All students that choose to live on campus go through a process of choosing friends to room with and picking dorms to live in. Sometimes this process comes easy and sometimes it does not.

This year, the Residential Life department is introducing a new housing selection process. Erik Kjosness, area director of Biever Hall, said the Residential Life staff simplified the process to reduce problems students have experienced in the past.

Kjosness said the change was based on feedback throughout past years. The biggest problem he mentioned was students going into the process blind. Students usually picked everyone they wanted to room with before they knew if there were rooms left to accommodate them.

“They are then looking for a way to fit five people into a four- person room, essentially picking who’s going to be kicked out of the group,” Kjosness said. To correct problems like this, Residential Life is trying a new process.

The first two important changes were made to the apartment selection process and to roommate selections.

Students, in groups of three or five, that want to apply for the apartments in Carrollton Hall will have the option of doing so first.

With the new point system based only on students’ Quality Points, which can be found on LORA under “Grades,” the groups with the highest total points will get first selection. The groups that do not have enough points will be notified so they can participate in Room Draw.

“It seems like a good idea to make the apartment process first,” said Dayaamayi Kurimella, visual arts junior. This allows students to regroup in enough time for Room Draw Night.

Unlike last semester, students can only choose their roommate now, but there’s an option to retain or “squat” in current rooms.

Excluding the Carrollton Hall apartments, anyone currently living in an upperclassman room will have the option to keep their room for the next year.

In order to squat, each set of suitemates will have to fill out a form and turn it in to keep their rooms.

Only those currently living in apartments who may not be able to select one next year will be given the opportunity to choose another room before Room Draw Night, but after those who have chosen to squat.

Sasha Poche, marketing junior, likes the idea of squatting. “People who are keeping the same room will not have to deal with the hassle of repeating the process,” Poche said.

She said it will also eliminate extra paperwork for those in charge.

Those not wishing to squat will be assigned individual times for Room Draw based on their points.

Two students who want to room together could also show up at the time of whoever has the highest points out of the two.

The two sets of suitemates could also all show up at the time of whichever of the second set of suitemates have the best time to sign up. Any student can show up after their assigned time and off- campus students can participate as well by filling out the proper paperwork.

Kjosness is hopeful that the new process will work. “We’ve presented it to the Residential Hall Association and Student Government Association and both groups have given us exceptionally positive feedback about the process,” he said.

According to Kjosness, the job of the Residential Life staff is to make a student’s experience of living on campus a positive one.

“This is just one part of making improvements on that and providing a better service for the students who live on campus,” Kjosness said.

More information about the new housing selection process will be available Feb. 7.

Sable LeFrere can be reached at [email protected]