In recent weeks there have been rumors circulating around campus that Residence Life was moving the housing selection process online. Some students have felt uneasy about said move and had immediate reservations, however, Assistant Director of Residence Life AJ Goodman put all of those rumors to rest.
“It will not be online it will still be in person,” Goodman said. “Having it online will be a wonderful thing when it gets there and we are still working toward that goal. It won’t happen this year.”
As a matter of fact, there are absolutely no changes to the housing process. Everything will be exactly how students remember. The one thing that students will see a change in is their meal plan.
“There is just going to be one resident meal plan,” Goodman said. “The biggest difference in this plan is that students can have unlimited food plus 50 Dining Dollars and 25 Jasper Dollars.”
The Dining Dollars can only be used for on campus dining, for example all of the new venues in the Kelly Commons will take the Dining Dollars. The Jasper Dollars can only be used for off campus dining as well as the new book store. Students can add more money into both of these accounts online as the year goes on if they wish to do so.
While rooming situations are a cause for concern for some students, another cause for concern for some students is the new meal plans that will be implemented next semester. Reactions to the new meal plan are anything less than stellar to some students.
“I don’t like the meal plan because I don’t like eating at lockes so it is a waste to have unlimited swipes when I usually use 5 to 10 a week,” Sophomore Carly Cyr said. “I wish that they would have options similar to other universities; options with less meal swipes and more off campus dollars.”
“I don’t think that the new plan is very fair,” Sophomore Erin Cassidy said. “The off campus Dining Dollars and Jasper Dollars should be more. All the money we pay for a meal plan we should get more off campus dining money up front.”
While the biggest changes next semester will come from the new meal plans, students can be put at ease knowing that the housing process will remain the way it has always been. While upperclassmen are old pros at the process, first year students do not know what to expect. That goes for the process and who they chose to live with.
“If there is any advice to give it is to know that you don’t have to be best of friends with the people you live with but you do need to have compatible lifestyles,” Goodman said. “So think about that more than the fact that you like to hang out with those people because that is a completely different dynamic.”
For students who do not have roommates yet, Residence Life will be holding an event for students to help them find roommates for the upcoming year. Advertisements for the date and location for this event will be posted in residence halls soon.
Before housing selection starts, each student planning to live on campus needs to pay their $400 on Self-Service to reserve their spot for on campus housing. Once the student pays their deposit, they will receive a lottery number that is based on how many credits they have. The Overlook lottery will take place on April 28 and Jasper, Horan and East Hill lottery will take place on April 30.