(Ann Truong | The Beacon)
By
In 2009, the Office of Residence Life had a point-based housing selection system where students signed up for their new rooms in their own dorms.
Then, in 2010, Residence Life switched the system and moved students to the Chiles Center for a massive housing selection process that took hours.
And, in 2011, Residence Life kept the housing process in Chiles but changed many of the minute details of the system again.
This year, after years of changing the housing selection, the Office of Residence Life has finally found calm within the storm.
Instead of holding housing selection in Chiles, Residence Life opted to go back to holding the housing selection in individual dorms, which cut back on lines, crowds and chaos.
Residence Life also chose to switch from a point-based system to a lottery system with priority by year. This new system also rewards students who want to stay within their dorm but it still is possible for students in other dorms to pull in their friends.
We commend Residence Life for finally finding a process that works, and we urge Residence Life to stick with the process in the upcoming years. Stop reinventing the wheel.
Over the last few years, the continual changing of the housing system has been confusing and far too drawn out. Though the rocky times may be worth the payout, Residence Life must stick with their current system to truly gauge its effectiveness.
College students need stability in their lives, especially when it comes to housing. For most of us, university housing is our home away from home for nine months each year. When our housing situation is unstable, it pulls away from our studies and adds to our already stressful lives.
We also commend Residence Life for figuring out a solution to the male-female disparity on campus in a fair way. Now with Kenna Hall being switched to an all female dorm, the three distinct parts of campus will each have a male, female and co-ed dorm.
Residence Life also handled moving the males in Kenna Hall into other dorms with grace. Giving them the opportunity to move into other dorms of their choosing instead of forcing them into a new dorm culture was the right move.
When systems are broken, they must be fixed. Though it took some time for Residence Life to come up with a good solution to the housing selection process, it looks like they finally hit the nail on the head and handled the campus's lopsided gender ratio at the same time.
