The sixth week of classes is upon us, and in only 16 days students will be celebrating the arrival of spring break. However, not only does this time of year bring yearnings for warmer weather and a week off of classes, but it also carries with it the all-too-familiar housing application process.
Although the majority of students participate in the process, few have knowledge of how the system actually works.
“I know that sophomores are allowed in Marchetti, The Village and Fusz, but other than that I feel like it’s a very difficult process and a lot of people are going to be upset with their housing situation,” Erin Carroll, a freshman in the Doisy College of Health Sciences, said.
In attempts to ease the anxieties that come along with the process, Housing and Residence Life has posted a Frequently Asked Questions document on its website. The document outlines the specifics of what students need to do in order to successfully navigate the housing assignment procedure.
The $250 housing deposit can be made online through mySLU, along with the general housing application. Once the application and deposit are received, students will be assigned housing appointments. These will take place from March 25 to March 27. Appointment order will be based on certain qualifications.
The website states that students will be ranked and assigned time-slots according to the “average number of semesters spent on campus, average credit hours of an individual or group as of the end of Fall 2009, including summer hours, and average cumulative grade point average at the end of Fall 2009 semester for individuals or groups.”
In years past, group size was taken into consideration when determining housing appointments; however, this has been removed from the process.
“Group size unfairly advantaged larger groups over smaller groups or individuals signing up singly,” Housing and Res. Life Director Alvin Sturdivant said. “The circumstances are now largely different and require a redrafting of the system to reflect changing needs and demands.”
Sturdivant expressed the changes were not made because the former system was not sufficient enough, but updates in the housing situation needed to be addressed.
According to the FAQ page, “sophomore student appointments will be held first, due to the residency requirement. There will be a specific number of designated sophomore student spaces.”
Appointment times for individual students or groups will be posted online after 5 p.m. on March 12. With the housing scholarships not being applied to the Flats, concerns were made that there would not be enough student interest in the newest option, and that students may be forced to live there.
“Because they’re not offering the scholarship [at the Flats] I decided to not even consider it,” College of Arts and Sciences junior Clare O’Hare said.
“No students will be forced into the Flats,” Sturdivant said. “Any students who sign up to live in The Flats will do so at their own choosing.”
Finally, Sturdivant addressed questions regarding next year’s updated housing rates.
“[The rates] will be available on the Housing and Res. Life website by the end of business on Feb.19.”
As stated in his January message to the SLU community, Father Lawrence Biondi, S.J., said that the housing rates would be increased by an “average of three percent in [Fiscal Year 2011].”
Sturdivant said that this increase would be echoed in the yet-to-be posted rates.
Additional reporting by Carly Doenges.
