Housing left to chance

When freshman Bailey Foster went to her freshman orientation, she was hoping to meet some people so she would already have a group of friends when she came back to school in August. But Foster did better than that - she met her roommate, Elizabeth Emerson.\n"We just started talking and we got along really well," Foster said.\nWhen she applied for housing, Foster, like many freshmen, had decided to leave her roommate to chance and go "potluck," letting the University pick her roommate for her. \nWhile some schools have students fill out complicated and intensive questionnaires to match roommates with similar sleeping schedules and study habits, Director of Planning for Residential Programs and Services Buck Walters said IU's matching secret is pretty simple -- it's completely random.\n"If you try to pair people based on characteristics, there's a chance the information you receive isn't always accurate," Walters said.\nFor example, if a survey asks if a student is a smoker or non-smoker and the student's parents don't know he smokes, he may be more inclined to answer the survey untruthfully, Walters said.\n"A survey may create an implied guarantee," Walters said. "It could engineer and create false expectations."\nWhile the University leaves the selection to chance, it does want to make sure roommates get along. Walters said after roommates are paired, they fill out a survey and make a roommate agreement\n "It's an opportunity for them to work through their difficulties before they even start" Walter said.\nFreshman Erica Weyer, who went potluck with her roommate, said she is realizing she and her roommate are very different.\n"Sure, there have been some problems," she said. "But we're adjusting and it's still early."\nWalters said he thought it was good for students to live with someone they don't know.\n"It's a great way to meet new people," he said.\nWhen students like Foster find someone who they would like to room with, Walters said RPS works hard to make sure their requests are granted.\n"If two people request to room with each other, and they list that as their most important housing request, we do whatever we can to make sure that happens," Walters said. "We usually meet those requests 100 percent of time."\nFoster said she couldn't be happier with her roommate situation.\n"She reminds me of my best friend who goes to Purdue." she said. "I couldn't have asked for anyone better. We got really lucky."\n-- Contact senior writer Kathleen Quilligan at kquillig@indiana.edu.