Devereux Hall and other university buildings
Photo courtesy of The Bona Venture Archive
BY: DANIELLE CLARK, STAFF WRITER
As housing selection approaches, some St. Bonaventure University students remain concerned about last year’s housing process, when some students did not receive assignments until late summer.
Ursula Herz, director of residence life, said that there was no delay in the housing process.
“Because housing assignments are a continuous process that does not stop until opening weekend in August, there was no delay in the process,” Herz said.
Herz explained that housing assignments must balance many changing factors. These include returning student needs, incoming student needs, who is graduating, who is transferring, who is dropping out, study abroad participation, internships and students who change their requests after selecting a room.
“The selection dates currently happen before these factors are known which is why assignments are something worked on all summer,” Herz said.
For students who received assignments later in the summer, Herz said it is often better to wait.
“For students who received an assignment later, it is preferable to assign them a standard room later instead of simply temporarily assigning them only to be re-assigned to a standard room later,” she said.
Herz also noted that there has been a proposal to change the room selection process. She said the current selection process is used by most colleges and has been the same for more than 50 years. She added the selection part of the process causes the most anxiety and could be replaced with a more modern system similar to how incoming students are assigned rooms. Under that proposal, staff would complete assignments in May, when more information is known.
When asked what changes were made this year to prevent similar concerns, Herz said some factors cannot be changed.
“Due to the factors that cannot be changed like graduation, grades, late confirmation on transfers, etc., specific changes can’t be made to avoid those factors,” Herz said.
She added that all students do receive assignments.
“However, it is important for students to know that everyone does get assigned and we are able to accommodate most room changes during the summer,” she said.
The number of rooms that may be converted into triples for the upcoming academic year has not yet been determined. The number depends on enrollment, which will be clearer in April. It is also impacted by how many fourth-year students choose to live off campus.
University housing is not over capacity but is approaching its maximum occupancy, according to campus housing data.
“Currently, we are at 94% capacity and we opened in August at 98%,” Herz said. “We have enough spaces for everyone; however, students want specific spaces. When they are unable to get a specific space but are still assigned a space, there is a perception that there ‘are no spaces.’ It’s like parking. We have enough parking for everyone but everyone can’t have the spaces they want.”
The university has completed a comprehensive strategic housing study. Herz said the assessment of housing needs and proposals for new housing options continue.
“There has been and continues to be an assessment on housing needs and various proposals for different types of new housing, but that is a decision that is made by the Cabinet and Board of Trustees,” Herz said.
“A comprehensive strategic housing study has been completed and reviewed by the university leadership and will be incorporated into the new upcoming Master Plan.”
