The fall 2013 Off-Campus Housing Fair was held at the UCF Memory Mall on November 20. Since spring 2008, the fair has been organized by the Central Florida Future but this year it was coordinated by Florida Today. The event was an opportunity for students to get housing information in one central location. The UCF Off-Campus Student Services and Student Neighborhood Relations office, now named Student Neighborhood Relations, has provided assistance and support to the fair over the years.
SNR has worked to include Housing and Residence Life and off-campus apartment managers (both the student residential and conventional communities) to participate in the Housing Fair. There were 32 vendors which included 16 off-campus student residential apartment communities.
Among the off-campus apartment communities located within two miles from UCF, there were some new vendors such as the Plaza at the University and the Retreat, Lake Amber. Each vendor offered free food, drinks and games where prizes were awarded. A DJ provided entertainment and assisted vendors in promoting their apartment special deals.
This semester, SNR opted to focus upon on-campus housing as the center of the Housing Fair. The booths were in the center of the event with free food, music, and promotional items, directing students to on-campus housing. According to staff, the event was a successful promotion especially for on-campus housing.
The housing fair was well attended by more than several hundred students, faculty and staff members.
Karen Nguyen, SNR program assistant, spoke very highly of this year’s event and said, “Our students always benefit from the Housing Fair’s information and resources to make informed decisions based upon facts, data and knowledge as opposed to guess work.”