In last week’s issue of The Brandeis Hoot, we featured an opinion piece that labeled the housing selection process as something out of the Hunger Games universe. Half-joking as the sentiment was, we do face a selection system that is stressful and dysfunctional—in a sense that there are just so many factors that can go haywire. Before I begin my argument, I would like to make it perfectly clear that I do not want to pin any blame on the Department of Community Living or any of its staff, as they have been nothing but helpful to my friends and me in the selection process. I do not seek to lambast DCL here, but rather provide some suggestions from students.
First off, the process is messy. The whole concept of being assigned a random lottery number and having that decide where and arguably how a student will live during the next academic year is a huge crapshoot. Some students find themselves extremely satisfied with the results of the lottery, while others find themselves in impossible situations. To say this is unfair would be a gross understatement. The problem here is that it is very difficult to ensure fairness while keeping everyone happy. In fact, it’s near impossible. The situations that the lottery creates can also get ugly. In the last week alone, I’ve seen arguments between students on what their numbers could get. I’ve seen brash self-assured students with good numbers boasting just enough to fracture a friendship. I’ve seen a friend with a good number saving a friend with a horrible number, only to embark on an epic power trip. These examples not only epitomize the failures of the current system but also reinforce the need for reform.
The unfairness of the system isn’t the only component to its overall messy nature. In addition, we have a hectic selection system that allows for the speedy selection of rooms at the cost of a calmer, more informed selection process. When selection day comes around, students go into panic mode, skipping classes and hastily selecting what they believe to be their best option available, only to realize that a slowed down process would’ve yielded safer results. Let me explain further: There are several factors that go into a successful room selection when push comes to shove. A properly numbered roommate group is required for successful selection. If you have too many potential roommates, you need to devote precious time to drop some while there’s a chance you may not be fast enough to get what you wanted. The fast nature of the selection process forces students to make hasty choices that may not be in their best interest, or may just be careless. Either way, the automated system is also inherently flawed.
The real trouble in handling this situation is of course devising a better, more efficient method of dealing with the housing selection process and the messes involved with it.
In terms of the individual numbers issue, perhaps modifying the random lottery number assignment system so that roommate groups are formed beforehand would be more helpful. Then, DCL will have a rough estimate of how many rooms it needs. In having students forming groups beforehand, DCL could also have these groups list their room preferences and preferred contingency roommates and room preferences. The nuances of this would be challenging, but probably could be worked out with more thought than I’m putting into it. In this way, rooms can be distributed without the whole number system with the same principles of randomness. It may not be game changing in reforming the system, but it will be in cooling the tensions of The Number Games, where to some the odds are never in their favor.
An easier change to this system could be to keep the older personal number assignment system but just expand the housing selection process outward and to times that don’t conflict with classes. The process could be expanded to have selection occurring all month or so, giving students the ample time they require to make an educated choice about their rooming situation. In doing so, students won’t have to research beforehand and risk totally abandoning their plans in haste with the fast-paced system we currently operate in. It’d be a long haul to have the month totally devoted to housing selection, but how much different would it actually be from how it is now, with the month-long panic that the numbers have forged?
The housing process we find ourselves trudging through this month is by no means the worst thing that could happen to us. It is actually better than it had been in the past, and DCL has done an excellent job in keeping the students informed about the process. I believe that with extensive consultation with students, an easier and less stressful method of deriving future housing assignments can be established.
