Previous slide
Next slide

About Us​

Intro to the Department

Residence Life is a department within the office of Student Affairs, reporting to the Dean of Student Affairs. Simply, Residence Life is responsible for the community building aspects of living on campus. We oversee the Residence Life Coordinator (RLC) team, Resident Assistant (RA) teams, community events and programs, and residential student conduct as well as the room application, assignment, and billing processes.

Guiding Principles

Mission
Our mission is to create opportunities to live, learn, and lead. Committed to creating these opportunities, Residence Life works collaboratively with students, parents, faculty, and staff to help residents navigate their DKU residential journey in a safe, diverse, inclusive, stimulating, and vibrant community. Along the way, we challenge and support residents to develop their potential, achieve their goals, and prepare for global citizenry.

Core Values
The core values of Residence Life are mutual respect, responsibility, interdependence, understanding, wellness, and resilience.

Core Beliefs
Residence Life staff believe every person is valuable, every person has belonging and esteem needs that must be met for them to realize their full potential, and every person can make a profound difference in the world.

Strategies​

Creating Opportunities to Live
We guarantee room accommodations for all undergraduate students and we are able to accommodate most graduate students who apply for a room. Our options include high quality hotel-, suite-, and apartment-style accommodations, which the DKU Housing department keeps safe, clean, and maintained. Aside from the physical place to sleep, our close-knit communities give students a place to simply and truly enjoy life by having fun with friends as they develop a sense of belonging. Resident Assistants hold events which help students get to know each other and build a sense of belong while also serving in a duty rotation which keeps the building safe and secure.

Creating Opportunities to Learn
We’ve designed out residence halls with learning in mind. Our facilities all have study space within them and many of our procedures, events, and intentional interactions are focused on learning. To promote diversity and inclusion, we assign first-year students from different countries together in the same room. While this may invite challenges, our team is trained to support students and their learning through mediations. Resident Assistants collaborate with faculty for educational programs, to extend learning beyond the classroom. Residence Life also helps students learn about the consequences and impact of their actions through student conduct adjudications.

Creating Opportunities to Lead
We encourage students’ active participation in, and ownership for, their experience. Our office employs students in multiple positions which allow them to impact and influence their experience and the experience of others living on campus. We also encourage residents to share their event and community development ideas with other residents and their Resident Assistants to enhance everyone’s experience. Lastly, our office coordinates the Global Leadership Academy.

FAQs​

Over the years, we’ve compiled a list of Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) by students and parents.  Please review the answers to these questions below.

Residence Life (学生住宿生活部) is a department within the office of Student Affairs, reporting to the Dean of Student Affairs. Simply, Residence Life is responsible for the community building aspects of living on campus. We oversee the RLC team, RA teams, community events and programs, and residential student conduct as well as the room application, assignment, and billing processes.

Housing (校内住房部) is an office within Operations, reporting to the Director of Operations. Simply, Housing is responsible for the facility aspects of living on campus. They oversee housekeeping, maintenance, work requests, room inspections, indoor air quality, water drinkability, and rental refrigerator coordination.

Mercury is the system used to manage on campus room applications, assignments, and bills. It also includes other important forms such as updating personal information, requesting a rental refrigerator, and reporting maintenance issues. To access Mercury, go to https://student.rms.dukekunshan.edu.cn/page/homepage, then log in with your NetID.

All undergraduate students are required to live on campus all four years. On campus includes main campus as well as any buildings offsite that are owned, leased, or operated by the University. Graduate students are encouraged but not required to reside on campus. Limited spaces prevents us from guaranteeing graduate students a room. Graduate students intending to live off campus should still complete the room assignment application, to answer the question about their decision to live on or off campus.

Students should immediately report the loss and request another ID by filling out a Maintenance Issue form in Mercury and select the “Lost Student ID Card” request type. The cost will be billed to the student’s Bursar account. Once processed, Operations will reach out about when, where, and how to pick up the new ID.

It depends, Chinese outlets are 220 Volts and types A, C, and I.

There are many shopping options. The mini-mart in the Academic Building (AB) is open 8:00 AM – 8:00 PM daily and sells snacks, toiletries, and DKU apparel. Dayu Bay is walkable from campus and has several restaurants and shops. Auchan Mall is a great place to buy anything and it is a stop on both the campus shuttle and Kunshan bus route 32. Campus shuttles, the Kunshan bus system, and DiDi (ride share app) will help you get anywhere else who want or need to go. Taobao is a major online shopping company that has an app, sells many things, and can deliver quickly to campus.

For all breaks and closures during the time you have a room assignment with Residence Life, you can keep your property in your room. However, if you don’t have a room assignment (e.g., summer break, study abroad) you need to remove your property from your room. On campus storage is not available but the University is working to develop a partnership with an off campus service provider to whom we will refer students.

Yes, Campus Services (campus-services@dukekunshan.edu.cn) has lockers available for use in the Academic Building. Any loss of password, malfunctions, damages, and vandalism should be reported immediately.

Yes, to do so, a student should contact Residence Life by the deadline posted online or in their email about the room assignment application to begin the review process.

No, there is no time that you need to be back in your residence hall or bedroom.

Contact Us​

Our Office​

Our business hours are 9:00 AM – 5:30 PM daily from Monday – Friday, and we are located in the Student Residence Hall 202 suite on the 2nd floor. Additionally, our office phone number is +86 (0512) 3665.7020 and our office email account is residencelife@dukekunshan.edu.cn.

Our Staff

Charlie Clausen

Charlie Clausen
Assistant Dean 
Community Center E4115
+86 (0512) 3665.7277
charlie.clausen@dukekunshan.edu.cn

VACANT
Assistant Director of Residential Services
Graduate Apartments Suite 1110
+86 (0512) 3665.
@dukekunshan.edu.cn

Katie Zhu

Katie Zhu
Residential Education Coordinator
Graduate Apartments Suite 1110
+86 (0512) 3665.7501
bingyu.zhu@dukekunshan.edu.cn

Patrick Dayton
Residence Life Coordinator – Courtyard 3
Building 15E, Room 1101
+86 (0512) 3665.7901
patrick.dayton@dukekunshan.edu.cn

VACANT
Residence Life Coordinator – Graduate Residences
Graduate Apartments Suite 1110
+86 (0512) 3665.
@dukekunshan.edu.cn

Jenny Yao
Senior Coordinator of Residence Life – Courtyard 4
(Interim) RLC – Graduate Residences
Graduate Apartments Suite 1110
+86 (0512) 3665.7543
han.yao@dukekunshan.edu.cn

Elaine Tang
Residence Life Coordinator – Courtyard 1
Building 15A, Room 1101
+86 (0512) 3665.8754
yiran.tang@dukekunshan.edu.cn

Laurel Chen
Residence Life Coordinator – Courtyard 2
Building 15C, Room 1101
+86 (0512) 3665.7182
wanlu.chen@dukekunshan.edu.cn

Creating Opportunities to
Live, Learn, and Lead

Graduate Apartments Suite 1110
(+86) 0512.3665.7020
residencelife@dukekunshan.edu.cn