U. to unveil housing selection alterations
As the housing lottery creates stress and confusion every year for students trying to snag a place to live, the Residence Hall Association is holding a Housing Lottery Town Hall Meeting today to announce changes to the process and allow students to voice their opinions.
The meeting is scheduled for 8 p.m. in McCormick residence hall on Busch campus and will reveal policy changes in regard to top housing issues such as apartment sign-backs, professional school priority housing and class priority, RHA President Samuel Firmin said.
"Registering for housing is almost as stressful as registering for classes. … The more people that come, the less stressful it's going to be," said Firmin, a School of Environmental and Biological Sciences sophomore.
One of the most contentious issues to be addressed is the apartment sign-backs on Cook and Busch campuses, which allow students living there to renew their housing contract for the following year.
"Sign-backs were a huge concern addressed by the [RHA lottery] committee," said RHA Vice President of Public Relations Jared Trachtenberg in an e-mail correspondence. "Tons of on-campus spaces have been unavailable for years because of sign-backs, and the committee did set out to investigate that problem."
Another issue is establishing priority housing for professional students, Firmin said. As of now, only students in the School of Environmental and Biological Sciences and Mason Gross School of the Arts can have priority to live on Cook campus, where their classes are.
The meeting will focus on whether students in other professional programs can also receive priority housing. For example, those in the Ernest Mario School of Pharmacy or the School of Engineering could have the priority to live on Busch campus, where those classes are, Firmin said.
"SEBS had a big influence, and that's going to change. … Professional schools are going to get a more equal percentage of priority," Firmin said.
Pharmacy Governing Council President Bo Wang said many pharmacy students would be interested in having priority housing on Busch campus, as most of their classes are located there.
"It will definitely make it easier for students. … It definitely should be considered for all professional schools," said Wang, an Ernest Mario School of Pharmacy fifth-year student.
It would reduce traveling for many School of Pharmacy students, and he estimated that close to 50 percent of pharmacy students already reside on Busch campus, Wang said. Older students may prefer off-campus houses, but if they were to live on campus, many would prefer Busch.
But he said the priority system could bring problems. Many School of Arts and Sciences students also have their majors based on Busch, reducing housing availability there for those students.
Trachtenberg, a School of Arts and Sciences sophomore, said the University's lack of housing — a concern for many students — will also be tackled.
"The University has attempted to combat that with routes like the hotel spaces, but this is obviously not a sufficient permanent option," he said.
Other policy changes to be addressed are whether older students receive lottery priority and who can apply for the lottery, Firmin said.
This is the second meeting University Housing will hold this year for students.
At the first meeting in October, few students attended to give recommendations to University Housing administrators about how they could make the process fair and less confusing.
This meeting will only disseminate the new policy already decided and receive student feedback, Firmin said. It will not affect the policy.
He expects more students to attend this time, as it affects about 15,000 students who apply annually for the lottery.
"I feel like a lot of people are going to attend this, especially SEBS students," said Firmin, noting a Facebook group advocating keeping School of Environmental and Biological Sciences priority housing sign-ups.
Both Trachtenberg and Firmin recommend all students who wish to sign up for a lottery number to attend the meeting.
"This is something that's going to directly affect everyone soon … not a few years down the road," Firmin said.
The increased advertising, more convenient time and more accessible location may also bring more students, Trachtenberg said.
Students can begin registering for the lottery after the winter break in late January and early February.
