New housing procedure

Beginning Feb. 1, Residence Life will be introducing a new online housing procedure. In the past, students would manually fill out their personal information, as well as their preferences for housing and roommates on paper.
Although this new system is more technologically advanced, it creates various communication problems and lack of student choice. Residence Life needs to consider going back to the old process.

If the new procedure is enforced, every aspect of choosing housing options will be carried out by the student via Internet. This new procedure must be carried out by all students planning to live on campus through their Banner account.

This new online program doesn’t allow for students to choose who they’d like to be in their cluster.
In the past, students were able to see floor plans complete with dimensions and other students living on the floor before choosing their own rooms.

By discontinuing these abilities, students have less of a choice in their personal life and may feel inclined to live off campus, or worse, be placed alongside people they don’t get along with. This may create a larger job for Residence Life—new complaints may escalate to peer counseling or room changes.
Misunderstandings are a possible problem; students who are not computer-savvy may enter the wrong information or choose the wrong options.

Although filling out paperwork can be tedious, it has been effective in the past.

Administrators have the ability to catch wrong information more quickly and students have more choices. Residence Life needs to consider the notion that paper, in this case, works best.