Terp Life 101
Living, Dining, and Getting Around On-Campus
Dining Service: Will my student have healthy food to eat?
- Anytime Dining = unlimited access to three dining halls. Any time they’re open, any amount of anything they’re serving, any number of times a day.
- The limit is no carryout.
- Students living on campus without a kitchen dedicated to their room must have a Resident Dining Plan.
- You can make plan changes during the first two weeks of the semester after that, you can purchase bundles of Dining Dollars.
- For students not living on-campus
- Purchase at any time during the Fall semester and until week 12 of the Spring semester.
- Connector Meals and Connector Dining Dollars roll over Fall to Spring and expire on graduation day in May.
- To purchase a Connector Plan or Connector Dining Dollars, go to dining.umd.edu and select “Dining Plan.”
There are 25+ dining options on campus
UMD has an award-winning program for catering to allergies and food intolerance. Email nutrition@umd.edu to make an appointment for consultation with the nutrition and culinary team.
(Note: Terrapin Express is usable at a broader range of campus locations, including food courts, bookstores, and cafes, as well as outside of Dining Services.)
Resident Life: What do students need in residence halls? When do they find out about roommates?
Living on campus allows you to live, learn, and engage with a diverse community of Terps, be within steps of everything you need, and have support from our caring staff.
Find tips for roommate success, decorating your room, and more:
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| May 1st | Deadline to Apply for Fall On-Campus Housing, including Freshman Connection |
| May 31st | Deadline to submit Housing Accommodations Request to Resident Life and Accessibility & Disability Services |
| June 8th - 17th | Roommate Finder & Roommate Request Period |
| July 16th | Fall Housing Information Release Begins |
| August 27th- 28th | Fall Move-In |
| August 27th - 30th | Fall Welcome |
Transportation: How do students get around campus?
DOTS manages parking, campus shuttles, bike and scooter programs, and sustainable commuting options at UMD.
Shuttle-UM - Operated by DOTS, provides fare-free commuter, evening, NITE Ride, paratransit and charter services to the university community. Many routes require a University ID to ride. Visit the DOTS Ride 101 page for tips and tricks for riding Shuttle-UM.
Transit app - Transit is the official app of Shuttle-UM. It provides real-time arrival information, route information and trip planning support for all Shuttle-UM Routes.
NITE Ride - NITE Ride is a curb-to-curb evening service that operates seven nights a week from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 a.m. and services the immediate campus community. NITE Ride serves the areas of campus that are not reached by Shuttle-UM evening routes.
BikeUMD - The BikeUMD program, a partnership between DOTS and the Department of Recreation and Wellness, offers classes, discounted bike safety gear, sponsored events and group rides, and also manages mandatory bicycle registration. The RecWell Bike Shop provides free bike maintenance and semester bike rentals. Students who bring a bike to campus should register it through bikeindex.org/umd. All campus cyclists should adhere to the university’s bike guidelines and safe riding practices.
Parking - Students must register for parking. Parking is assigned on a first-come, first-served basis, according to credit level and housing status. Once spaces fill, students will be added to a waitlist. Due to the limited number of parking spaces on campus, parking regulations are strictly enforced. There is no free parking on campus from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday–Friday.
Electric Scooters/Bikes - Veo is the campus’ shared mobility system that offers electric bikes and electric scooters to the campus community and surrounding area. With over 600 vehicles it's easy to unlock one and explore.
UMD students living in on-campus properties, including UMD residence halls, university-owned fraternity and sorority chapter houses and South Campus Commons, are not permitted to bring personal electric micromobility devices (electric bikes, electric scooters, skateboards or any other privately-owned electric micromobility devices) to campus.
All personal e-scooters/e-bikes owned by commuter students are required to be registered with DOTS. Unregistered vehicles are subject to booting and/or impoundment. Please review our registration guidelines for more details.
Additional transportation options include: Paratransit | NITE-
Holiday Travel
Shuttle-UM provides break transportation services to New York City, New Jersey, and BWI Airport & Rail Station for Thanksgiving, Winter, and Spring Breaks.
Academics: Where can students get academic help?
Learn more at Academic Overview
Follow the UMD's Calendar for important dates including breaks, final exams, and more
Campus Life: When can families and supporters visit and be part of the fun on campus?
In addition to family weekend, there are many public events on campus from athletics to theater performances. UMD Athletics offers discounted guest tickets to students (and some are free). UMD students receive complimentary tickets to productions at the Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center and may request additional tickets for $10.
–> Learn more about how students can get involved on campus
