Sighs of relief and disappointment were heard round the world when study abroad students received their Spring housing assignments Monday evening.
With the finish line for Few Quadrangle construction finally in sight, Residence Life and Housing Services officials notified many students studying abroad that they will be living in the newly renovated residence hall in the Spring. But not all students overseas were granted their first-choice living assignment.
Because the majority of returning students requested housing in Few Quad, RLHS was unable to accommodate demand for the 430 beds in the dorm and was forced to place some students elsewhere on campus, Assistant Director of Accommodations Jen Frank wrote in an e-mail.
Though the majority of students spending the Fall overseas received their preferred living assignment, study abroad always complicates housing assignments for RLHS, Frank said. RLHS determines Spring housing assignments by weighing the preferences of returning students with requests for reassignment from students already living on campus, and prioritizes requests from study abroad students. More than 500 applications for Spring housing were submitted to RLHS this year, including more than 100 requests for reassignment, Frank said.
"We try to plant the seed that going abroad for Fall means that you may not get your ideal choice of space on campus when you return in the Spring," Frank said. "We make the best match we can based on the rooms that are available as we are making the assignments."
Eddie Hull, dean of residence life and executive director of housing services, could not be reached for comment.
After requesting a single in Few Quad, junior Grant Alport said he was disappointed to learn that he will be spending next semester in Wannamaker Residence Hall with a sophomore he does not know. Although he noted that RLHS did not promise him housing in Few Quad, Alport said he expected to be assigned a single in another dormitory at worst.
"I am upset since I was looking forward to being in Few [Quad] with all the people I have met abroad," he wrote in an e-mail. "I received no warning that there wouldn't be enough singles.... Obviously, my rooming situation is not ideal."
The availability of housing in Few Quad was a relief for many students studying abroad who had feared that construction on the dormitory-a 10-month project condensed to a seven-month time frame-would not be completed by January.
"I wasn't sure that they were going to pull it off," said junior Mike Kotecki, who will be living in Few Quad with a block of his friends. "But I guess they did."
But even with an assignment in his desired quad secured, junior Eric Chow said he is still a bit uneasy about his Spring living arrangement.
"I am relieved," he said. "But I'm still a little concerned that they won't finish on time."
Emmeline Zhao contributed reporting to this story.
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