At least one Master at each college must be a member of the faculty. Masters live with their families in houses adjacent to the colleges. The Rice Graduate Apartments were built primarily as a landing pad for entering graduate students. The building design incorporated all useful suggestions and ideas from an ad hoc advisory committee of students, faculty, and administrators, formed in the fall of 1997, and the architect and builder. These efforts resulted in a three-story structure whose clay tile roof and masonry exterior are in the Rice tradition and, at the same time, are compatible with the architecture of the surrounding neighborhood.
Students can walk, ride a bike, or take the shuttle bus to their campus activities.
The apartment building also includes amenities conducive to everyday living, studying, a sense of community, and fun. All undergraduates are members of the Rice Student Association, which is governed by the Student Senate. The Student Senate has campuswide jurisdiction and oversees all undergraduate student organizations, with the exception of the Honor Council and the University Court. All students in graduate programs are members of the Graduate Student Association. The governing body of this organization is the Graduate School Council, which consists of a president, a secretary, a treasurer, and a representative from each academic department that offers graduate-level courses.