RPS seeks online housing feedback

Lounge housing in the fall? The possibility of it still looms for students living in residence halls next year. \nNow that the new Residential Programs and Services online housing system is closed for registration, RPS is looking for feedback from students. Even though registration is complete, students who missed the deadlines aren’t the only ones waitlisted for housing next year. \nWith more than 2,300 current students wanting to live in the halls next year, RPS is now waiting to see if students will drop out, and are waiting to hear the final call on how many students will be in the incoming freshman class. If the demand for dorm housing from the current and incoming student population is too high, some may have to temporarily live in lounges like students did in the fall, said Sara Ivey Lucas, Assistant Director of Housing Assignments.\nThe online program registered 2,361 students who signed up for RPS housing next year, about 300 more than last year, said Ivey Lucas.\nWith the admissions office predicting an incoming freshman class of 6,800, Ivey Lucas said there is a possibility that lounges may have to be occupied again.\nBut right now, shes said that doesn’t seem likely because usually 300 students will decide not to live in the dorms as they had originally planned. In addition, the official 2011 freshman class number won’t be available until May or June.\nRPS does have options to consider if overcrowding happens.\nIvey Lucas said upperclassmen with double singles could be notified that they may be receiving a roommate. \nSomehow, she said, everyone will be “taken care of.”\nFor now, RPS is asking students to complete feedback surveys about the online registration today in Read Dining Hall between 5 and 6:30 p.m. All participants will receive a $5 Campus Access Card and eligibility to be entered to win a $50 Campus Access Card, Ivey Lucas said. \nIvey Lucas said she felt that the process went smoothly overall. RPS frequently sent out e-mails reminding \nstudents of the phases and options available, and Ivey Lucas even admits that “might have been overkill,” but at least students were aware.\nFreshman Alex Lizza said she deleted some of the e-mail reminders, but she was aware of the process.\n“It was really easy to sign up and renew your information,” she said. While she received the room she wanted, some of her friends, she said, did not, which she attributes to confusion during the sign-ups.\nIvey Lucas said some students thought it was more work than in the past, but she said this process gave the students “a lot more freedom.”\n“Some students entered the system over 40 times over the four-month span,” she said. “To request a room, it gave students a lot more control.”\nWhile RPS may have updated her too frequently, freshman Lauren Raichle liked the online process overall.\n“Everything online is a lot quicker, and the system kept me on track,” she said. \nWith student feedback coming in, Ivey Lucas said RPS is looking for ways to improve the system next year. \nPossible future changes include how students request and find out about double-singles, along with shortening the timeline and phases for when students can sign up for housing.\nIvey Lucas hopes to explain the phases better as well, as some students thought phase four meant to choose any room in the same neighborhood where they currently live, instead of what it truly means – to chose any residence hall on campus with an open room.\nLizza said she was confused by some of the phases, noting she was unsure of the general outline. But, overall, she felt the system was effective.