Wellbeing

The kitchen/living space of your apartment is the heart of your home away from home.   

While each flatmate is responsible for keeping their bedroom in order, the shared space is the responsibility of all flatmates regardless of how often they use it. The chore of keeping it clean must be divided evenly between all flatmates so we strongly suggest creating a cleaning rota.

No one likes coming home from a long day of classes to see pots, pans and plates piled up in the sink. Having a clean space to relax and unwind is essential to supporting your wellbeing and studies. Your apartment is equipped with a hoover, mop, sweeping brush and dustpan and brush, so use them! Other cleaning supplies are available in Centra in UCD Village. Here are some tips for keeping your shared space clean. 

Make sure you:

• Clean up after you eat, or better yet as you are cooking, don’t leave a mess in the kitchen for hours (or worse until the next day).
• Clean up before you go out: Do a quick tidy up before heading out on your night out, you'll thank yourself in the morning.
• Create a cleaning rota: cleaning tasks should be shared equally, it's a good idea to do this as soon as possible after you move in but remember not everyone arrives on the same day -  make sure to include everyone
• When someone “isn’t pulling their weight”, it can often lead to resentment among the other flatmates and that will affect the whole vibe in the apartment.  So do your bit and keep your apartment clean. 

You should also have a magnetic cleaning rota in your kitchen, if you don’t, just ask for one at the Village Welcome Desk. You can also find a downloadable PDF below.

If your apartment is struggling with hygiene and you're not sure how to resolve the situation, contact the Wellbeing team, we are happy to assist you or log a wellbeing concern on your Residence Portal.

Everyone is expected to limit noise, especially between 11 pm and 8 am. If someone is being too loud, try talking to them - they may not realise that they are causing a disturbance. 

See here for more tips and info.

• Agreeing some guidelines early in the year is a good idea.  These might include suggestions about having friends over, coming back late to the apartment or not making loud phone calls late at night.  
• If you are disturbed by noise outside during the night, log a noise complaint by calling the Village Welcome Desk (+353 1 716 7000) as it is happening, and our security team will promptly respond.  
• If the noise is coming from your apartment, try asking whoever is making the noise to keep it down; after all, you will be living with them for the whole academic year. 

From time to time, you or your flatmates may want to have guests in your apartment, including overnight guests. Make sure to submit a request on your residences portal if your guest is staying overnight. 

Having guests over is fun, but it is important to remember when you bring someone into your apartment  you are also bringing them into someone else’s home.  They absolutely must behave themselves and if they don’t you are responsible for them.

 Below are some things to remember that will ensure that everyone has good experience.:

• Let your flatmates know you are planning to have a guest and give them some notice; a quick text into your apartment group chat should do.
• It's about balance, so respect that your flatmates are allowed to have guests, but equally, you must respect other flatmates' privacy.
• You must accompany your guest at all times while in your apartment; this will avoid your flatmates walking into the common area and wondering why  there is a complete stranger hanging out in their kitchen.
• Overnight guests are not allowed to sleep in the common area.
• Your guests must behave themselves. If they do not, you will be held responsible, so don’t be afraid to let them know when they are out of line. If  they cannot follow the rules, they are not welcome.
• Submit an overnight guest request on the residences portal (see instructions here). And familiarise yourself with the guest policy.
• If you feel a guest is acting inappropriately contact the Village Welcome Desk for assistance.
• UCD Residences will at times suspend the guest policy, this occurs during:
  • Orientation week
  • The first week of term
  • Study & exam period
  • For operational requirements as required (e.g. emergencies, nights of
    big events, health and safety reasons).