Housing and Dining has changed protocol for room reapplication for the next academic year, including a mixed-gender suite policy in Centennial Hall and online room registration, according to Chris Moody, the executive director of Housing and Dining Programs.
The process for the 2009-2010 academic year began Monday and will run through March 24, and includes changes to the coed rooming policy in Centennial Hall, according to Moody.
The process is two-fold, as students must first agree to Housing and Dining's guidelines, which are listed online, to obtain a permit to participate. They then begin selecting a space, he said.
All rising sophomores, juniors and seniors who meet the specific deadlines are able to participate, but students should note the due dates for certain halls fluctuate, Moody said.
"There is definite scheduling to this," he said. "We know through history and experience that students want to apply in as many combinations as they can to better their chances."
A major change to the room re-application process is that it is now entirely online.
The online process is convenient, said Kristen Cleveland, a sophomore in the School of Public Affairs.
"Now it is possible to register for a new room at anytime as long as you have your computer," she said.
Other changes in the reapplication process include the option of mixed-gender suites in Centennial Hall. Students will be required to room with someone of the same gender within each bedroom, but the adjoining bedroom can have two students of a different gender, according to Moody.
"We are really excited to allow that," he said.
Cleveland said she likes the new mixed-gender suite option.
"I am a strong supporter of gender neutral housing for all the dorms," she said. "I think all students should be able to live with whoever they please, regardless of sex."
Nirvana Habash, a sophomore in SPA, said she is also in favor of the new option in Centennial Hall.
"I never understood gender restrictions on housing," she said. "I'm all for personal preference."
Due to the economic downturn, the prices for lost ID cards and laundry will increase next fall as a result of rising technology, production and electricity costs, according to Housing and Dining. Starting next fall, replacing lost ID cards will cost $20 and both washers and dryers will cost $1.50 per cycle.
Another change is that students are now allowed only one application per each draw as the online process has technical limits to the amount of applications students can submit. For example, students could apply to live in both Nebraska and Centennial Halls since they are different draws but are only allowed one application per each draw as compared to the multiple combinations of applications that were allowed in the past. This creates a faster turn around of results and more convenience, Moody said.
Housing is largely determined by the level of priority each student has. Every AU student gets points toward his or her application score so who he or she chooses to room with also plays a significant part in the process.
Factors determining a student's score are the number of semesters lived on campus and credit standings, as well as current residency. Individual scores are combined with those of their roommates to create a total. The higher a student's total score, the more priority he or she will be given in each draw, according to Moody.
"Students should really develop a strategy of who you want to live with, determine risks and make back up plans," he said.
Housing and Dining will also give priority to residents returning to the same hall, according to Moody.
"Students find that they have allegiance to a side of campus, thus we needed some type of process that recognized that allegiance was important but gave people the opportunity to change," he said.
Despite students' application score, it will not matter how quickly applications are turned in as long the deadline is met, according to Housing and Dining. It is also an advantage for students to fill out their application with the appropriate number of roommates since Housing and Dining would rather fill full rooms to minimize the chances of room changes, Moody said.
Another change is the elimination of the option of squatting, or being able to request to return to the same room. The amount of people choosing to squat was steadily decreasing, and it made planning residential communities on floors especially difficult. Instead, students in Anderson, Letts, Hughes, McDowell and Leonard may still re-select their same room if it remains open during the "Hall Draw" step of the process, he said.
When making the latest changes to the room re-application process, Housing and Dining used the numbers of residents returning to on-campus housing and the statistics of which dorms had the most applications from the past three years to help shape their plan. Housing and Dining also talked at length to the Residence Hall Association, whose members approved many of the changes, according to Moody.
Housing and Dining is putting extra effort into publicizing the process and its updates, he said.
"We know this is a topic of high-anxiety, but students need to know how to navigate this," Moody said.
Housing and Dining has already held one information session and will be holding another March 11 to help ease any confusion.
Some students said they are not completely satisfied with Housing and Dining's efforts. Cleveland said she received an e-mail from Housing and Dining, but other than that, she has not seen many other on-campus advertisements or flyers.
Matt Gohn, a freshman in the School of Communication said he had not noticed any notification about the new policies.
"I haven't really seen any posters or anything. And for me, the housing e-mails can sometimes go unnoticed," he said. "I think they could stand a little more publicity."
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