Is Res Life finally moving in the right direction?

Jessica Gentile Campus Critic

Could they have gotten it right this time? That’s the thought that has crossed many students’ minds upon hearing about the upcoming changes in room draw policies. After last year’s senior housing shortage debacle, which left several upperclassmen residing in tiny single dorm rooms rather than the more desirable TAs and THs, Residential Life has finally made appropriate accommodations for students. Just as importantly, underclassmen have also been given easier access to housing mobility by filing a request to live in a different dorm.

This may not seem like such a big deal. After all, given the vast amount of academic and recreational freedom Vassar students have, it is expected that similar residential policies should follow suit. After many previous years of confusing and inconsistent procedures, 2005 could be the year that sees many positive changes among the often chaotic Res Life Office.

Among one of the critical changes is the ability to switch dorms, rather than having to draw into the same dorm each year, as was the case in past room draws. A smaller senior class and greater room availability is partially responsible for this newfound, opportunity for housing mobility. According to Noyes and Cushing House Advisor Rachel Leventhal, “About 25 applications were filed on the first day alone, so clearly students are excited about this change.”

This is a desirable and much needed new policy. Last year, students were forced to draw into their previous residence halls and could only switch rooms after the beginning of the fall semester. This led to many inconveniences and the hassle of moving across campus, which will hopefully be avoided given the new policies.

The lack of consistency has always been part of the problem as factors such as class size and housing availability fluctuate from year to year. Perhaps now that the exterior renovations are complete, well-known student housing concerns are finally at the top of Res Life’s priority list, as more uniform policies are on the verge of being implemented. The biggest complaint one can really make is how long it took for these changes to occur.

Due to various aforementioned factors, policies have obviously had to change. It has been somewhat more complicated to formulate a consistent procedure and sometimes disgruntled students fail to recognize these difficulties. In addition, according to Leventhal, there has also been a strong desire to “preserve a balance among class years, while still accommodating students’ housing requests.” However, Leventhal claims Res Life is planning on maintaining the “new and different policies, as long as all goes smoothly.”

But perhaps, in addition to class size and greater housing availability, an even greater factor may be responsible for these changes. The need to revamp the image of one of Vassar’s less loved offices is probably coming into play, as it rightly should. It’s been a rough year for Res Life. Between mold found in the THs and the resignation of Faith Nichols, in addition to the typical complaints, major changes were certainly seen as necessary to negate the Office’s reputation as unresponsive to student needs. This is changing, if only gradually. As a result of focus groups and increased student feedback, the fairness and responsiveness of Res Life is progressively evolving. Students appreciate the changes, such as Amy Cheng ’07, who said, “I think Res Life is slowly improving its efficiency, because the process to change houses is a lot more straightforward.”

If the success of the senior class housing draw was any indication, new policies are proving to be more effectively responsive than ever. Of course, Res Life will never be able to please everyone. “There will always be the irate student that is always going to want to take us down for having to live in Strong for three years,” said Leventhal. If all goes well this year, however, this group will certainly be shrinking. Hopefully, Res Life will be able to enact the policies that will be implemented in room draw this year.

Although positive changes are being made, the system will never be entirely flawless. The randomness of draw numbers is still a source of much discontent, especially for those who somehow manage to get stuck with evil three digit numbers for three years in a row. This can be especially traumatizing when combined with an equally devastating pre-registration number. The randomness of the system can seem disempowering at times. Perhaps some sort of correlation between the two draw numbers could help bring a level of fairness and balance to the system. This grievance, however, can hopefully be addressed once the issue of housing mobility is smoothed out, which Res Life is ardently attempting to do now. Overall, there will always be kinks in the system, but once Res Life realizes their obligation to be effectively responsive to student concerns as they are now beginning to be, we’ll all be a lot more satisfied.