As the Housing Assignments Office works to compile the results of the first-ever online housing registration process, administrators are evaluating the program and looking at ways to improve it for next year.
The primary problem with the registration process last week was that many students seemed to wait until the last minute to sign up for housing, said Bill Burig, assistant dean of student development. "We were much more optimistic with the responsibility of students than they were with themselves," he said.
Burig said the process went well in the beginning when fewer students were trying to sign up at one time, but the system became more congested when a "glut" of students signed up between Tuesday and Thursday of last week. He added that this problem may have been in part a result of too much flexibility in students' registration windows.
"The primary way to change this is to create very specific windows for each class," Burig said. As a result of the number of students who most likely would not complete their housing forms before the 5 p.m. deadline last Wednesday, Burig's office granted an extension to all students to run between 1 a.m. Thursday and 1 a.m. Friday. He said several hundred students filled out their housing surveys during that extension period.
As of last Thursday at 5 p.m., Burig said that about 4,065 of the approximately 4,300 eligible students had registered for housing online. He added, however, that the number of eligible students includes special cases, such as those students who will be graduating early. Burig said that his office will not grant further extensions, and that any application submitted after the extension period is considered late and will be processed after all those submitted on time.
During the registration period, many students sent e-mail to Burig's office to make comments on the new system. Burig said many of those responses were constructive and will lead to improvements in the program for next year.
Burig said, for example, that one student suggested creating a roommate bulletin board online for those students who are having trouble finding someone with whom to live. Though his office has not traditionally assisted in that process, Burig said he would like to implement the bulletin board for next year.
The board would allow students to post some sort of information about their lifestyles and their e-mail addresses and allow them to match up with someone else on the board, rather than having the housing office randomly select someone for them.
Most of the messages that contained any negative comments about the new system addressed the fact that many students had to spend an hour or more on their computers in order to register. Burig said that most of those messages came from people who registered later in the week, during the last-minute rush.
Those who registered early said the system was quick and easy to use. Trinity freshman Jose Sandoval registered on the first day and said he only had to spend five minutes to fill out the form.
Others, however, were not so happy with their registration experience.
"I thought that it was the silliest thing I had ever done," said Trinity sophomore Leah Scholer, who registered for the Central Campus lottery early Thursday morning. Scholer said she spent about an hour prioritizing her apartment choices. She suggested that for next year, the system should allow students simply to place numbers next to their selections, rather than have to submit each choice individually.
Burig said that he is taking all such comments into account and will work on making necessary changes to the system to make it easier to use. "I'd like to thank students for their patience," he said. "The process is a new one and we knew there would be some problems, but the comments we have received have overall been positive."
In addition to being more rigid with sign-up windows next year, Burig said his office will try to help students make their housing decisions earlier so they will not have to sign up at the last minute.
For now, though, Burig said he is confident that he should be able to post housing results online by the April 12 target date. When students log in to obtain their results, they will be able to see where they have been assigned and who else will be living in their house, he said.
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