By Farris Willingham, Editor-in-Chief
Instead of relying on an online application to determine residency, upperclassmen will gamble this semester for their housing assignments in the fall.
“Over the years, we have done it by hand,” said Ade Okediji, director of student life. “We assigned housing based on compatibility, and then issues would arise.”
The Housing Lottery, a replacement to the current housing process, offers students the chance to choose the exact room in which they’ll live and their roommates for the next academic year.
Officials are initiating the lottery to empower residents, said Elizabeth Harney, student life administrative assistant.
“They’ve paid their dues,” she said. “It’s kind of an incentive for them to continue living on campus.”
Students must be residents and be in good standing with student accounts to participate, Harney said. They then need to apply for housing online and register for fall classes.
The deadline for completing applications is April 15, which also is when officials will host the Housing Lottery in the Great Hall in Tom and Brenda McDaniel University Center.
Selection is based on seniority, offering soon-to-be seniors the first draw, juniors the second pick and sophomores the third, Harney said.
Students will come in and go to their designated lines.
Participants will select their lottery number and then hand it and a premade slip containing their name and photo ID to an official, who will verify that the student is allowed to participate, Harney said.
“We’re making it as simple as possible,” she said. “For the actual lottery process, we’re going to have large floor charts.”
After a student picks his or her future home, officials will mark the space as occupied, Harney said.
“The drawing will last until 8 p.m.,” she said. “Anyone who gets there afterward will go to the bottom of the list.”
Catherine Miller, design/production sophomore, said the lottery gives the illusion of empowering students.
“Online, you can choose who you want to live with,” she said. “You may not get the room you want, but students will take the same chance with the lottery.”
Students who choose not to participate go into a “potluck pile” and receive the leftover room assignments, Harney said.
“We understand that there are some kinks that need to be worked out,” she said.
A potential benefit of the new system that many students may utilize is “room retention,” Harney said.
“If you’re happy where you are and who you’re with, then we have a form that you fill out and you just get to stay there,” she said. “The room retention forms must be turned in by March 16.”
Housing Lottery requirements do not apply to room retention, which may create several occupied spaces for the lottery’s floor plan before the event.
Students also can pull others into their room as a part of the retention process, Harney said.
“A single person cannot choose to remain in a quad,” she said. “If it’s a quad, at least three of the people have to stay.”
People can be picky about where they want to live, depending on convenience, location and even furniture color, Harney said.
“There might not be a whole lot of room retention,” she said.
The lottery might be an improvement to the old system which Okediji, director of student life, said is cumbersome.
Okediji said that officials are giving the final say to students with the new lottery.
“Most students move into their rooms during the fall semester, Harney said.
“Second semester, they realize who they’d rather live with,” she said.
Fights also occur, forcing some students to move, which then requires housing officials to mediate and reassign student housing, Harney said.
“We hope that we can limit switches throughout the semester.”
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