You have to be in it to win it. You have to be in good academic standing to win it.’ You have to be in good disciplinary standing to win it.’
How do you want your housing lottery?’
An e-mail sent to the campus community outlines three proposals, two of which could bring significant changes to the way students are assigned housing. The first proposal is a slightly re-worked version of the familiar random lottery, the second is based on academics and the third looks upon demerits.’
Each proposal was drafted by the Housing Lottery Committee, a board established by Residence Life after ongoing student complaints with the current and random lottery system in place.’
Jason Downer, associate director of Residence Life, said reactions to the proposals will allow fine-tuning before they are ultimately sent to the student body for a vote.’
‘We want to let everyone have an opportunity to have their voice heard,’ he said. ‘I’m not trying to reinvent the wheel here, I’m just asking, ‘Is there a better system out there?”
Downer said the committee looked at universities that employ non-random housing systems in preparing each proposal, including Marist, Canisius and Stonehill Colleges.’
The first proposal is a revised version of the current random lottery, with the Off-Campus Boarder system receiving the most notable changes.’ Students looking to obtain off-campus housing would be allowed to sign up in groups of up to six people, as opposed to the current maximum of four. Each group would then be assigned a lottery number, rather than each individual student, as in the current system.
The on-campus lottery would remain largely unchanged.’ As with the off-campus system, each group of students looking to live together would be assigned a lottery number, not each individual.’
‘I know people who have consistently gotten bad lottery numbers, so I’m less likely to support the random system,’ said Lindsay Barrs ’09.’
‘Then again, if everyone with demerits were put in the same building, they would probably trash the place,’ she continued.’ ‘
In the second proposal, students would earn points based on their cumulative grade point average and confirmed credit hours. Downer said GPA would have less of an effect on a student’s overall standing than the amount of credits he or she has earned.
The total is a summation of a student’s total credits plus his or her GPA. For example, a student with 15 credits and a 3.5 GPA would have a total score of 18.5 points.’
‘If you’re dropping a class, it’s going to impact you more than going from a 3.5 to a 2.5 GPA,’ he said.’ ‘Don’t get hung up on the idea of GPA.”
The third proposal is a ‘tiered system’ based on demerits.’ If implemented, students found responsible for a documentation would immediately be entered into a secondary housing lottery. Each student, though, would be allowed one appeal through Residence Life that would restore them to their original standing. Students who receive two or more documentations would be entered into an alternate list behind both the main lottery and the already secondary lottery.
Demerits would not carry over from one academic year to the next, and documentations received before the new system takes effect, if it ultimately does, would not affect a student’s standing.’
Robert Ley ’10 said he thinks the demerit system is the most rational of the proposals.’
‘It’s fair that there’s an appeal available for those with one offense,’ he said.’
‘I think the random system is the reason there is so much controversy over the lottery system, so I think this option would be better.”
Two information sessions- during which students will have the opportunity to offer feedback on each proposal- will take place in the lower lobby of the BCC in the coming weeks.’ The first will be held Sept. 25 at 6 p.m.; the second Oct. 1 at 7 p.m.’
All students are welcome and encouraged to attend.
Leave a Reply