Less than one-third of juniors who applied for exemption from living on campus in the Spring were granted their release.
Of the 180 juniors who applied this year, 51 were given exemptions from the requirement—a lower proportion than in years past. The number of juniors allowed to move off campus fluctuates from year to year based on available housing, making it difficult for administrators to determine exactly how many exemptions can be granted until shortly before Spring semester begins, said MJ Williams, director of housing assignments and planning for Housing, Dining and Residence Life. The releases are granted through a lottery process.
"It really is a privilege to be released," Williams said. "It's not a given."
This year's 51 exemptions compares to 165 granted for Spring 2011 and 98 granted for Spring 2012. The exemptions are distributed through a random lottery process in the Fall. Before juniors can be released from the housing contract, however, HDRL must fill all available bed space on both West and Central Campuses. As a result, the number of exemptions—often distributed in multiple waves—can vary widely from year to year depending on how many students choose to study abroad, take leaves of absence or engage in other programs that take them away from campus.
“We are pretty transparent in our communications to students," Williams said. "We tell all students who are studying away that they are not to sign leases for housing until they hear from us that they’re released.”
Williams pointed out that many students ignore this request and put down payments for off-campus housing despite HDRL’s warnings. HDRL notifies students about their housing situation in October or November, and the timeline of the lottery process can pressure some students to seek out apartments in the event that they are given permission to live off campus. Since they are already abroad by the time they are notified, it can be difficult to scramble for suitable housing.
Junior Emma Bramson, who is studying abroad, said that some of the appeals of living off campus for her include more space, cleaner places to live, easier access to restaurants and release from Duke's food plan. She said she felt that, ideally, the lottery process should be done earlier in the year, and that HDRL should notify students ahead of time about how many people they expect to release.
Zach Gorwitz, a sophomore and Duke Student Government vice president for residential life, noted that students have a variety of motivations for choosing off-campus or on-campus housing when returning from study abroad programs.
“A lot of students in independent housing like to return to their housing on campus,” Gorwitz noted.
However, some sororities, fraternities or selective living groups do not have space for all of their members in their section, Gorwitz said. If juniors are unable to live with their affiliated group, they may have greater incentive to seek apartments off campus. Additionally, living off campus can sometimes be cheaper, he said.
In 2011, Duke experimented with running a pre-lottery in the Spring of students’ sophomore year, which released a small number of students from the residency requirement at a much earlier date. However, the amount of students exempted was solely based on speculated estimates about attendance for the following year, Williams said. As a result, HDRL no longer runs this pre-lottery.
“When we release people early, we run the risk of releasing too many people,” she explained.
Gorwitz said that DSG understands how stressful it can be for students to not know where they will be living only a month before returning to campus. DSG is examining the lottery system and working with HDRL to explore possible changes for the future, he said.
“We will probably look at the process again this year and see if we can come up with a system that works better for students,” Gorwitz explained. "We are trying to fix it as best as we can, but there are definitely obstacles.”
Get The Chronicle straight to your inbox
Signup for our weekly newsletter. Cancel at any time.
Carly Stern is a Trinity senior. Her column, "never been satisfied," runs on alternate Fridays.