdays and until 2 am during weekends. You can check out vacuum cleaners and cooking equipment from the front desk to temporarily borrow for your own use. The front desk is also a great resource for on-campus information. The front desk staff employment is open to all students. You can apply at the beginning of school years or sign up for some shifts during breaks.
*Note that front desk receptionists do not have the responsibility to open the front door for you if you forgot your student ID card somewhere, which is one of many reasons you SHOULD have your student ID card with you all the time.
For more information about the specific Residence Halls and living on campus in general, please visit:
If you have any thoughts, questions, or concerns, please do not hesitate to leave comments below and we will get back to you as soon as possible!