ResLife diffuses housing conundrum
The Office of Residential Life has always been that office that one just loves to hate. ResLife has been the Joker to the University’s Batman. But over the summer, ResLife proved that even the forces of evil can sometimes do good in its response to the housing crunch.
The whole problem that ResLife had was due to the strengths of the University, and even ResLife itself. First, the larger than expected freshman class meant ResLife had to fit more freshmen onto the South 40 than was originally planned. Then, the fact that an unusually high number of upperclassmen decided to stay with ResLife on the 40 meant that ResLife had to put more freshmen into less spots. Clearly, to make everything work out for freshman housing, somebody had to get screwed. ResLife needed to minimize the damage that had to be done, and it succeeded.
With housing guaranteed for freshmen by the University, upperclassmen had to receive the brunt of the damage caused by the housing crunch. ResLife could have just moved those upperclassmen around and have been done with it, but they chose not to do the bare minimum. ResLife made the Loop Lofts so appealing by offering free cable, internet and parking, among other perks, that there is actually a waiting list for them now, according to Associate Director of Residential Life Rob Wild. This gave ResLife over 100 more spots to work with on the South 40, while still giving upperclassmen desirable housing.
Further, ResLife did a good job identifying who to move. Wild stated that ResLife, “looked at where upperclassmen were assigned in the spring and who did not get their top choice,” in deciding which dorms would become freshman dorms.
ResLife turned Eliot, which was supposed to be mixed between freshmen and upperclassmen this year, and is traditionally the last choice of dorms for upperclassmen, into an all-freshmen dorm. This allowed upperclassmen who may not have been that happy with their original housing assignments the chance to get a better one. ResLife also converted the first two floors of Wheeler, another location of already unhappy upperclassmen, into freshmen housing.
Wild stated, “We were hopeful that most of these people who got moved would actually get placed into something that was a higher priority. Many of the groups were moved into a choice that was higher than what they’d requested in the spring.” Whether or not people will prefer the Loop Lofts to Wheeler, for example, remains to be seen, but on paper, it looks pretty good.
But just because the Joker did something good doesn’t mean that it was perfect. While Wild stated that Eliot and the first two floors of Wheeler were targeted as freshman floors, residents of Wheeler who were not on the first two floors also were contacted. They were told that there was a possibility that freshmen would be on their floor, and given the option of moving. This is a shady tactic that was used to convince suites that may have wanted to live on the top two floors of Wheeler, which traditionally consist of many Danforth ex-pats who want to remain close to their freshman floor, to vacate Wheeler. This opened up spots for other upperclassmen who were moved, instead of freshmen needing spots. Groups that originally wanted to live on Wheeler 3 or 4 should not have been essentially tricked into moving out of their first choice for living.
Also, Wild stated that ResLife knew about the housing crunch in the first week of May. While the Loop Lofts may not have been an option at that point, ResLife should have told some of the groups that were to be moved as soon as they could have to give them ample time to decide. Instead, groups were told in the middle of the summer and given only a couple of days to decide where they wanted to live, if they were even given an option.
Housing is a very important decision that groups take weeks, or even months to figure out. Even though it was a tough situation, groups should have been given more than a couple days to decide.
The housing crunch was just a byproduct of upperclassmen approval of ResLife the previous year. But if ResLife continues to be crooked and opts to treat students poorly, a housing crunch will no longer be an issue.
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