Eligible freshmen will now be able to choose their own roommates through a new roommate selection process for the 2013-2014 school year.
The first 850 freshmen to pay their housing deposit will receive "preferred housing status" and can then select a roommate via Piratenet any time before June 26.
Due to construction on Aquinas scheduled to carry on into the school year the usual housing process of matching students by their Journey classes is not possible. Also, this year Boland will house students by a single gender on each floor, according to Director of Housing and Residence Life Tara Hart.
"We felt that the best way to ensure greater satisfaction for students would be to provide an opportunity to select a preferred roommate," Hart said.
Students have until the end of Pirate Adventure to make this decision. "We anticipate that there may be fewer roommate conflicts since students will be able to discuss in advance their expectations for successfully sharing their living space," Hart said.
The Honors Program students who were housed on the 5th floor of Boland in the past and the students in the Stillman Business Leadership program will live in Neumann Hall this year. "This is to ensure that their cohort and academic programs can remain connected," Hart said.
The students with preferred housing status will be able to choose roommates, but as for which hall is filled first the Housing department works to accommodate students. "We intend to assign students who deposited earlier to Boland first. However, since Aquinas rooms will be discounted 20 percent this year in recognition of the potential impact of construction, we will endeavor to accommodate students who request to be assigned to Aquinas for financial benefit based on availability," Hart said.
Upperclassmen react to the change. "Having the opportunity to select my roommates would have made freshman year much more exciting rather than nervous to (go) into. Your roommate is usually the biggest worry on your mind before move-in day," sophomore Jasmine Zamora said.
According to sophomore Erin Smith, "Most schools allow freshman to pick their own roommate, I think it is a step in the right direction because this could alleviate students switching roommates."
Zamora said she had a similar perspective, "I'm glad that housing and resident life is making some changes for the future!"
Mary Marshall can be reached at mary.marshall@student.shu.edu.
