Due to unhappy responses from students on a survey taken at the end of October, the Campus Life staff has been working to make changes to the housing lottery. A major complaint was that students said they had no information about the housing process and that no one was available to help. Other suggestions included allowing eight students to apply for a suite in Bryan Hall, instead of only four, and that rooms should be saved in Mary Hobbes and English for upperclassmen. According to Associate Dean for Campus Life, Jen Agor, changes have been implemented to fix these complaints and to make the housing lottery run smoothly this year.

“Since they hardly had room in housing for first-years this semester, I am glad to see some changes happening, although they may not all work,” said first-year Sam Huff.

To fix last year’s problems, Jen Agor said that Campus Life is becoming more accessible before and during the application process.

“We are going to be upfront and obnoxious to make sure everyone knows what is going on,” said Jen Agor. “There will be posters in Founders Hall, along with an email announcement with a link to the webpage. There will also be a buzz announcement and table tents.”

For first-years, there will be staff members, armed with computers, in the Milner and Binford lobbies for on-the-spot application submissions. Students will be able to apply via these computers in Milner at 7:30 PM on March 2 and March 16. For students in Binford, staff members will be there on March 4 at 7:30 PM.

For all other year levels, there will be staff members with computers in the Founders’ lobby during lunch time on February 22 and 24 ready to help and answer questions. Students can submit their applications right then and there.

“If you do not know about the lottery this year, you’ve been living under a rock, or really just do not understand the process,” said Agor.

Agor, and other members of Campus Life, such as Aaron Fetrow, will be in their offices during the actual lottery times this year in order to answer any questions that come up.

Besides increased accessibility, Campus Life is searching for a way to make sure slots remain open in residence halls for upperclassmen. Another complaint that was expressed on the survey is that those who do not have a roommate could not participate in the lottery.

On March 24, there will be a roommate mixer as an opportunity to connect with others. Campus Life also hopes to have time after the lottery for students without roommates to come to the office and be placed.

This year, a group of eight who wishes to apply for a suite in Bryan Hall can do so with a paper application. These students will be placed in manually. Students who do not have a group of eight can choose by individual rooms, but must have a roommate.

“I think the changes definitely make Bryan Hall more appealing because living in a suite with people you would not live with if you were given the choice, or don’t know and may not be compatible with can be difficult,” said sophomore Daryn Lane. “By the time students are sophomores or juniors they have made friends that they would like to live with or are tired of living with a bunch of people they don’t know very well.”

For traditional students, there are two sections of the application under Housing on Bannerweb. The first section is how a student receives a lottery number, and every student who wants housing must have a lottery number. It must be filled out by March 19 at 4 PM. Once this is done, students will receive a confirmation email. Lottery numbers will be on Bannerweb on March 22.

The second application is for the roommate selection. In order to get the roommate a student requests, each roommate must list the other and match in order for both to participate in the lottery. The meal plan selection is also on this page. This is open until 11:59 on March 25.

“I was not planning on living off campus next year, but if I were these changes would weigh into my decision because I would feel a little less apprehensive about not getting to live in the place or with the people that I would like to live at and with,” Daryn Lane said.

Despite all the changes, some students are unsure if the housing lottery will be easier than last year.

“I doubt housing will be any easier, considering many students will not take advantage of the help that will be available to them,” said sophomore Kayla Davis.

Meanwhile, other students have hope. “I think that it will help for people to understand what the housing process is,” Sam Huff said. “You can try to please everyone, but sadly that will never happen.