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A dormitory or dorm
is a place to sleep. The word derives from the French dormir, to
sleep. Dormir, in turn, derives from the Latin word dormīre, also
meaning to sleep.
Dormitories are usually referred to as "dorms." The word is used in
three contexts:
* room with many beds (a sleeping dormitory) (common UK usage);
* building with many small private rooms (a dormitory building)
(common US usage);
* A converted sleeper car used strictly as the staff's sleeping
quarters on a passenger train. See Dorm car
Many colleges and universities are now using the term residence hall
(UK: halls of residence) instead of dormitory. This is based on the
concept that if a dormitory is a place to sleep, then the term
"residence hall" coveys a learning atmosphere which many residential
living quarters have today. In a residence hall, a student might
find a faculty member living in a "faculty fellow" apartment, as
well as additional classroom, work, and leisure space.
Sleeping dormitory
A common usage of the term "dormitory" is for a large room with many
single beds. This is the common UK usage. Examples are found in many
rooming houses such as hostels. The room typically has very few
furnishings except for beds. Such rooms can contain anywhere from
three to approx 50 beds (though such very large dormitories are rare
except perhaps as military barracks). Such rooms provide little or
no privacy for the residents, and very limited storage for personal
items in or near the beds.
Dormitory buildings
Potomac Hall, second-largest dormitory at James Madison University
in Harrisonburg, Virginia. Dormitories on JMU's west campus are
named for significant individuals, while those on the east campus
are named for natural features in Virginia.
Enlarge
Potomac Hall, second-largest dormitory at James Madison University
in Harrisonburg, Virginia. Dormitories on JMU's west campus are
named for significant individuals, while those on the east campus
are named for natural features in Virginia.
At boarding schools, colleges, and universities, the word dormitory
is used to describe the entire building used to house students. It
is this usage which is much more common in the United States,
although university staff frequently prefer to use the term
"residence hall" or simply "hall". Similarly, in UK universities
these buildings are usually called Halls of residence (commonly
referred to as halls), except at Oxford, Cambridge, and Durham where
the residential accommodation is incorporated each college's complex
of buildings, and there is no specific term for it (members of the
college who live in its own buildings are said to be "living in").
Most colleges and universities provide (usually for a fee) single or
multiple occupancy rooms for their students. These building consist
of many such rooms, like an apartment building, and the number of
rooms varies quite widely from just a few to hundreds. The largest
dormitory building is Bancroft Hall at the United States Naval
Academy.
Formerly, many companies in the U.S. and elsewhere housed employees
in dormitories. This practice has dwindled, but continues in many
other countries.
Dormitories have replaced barracks at many U.S. military
installations.
Typically, these dorm rooms have about 15 by 15 ft (21 square
meters) of floor space, and provide the following minimal
furnishings:
* Twin XL bed (sometimes in a bunk-bed configuration)
* Desk
* Mirror
* Closet space (sometimes)
* Drawers (clothes storage) (sometimes)
* Window
* Sink with running water (rarely)
Most often, bathrooms are provided for a group of rooms, which
provide shower, toilet, and sink facilities.
In the U.S., dormitories are most often segregated by gender, with
males living in one group of rooms, and females in another. Some
dorms are single-sex with varying limits on visits by persons of
each gender. Some colleges and universities offer co-ed dorms, where
either males and females reside on separate floors but in the same
building or where both sexes share a floor but with individual rooms
being single sex. In the early 2000's, dorms that allowed people of
opposite sexes to share a room became available in some
universities. [1]. Some colleges and university co-ed dorms also
feature co-ed bathrooms.
Most dorms are much closer to campus than comparable private housing
such as apartment buildings. This convenience is a major factor in
the choice of where to live since living physically closer to
classrooms is often preferred.
Halls located away from university facilities are likely to have
extra amenities such as a recreation room or bar. Commonly they also
have Internet facilities, either through a network connection in
each student room or a central computer cluster room. Catered halls
may charge for food by the meal or through a termly subscription.
They may also contain basic kitchen facilities for student use
outside catering hours. Most halls contain a laundry room, sometimes
overcrowded.
Hall governments
At some schools, each dormitory or hall has its own hall council.
Where they exist, such individual councils are usually part of a
larger organization called, variously, Residence Hall Association or
Resident Students Association, which typically provides funds and
oversees the individual building council. Hall councils plan social
events and voice concerns for their residents to the university or
college staff responsible for overall management of halls.
Housekeeping
University halls typically have housekeeping staff to maintain the
cleanliness of common rooms including lobbies and bathrooms.
Students are normally required to maintain the cleanliness of their
own rooms and private or semi-private bathrooms, where offered.
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