New housing system displeases students

Perched by their computers, students anxiously awaited the time slots they’d been assigned to select housing for the 2019-2020 school year. Some students found themselves unhappy with the results of their room selections, though.
Kaylyn Foody, a sophomore professional and creative writing major, said she and three of her friends hoped to select a townhouse for next year. However, before she and her roommates’ timeslot came around, the townhouses were gone.
“We were excited and hopeful, because this new system was supposed to make it easier for juniors and seniors to get gardens and townhouses,” said Foody. “I ended up getting the last number out of all the [sophomores].”
Foody said that after she and her tentative roommates got denied from the townhouses, they received an email telling them they were eligible to select a six-person townhouse. Foody explained that she and her friends looked for two other people to join them in an apartment, which proved difficult, because the housing process was already occurring.
“It was a frustrating process,” Foody said.
Foody will live in a single in Francis Hall next year.
Nichole Gonzalez, director of residential education for the university, said that not every student will ever be happy with the end results of the housing process.
Foody said that she believes more seniors are beginning to live on campus, which she attributes to students’ unwillingness to lose the residential scholarships attached to all major scholarships awarded by the university.
“Honestly, it depends year to year on how many seniors decide to live on campus,” said Gonzalez.
Foody said she thinks the housing regulations should be revisited and that there should be potential for juniors to be allowed to live off campus.
Gonzalez said that won’t be happening at any point in the near future.
“The longer [students] live on campus, the more likely they are to be successful,” said Gonzalez. “It is both that we have the space and there’s an opportunity for revenue, and we know that students perform at a higher level and stay much more connected to the institution if they are living on campus through their junior year.”
Jacob Wentworth, a freshman management major, said he requested a Shay suite, got denied, then requested a Devereux double and got denied. Consequently, he will live in a single in Francis next year.
Despite growing class sizes and possible increases in the number of on-campus residents who are seniors, the university has no plans to build a new residence hall, according to Gonzalez.
“You want to be very intentional about whether or not you’re looking at building a new building, and I can tell you that is not something the university intends to do at this point in time,” Gonzalez explained.
However, the university did reopen 120 single rooms in Francis Hall to account for the number of students who requested on-campus housing for next year.
Wentworth said he could not go onto his new floor, third Francis, to see his room.
“There are asbestos signs up,” said Wentworth.
Gonzalez said that the university will not be doing any renovations to the living spaces while students are living on those floors, which is why the renovations are being done before students move in.
Students said they hoped glitches with the StarRez system used by the university for the housing process would be less of an issue next year.
“At one point it even said there were no rooms available, and even on the website now I’m still not in a room because Francis isn’t even on the system,” said Wentworth. “They weren’t expecting it, I guess. That’s what [Gonzalez] said.”
Gonzalez said she believes the system itself is not flawed and will help students streamline the housing process in the future. She said that with any new system, it takes time for staff to adjust and learn what their role in moving the software along is.
“I just want to restore some faith in that software to the students,” said Gonzalez.
Students who are unhappy with their current living assignment for next year have the opportunity to be placed on a waitlist with residential education, according to Gonzalez. Students who would like to be added to the waitlist should email resed@sbu.edu from their Bonaventure email accounts.
As of now, Gonzalez said she does not know how many students are on the waitlist. She said the university expects to end up with some movement over the summer.
Gonzalez said that all of the residence halls will be nearly at capacity next school year. She called full residence halls, “a good problem to have.”