What do I do when my student wants to stay longer than our previous agreement (or longer than 4 days)?
This situation can happen from time to time. Do not be discouraged! There are many reasons why a student would agree to two days of housing and then later ask to extend his stay in your home. Perhaps an unforeseen circumstance is delaying his move-in date. Maybe the apartment looked great online, but the walk-through was a disaster. Whatever the reason, IFI wants to ask you to use CARE when navigating these kinds of situations.
Try to bear in mind that your student is an adult and should be able to provide for their own basic needs of food and shelter after a few days in your home. The free room and board, transportation and other services you are providing them is a great assistance in itself. Please do not feel like you will be disappointing IFI if you are unable to extend the stay of a student in your home. That is completely understandable, and there are a couple options available to students who need more temporary housing than you can provide.
The following options are perfectly acceptable for any students who need additional temporary housing:
1. Another student's apartment - Many students (particularly the Chinese) make friends with other students who are coming to study at OSU. They use online forums, chat groups and even attend parties to meet other incoming students. Ask if your student knows anyone who may already have moved into an apartment that might be willing to let them stay for a while. It would beat moving into OSU's temporary housing or staying alone at a hotel.
2. Hotel - It is certainly acceptable to deliver a student to the economical hotel of his/her choosing after the time in your home is up. You have provided a remarkable service to them with the love of Christ; they will not forget what you have done for them. So please don't blame yourself if it comes to this. Here is a list of local hotels that offer an OSU students/faculty discount on OIA's website.
3. Another Host: Contact IFI to request that we provide a student with another host family for temporary housing.
