Open housing pilot program under review

As a committee formed by the Division of Student Affairs meets to review this year’s open housing pilot program, some administrators say that, barring unforeseen concerns, the program is likely to continue into the 2012-2013 academic year.

“Unless what we hear back from those 40 students provides new information that is compelling to change the program, I would think we would continue the program,” Vice President of Campus Services Scott Wright said.

When Columbia started its open housing pilot program for upperclassmen this fall, it joined a growing number of U.S. universities that allow any two undergraduates to live together in double occupancy rooms, regardless of their genders. The advisory committee, which met for the first time last month, will look at issues like number of students enrolled and roommate-related problems to assess the success of the program, which advocates have argued creates a more comfortable living environment.

The committee includes Joyce Jackson, executive director of Housing and Accommodation Services, Lea Robinson, an assistant director in the Office of Multicultural Affairs, Barry Weinberg, CC ’12 and co-president of Everyone Allied Against Homophobia, and Avi Edelman, CC ’11, one of the students who submitted the first proposal for gender-neutral housing in fall 2009.

There are currently 46 students enrolled in the pilot program, sharing a total of 23 mixed-gender doubles in six different residence halls.

The committee will look at overall number of students enrolled, and Terry Martinez, dean of community development and multicultural affairs, said it will also look at how many students dropped out of open housing after registering for it. But Dean of Student Affairs Kevin Shollenberger said in a recent interview that the initial participation rate isn’t necessarily meaningful.

“If only five students took advantage of it, and they felt this enhanced their living experience and made it feel like a safer place for them, then I think it was successful,” Shollenberger said.

The 46 students in open housing are a fraction of the 4000 who are eligible—all upperclassmen in Columbia College and the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences who are over 18 years old—but Wright said administrators knew that was par for the course.

“Columbia’s experience was very similar to the other schools who had done it before us,” Wright said. “There was widespread support for the option and very little interest in taking the option.”

Leah Byland, CC ’14, said she supports open housing, even though she ultimately chose not to opt in the first year. She agreed that the rate of participation tells an incomplete story.

“I think it’s a great program, but it just didn’t make sense for me right then,” Byland said. “I would definitely do it in the future.”

In addition to looking at participation rates, committee members will also work to identify any roommate-related problems that open housing has caused, according to Martinez.

“One of the goals of the community last semester was to do an assessment of the registration process, and to take a look over the course of the semester, if there were any roommate complications, and see if it’s at a higher level or lower level than students who are in the same gender rooms,” Martinez said.

One of the 46 students enrolled in open housing this year, Marita Inglehart, CC ’14, said she thinks it is already a success.

“As long as you’re compatible people, gender doesn’t matter,” she said.

She added that there’s a symbolism to the availability of open housing.

“It’s a statement of progressivism,” she said. “It shows what kind of values a college has.”

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