Fear no more, folks - the housing lottery has been abolished! That's right - no more lottery! Instead, Residential Services will run a room selection process which, while it will take nearly an entire week to get through, will cut down on lines, keep people on campus who wish to stay, and ease up the process.
Kris Neindorf, the assistant director, drew up a proposal for the new system and presented it to the Student Government Senate in B-term. She based the proposal on "twelve years of experience at three other institutions," and was impressed with the feedback she received from the senate, which helped her put the finishing touches on the proposal so that it could be put into effect for 1996-97 room selection.
The new system allows students currently living on campus to "squat," or remain in the same room for the next academic year. Students wishing to squat will go to Residential Services on a designated day and sign up. If all is harmonious and roommates wish to stay together and in the same room, everything is fine, and they're finished.
Realizing that this isn't always the case, Neindorf kept such eventualities in mind when designing the system. The next day, after students who want to stay in the same room have signed up, she will block off enough spaces for next year's incoming first-year students - 630 rooms, according to estimates from the Admissions Office. After that, students who wish to remain in the same building, but not in the same room, will be allowed to sign up for spaces on a first-come, first-served basis in the Lower Wedge. The next night, students who wish to changes buildings will sign up, again in the Lower Wedge, and again on a first-come, first-served basis.
It sounds a bit disorganized, and Neindorf says that, "it'll take two years to get through all the bugs," but she thinks it's a much better system than the lottery. To make things easier, the staff at Residential Services is prepared to mediate between roommates who both wish to "squat," but do not wish to live together. She feels that, in most cases, such mediation will lead to one roommate willingly moving to another room in the same building but, if it doesn't, the staff will decide who stays and who moves based on when the $50.00 housing deposit from each student is received.
Students currently living off-campus have a chance, albeit a slim one, to move back on-campus. A student wishing to live with another student or students currently living on campus can have his/her spot reserved when the on-campus student(s) "squats." The staff at Residential Services will reserve a spot in that student's name (provided s/he has turned in a housing deposit) until either the student signs up for it on the last night of selection, or until there are no rooms left unreserved for students currently living on-campus. In the case of the latter, Residential Services will begin filling the reserved spaces with students living on-campus.
It's a big change from the outdated lottery system, says Neindorf, and, while this isn't exactly a "cutting-edge" system for room selection, it's a little more up to date - Neindorf knows of no other schools which still use a lottery system.
One inevitable change which eventually will be brought about by this new process will be the designation of floors and residence halls for certain classes and even genders. For this year, Neindorf says the genders of all the floors will remain the same, and Morgan Hall will probably remain a male, first-year student hall, but that may change in the future. For instance, she predicts that a majority of the students currently living in Institute Hall and Daniels Hall will choose to "squat," and she will end up assigning upperclassmen to those halls. Eventually, she says, while the apartments and houses will probably always remain reserved for upperclassmen, Founders Hall will have to be open to freshmen, most likely in three years.
This new process is more flexible than the lottery system, and Neindorf hopes that students will be flexible too, and try to bear with the beginnings of the process. Everyone is new to it, including the staff at Residential Services, and it will take some time to iron out a few wrinkles here in there. Eventually, however, Neindorf believes it will turn out to work much better than the old lottery system. The lines will be shorter, and people living on-campus will be less stressed about finding a place to live if they have a better chance of getting a place here.
Below is a timeline for the room selection process. Housing applications will be made available this week, starting February 16, both at Residential Services and from resident advisors. Applications and $50.00 deposits, refundable for those who do not get a room, are due March 1 in the Accounting Office.
2. On Monday, March 25, 1996, those wishing to return to their same rooms may sign up. This can be done from 8:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. in Residential Services.
3. On Tuesday, March 26, spaces for incoming first-year students will be blocked off by Residential Services staff.
4. On Wednesday, March 27, those students wishing to remain in the same building, but change rooms may sign up for their spaces. Sign-ups are on a first-come, first-served basis, and will begin at 6:00 p.m. in the Lower Wedge.
5. On Thursday, March 28, students wishing to change buildings may do so. Again, sign-ups are on a first-come, first-served basis, and will begin at 6:00 p.m. in the Lower Wedge. Those students living off-campus who have reserved spaces may lose those spaces to students currently living on-campus who wish to move. A waiting list will be kept for those students not receiving housing at this time.
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