Radford University's dorms are all within walking distance to classes and dining. The common areas are cleaned daily by housekeeping staff, and the university provides daily collection of trash and recycling. While carpets, sheets, towels, comforters and microwaves aren't provided by the school, Radford has a relationship with vendors so students can order these amenities ahead of time to be in place when they arrive. The university will even arrange for bunk bed installation.
Dorm living provides a way for students to meet each other. In addition to day-to-day encounters, each dorm has a Residence Hall council that plans events and social activities for its students. All residence halls at Radford are located in a quad with two or more other dorms, so residence Hall councils work together to plan quad-wide activities, increasing the opportunities for students to meet their neighbors.
Unlike typical residence halls, where all students on a floor share a community bathroom, all Radford University residence halls feature suite-style rooms. Each room is designed to house two students, and every pair of two rooms is connected by a shared bathroom. In some cases, rooms will be converted to triples, but that is usually a temporary situation. If the triple extends beyond the third Monday of classes, the affected students receive a proportional housing credit.
Radford University's dorm rooms have cable TV hookup, Ethernet and wireless Internet service, and telephone jacks. A coin-operated washer and dryer is located in each residence hall, and some of the washer and dryers accept the RU Express Card, the university's version of a debit card. Some dorms have ironing boards, but irons aren't provided. All dorms are heated and some are air-conditioned. Seven of the 15 dorms have been updated to allow residents to control the temperature in their individual rooms.