Columbia’s ever-evolving residential system changed drastically this year.
In light of a dearth of dormitory space and flaws in the housing-selection process, students had a first taste of these changes as they lined up in John Jay Lounge and in Barnard’s James Room to make their housing selections under revamped systems in early April. These changes will continue to be felt as students move into newly furnished buildings—with even one entirely new residence hall—next fall.
As dean of student affairs Kevin Shollenberger announced, the Columbia College class of 2013 will have 50 more students than previous classes. To accommodate the enrollment increase, some graduate housing in Harmony Hall on 110th Street between Broadway and Amsterdam was made available for the first time for CC/SEAS students participating in the General Selection housing process. The increase is part of a larger scale plan to increase the size of the College over time, which fell short due to lack of funding for a new dormitory.
And as the current economic climate takes its toll on the housing market, increasing numbers of students have opted for on-campus housing. Due to an increase in demand that exceeded housing space in the fall of 2008, several dozen Columbia students were housed in Barnard and University Apartment Housing. For the 2009-2010 school year, new layouts creating 30 doubles—and eliminating 30 singles—in Watt, McBain, and Ruggles will be made in order to address this problem.
But not all changes will be made in response to pressing economic issues. Rather, some changes will simply be made to make housing more comfortable. Entire floors will be redone in some dormitories. Some students will move into suites that have new kitchens, flooring, and furniture. Those residing in Watt will finally have overhead lights in their rooms, as it remains one of the only buildings that does not have them. A few dormitories, including Carman and Furnald, will require the use of student id cards instead of Swiss keys to open rooms.
But these housing changes are not just limited to physical features. Columbia housing has instated a number of new rules in an effort to make what housing administrators hope will be a more fair process. Thirty-point groups of all seniors could pick before a group selecting a 30-point East Campus suite during their appointment time.
While many have responded positively to changes in the housing selection system, some changes have resulted in controversy. The Same Room/Same Suite policy, in which students could hold onto favorable dorms from one year to the next, has been eliminated because of some calling it unfair. Orthodox Jewish students, who had benefited from this policy because it allowed them to retain East Campus suites that would accommodate their dining and Sabbath observance needs, were made to relinquish these suites pending success in the lottery.
Barnard instituted several changes of its own. Following a room selection survey, suggestions made by Barnard’s Housing Advisory Board, and a Student Government Association Town Hall meeting, changes intended to increase flexibility in suite selection were implemented.
Under the new system, students registered individually, and received a lottery number independent of that of their potential suitemates. After groups formed, each group’s lottery number was the highest of anyone in the group. If the available housing options at the time of selection did not match a group’s size, the group was then able to reform on the spot, in contrast to previous years.
But these substantial changes have not fully addressed many students’ concerns. A number of LGBTQ students are still dissatisfied with Barnard’s housing policy, which currently allows Barnard students to share a suite with male Columbia students, but prohibits coed rooms. In response to this mounting discontent, Janelle Batta, BC ’11 and a member of the Student Government Association Committee on Diversity, spearheaded a gender-blind rooming campaign in early November, which would allow sophomores, juniors, and seniors to live together in a double, triple, or quadruple occupancy room—without any consideration of biological sex or gender identity.
While increasing support has been garnered for the campaign—in late April, the Student Government Association Rep Council unanimously passed the gender-blind rooming resolution—administrative hurdles still remain. Associate director for housing operations Matt Kingston said that Barnard could not move forward with a gender-blind housing proposal without the support of Columbia Housing and Dining.
But Batta and others remain optimistic as they continue to press for change by communicating with administrators on both sides of Broadway. Batta said that Wright and Chief of Administration Michael Novielli, CC ’02, were “really receptive” during a recent meeting. The two told her that they would work on it as long as it goes through the Columbia College Student Council, according to Batta.
“Given that so many of our residential halls are suites with single rooms inside, we feel students of different genders have plenty of opportunities to live together under the current policies and protocols,” Wright said. But, he added, “if this was something that Columbia students felt strong about, then we would be happy to explore the possibilities.”
