Northwestern University and Evanston's Only Daily News Source Since 1881

The Daily Northwestern

33° Evanston, IL
Northwestern University and Evanston's Only Daily News Source Since 1881

The Daily Northwestern

Northwestern University and Evanston's Only Daily News Source Since 1881

The Daily Northwestern

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Students criticize housing policy

Susannah Chen didn’t mind when she picked the worst number in the housing lottery last year. As a freshman resident of Willard Residential College, she was guaranteed a room there the following year, even after selecting number 4,000.

But a new policy approved by the Office of Students Affairs has pulled the safety net out from under residential college students.

Students may choose between remaining in their residential college or trying their luck in the lottery, but they will not be able to do both, said Gregg Kindle, Northwestern’s director of residential life.

The changed rule will remove residential colleges from the housing assignment process and therefore prevent students who live in residential colleges from picking lottery numbers, Kindle said.

“The primary motivation is to make (the housing process) simple and to give students more involvement in the process,” he said.

But some students, including Communications Residential College resident Josh Elder, said the new rule could deter students from joining a residential college in the first place.

“This is a horrible idea,” said Elder, a Speech sophomore. “Forcing students to choose between living in a res college or participating in the housing lottery will only drive more students away from the res college system. Why the administration would want to do this is beyond me.”

CRC Vice President Erik Swanson said he agrees.

“If anything, this will hurt the residential college system because they are saying that a resident should either live in the college or have nothing to do with it at all,” said Swanson, a Speech senior.

Of the almost 1,200 rooms available in residential colleges, 60 percent are reserved for upperclassmen. The new policy removes the 700 requested rooms from the housing assignment process, allowing residential colleges to handle room assignments internally.

Residential colleges use a point system to determine which residents are guaranteed housing, giving preference to those who participate in various dorm activities.

Students previously have had to list the residential college as their first choice during the housing selection process as well as be listed on the building’s eligibility list to retain their spot, Kindle said.

The Housing Committee also hopes the new policy will increase residential colleges’ retention rates, he said.

Although the new rule levels the playing field for residents of regular residence halls who are not guaranteed housing, many members of residential colleges, like Chen, said they are upset they have lost their advantage.

“I could have ended up living in the trash can outside of Willard if the new proposal were in place,” said Chen, a Medill sophomore.

Despite the opposition, Kindle said the change will improve the housing assignment process, which has been the source of student anxiety for years.

The Housing Committee also has recently discussed changing or eliminating the lottery system that determines the order students select housing for the upcoming year, Kindle said. Benjamin W. Slivka Hall, set to open next year as a new residential college for science and engineering students, will add 140 rooms to campus and help alleviate the housing shortage.

“We’re trying to make the whole process more simple and this is one step towards trying to do that,” Kindle said.

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Students criticize housing policy