Co-ed blocking will be an option for students next Fall, Residence Life and Housing Services officials announced at a Campus Council general body meeting Thursday.
The announcement was accompanied by details regarding the online Room Pix process and measures RLHS is taking to accommodate the loss of bed spaces caused by the Few Quadrangle renovation set to begin in May.
Co-ed blocking
"It's not co-ed blocking in the physical sense where they are allowed to room together or next door," Campus Council President Ryan Todd, a senior, said in an interview after the meeting. "It allows co-ed groups of friends to pick [rooms] at the same time... but it doesn't guarantee you will live next door to each other."
Students requesting to live on campus will be entered into one general lottery pool-instead of two pools sorted by gender like in past years-and members of a block will still have sequential lottery numbers, Todd added.
Roommate pairs must be of the same gender and only those in doubles may block.
Hallways will still be separated by gender with gender-specific bathrooms, Todd said.
"We truly do want you to be happy with your living experiences," Marijean Williams, director of housing assignments and communications, said of the new co-ed housing option.
The housing application process will remain the same as last year. Prior to Room Pix, students must indicate their housing preferences online, including their preferred roommate and block. Lottery numbers will be assigned based on class seniority.
Online Room Pix
Only rising juniors and seniors who opt not to live in a single next year will go through the Room Pix process in person. Rising juniors and seniors, who wish to live in a single, and rising sophomores will complete the process online through the same platform RLHS attempted to use last year.
Room Pix was unable to be completed online last year because of technical difficulties, which Williams said were a result of problems with a "logout thread" and a bug in the program. Both of these issues have been fixed, she noted.
"The idea is that eventually everyone will do Room Pix online," Todd said.
Although no formal announcement was made at the meeting regarding the procedure of Room Pix online, Todd said he speculates it will be the same process as last year, in which mixed-gender groups of 24 will have an approximately 10-minute window to make their housing selections.
Increased on-campus housing
To accommodate the loss of 438 bed spaces during the Few Quad renovation, RLHS has decided to give Central Campus apartments that are typically reserved for graduate and professional students to undergraduates, turn three-bedroom Central apartments into four-person living spaces and change larger single and double rooms on West Campus to double and triple rooms, respectively.
The changes will add a total of 145 bed spaces for undergraduate students, Williams said.
RLHS expects to be able to accommodate all students who wish to live on campus next year, Williams said. She noted that there may be a waitlist for those who wish to live on campus and RLHS cannot guarantee students will get their preferred roommate pair.
Because all rising sophomores must remain on West, the majority of rising seniors and juniors will be living on Central, said Jen Frank, RLHS program coordinator.
Gender-neutral bathroom
Council members passed a resolution to add a gender-neutral bathroom in a residential building on West. The location of the bathroom has not yet been determined.
Todd said if there is an overwhelming amount of student response to add another gender-neutral bathroom, the council will consider adding two for the upcoming year.
The availability of the facility will be advertised by RLHS during Room Pix to notify students who are seeking the option or may live in its vicinity, Williams said.
There will also be a gender-specific bathroom in the same hallway as the gender-neutral bathroom, Todd said.
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