All students who were bumped from the housing lottery and remained in the process were eventually offered on-campus housing for the 2007 to 2008 school year. However, many were placed in overcrowd rooms or with randomly selected roommates.
Deb Boykin, Director of Residence Life, describes this most recent lottery process as abnormal. In 2006, Residence Life bumped 179 students. In 2005 and 2004, 80 and 87 students were bumped, respectively.
p. At the beginning of the housing lottery process to determine rooms for the 2007-2008 school year, Residence Life received requests from 405 students more than were then able to be housed.
p. The lottery system employed by the College’s Residence Life Department has long been the method used to determine who lives in the most desirable housing on campus. However, based on the availability and demand for on-campus housing, the College is often forced to bump students with the lowest lottery numbers from the process.
p. “It reflects somewhat of a change — what I think is an encouraging change in the number and percentage of students of students who want to live on campus,” Nichol said in an interview with the Flat Hat Thursday. “I think some of that may have to do with opportunities they have or don’t have off-campus. I bet a lot of it has to do with Jamestown and how nice that dorm is.”
p. Boykin said that by the time her office delivered bump letters, the wait list had dropped to 321 students.
p. Of the 405 original students, 283 voluntarily bumped themselves for reasons ranging from study-abroad programs, transfers to different schools, semester hiatuses and acquisition of off-campus housing.
p. The opening of the Jamestown residences last year added 104 beds to the total capacity of on-campus housing, despite the closing of the Dillard Complex.
p. Boykin reports that the Jamestown residences were built to alleviate some of the increased demand for on-campus housing, and at this point there are no plans for additional construction.
“We do not know what caused this year’s number to be so high and will be watching closely to see if this happens again or if it was a one-year occurrence,” Boykin said.
