SGA Weighs in on Senior Selection

Illustration by Shaina Rubin

The promise of Barnard’s Senior Selection is what sustains students through two years of the stressful housing lottery. The anger of being placed on the guaranteed wait list in your sophomore year, or even junior year, is tempered by the pledge of receiving priority and special benefits during Senior Selection. Yet the reality does not live up to the dream. There are some basic policies that run counter to the professed concept of Senior Selection.

Barnard College Residential Life and Housing has always proven receptive to student input—from sponsoring the EcoReps to changing the policy about students staying over winter break. The new Web site that updated available room options in real-time, the revamped, more accurate floor plans, the collaboration with Student Government Association to create a Housing Advisory Committee comprised of appointed student representatives and the Director of Residential Life and Housing, are all positive changes based on student input during this year.

As a starting point for these discussions, based on student input given to us, the SGA is suggesting three policy changes for the Senior Selection process. These suggested changes are preliminary reflections on some of the shortcomings of the existing system. It is important that the tradition of receptivity to student feedback continues with regard to the specific policies of the housing selection process. First, Senior “re-grouping” needs to be revamped. As the policy currently stands, groups of students who enter the lottery together are allowed to break down into smaller suites or singles. While this is a wonderful policy, it must be expanded. Different lottery numbers, regardless of group size, should be able to combine to place into preferred housing, though ResLife could argue that it would be unfair to combine groups if that meant that a group with a worse lottery number could combine in with a better lottery number. For example, the group with lottery #1 could combine with lottery #135, allowing #135 to bypass everyone before them in order to pick rooms at #1’s time slot. Of course, this system would unfairly benefit the group with the worse lottery number to the detriment of all groups in between #1 and #135.

Instead, groups should be allowed to combine as long as they pick-in at the worse lottery number. For example, #1 would decide not to select during their lottery time, but rather to wait for #135’s time and combine with them then. This should be an integral part of Senior Selection. Too often, a simple regrouping could have prevented many disgruntled seniors from ending up in Hewitt or Elliot. This system would allow for more seniors to leave the process feeling content with their decision instead of disenchanted, displeased, and worse, angry.

Second, available rooms in RA suites should be fair game during Senior Selection. Currently, when an RA does not completely fill her RA suite, the available rooms are saved for General Selection. It could be argued that these rooms should be saved for General Selection so that students who do not get placed into suites during Suite Selection will have a renewed opportunity during General Selection. However, this is also a problem that students in Senior Selection face. Many participants in Senior Selection are unable to place into a suite based on their poor lottery number and would equally benefit from this opportunity. If the purpose of Senior Selection is to offer priority to seniors, then all open rooms should be available during Senior Selection.

Third, the process should take place over a longer period of time, giving each lottery number more time to make a decision without the fear of getting passed by groups with worse lottery times. The greatest problem facing Senior Selection, and Housing Selection in general, is the rushed, stressful nature of the process that leaves many students with hurried, regrettable decisions. The benefit of having the Housing Selection process in person, rather than over a computer sign-up, is that students can interact with experienced members of the ResLife staff, have questions answered, and weigh all options carefully with counsel. Too often, though, exercising that option of asking questions inevitably leads to being skipped. It is important that all students, particularly groups with proxies, be given sufficient time to make housing decisions without fear of losing their place in line. As such, a proposed solution is increasing the time period of the housing selection process to provide each lottery number with a longer period of time to make their choice. Senior Selection currently takes place during one day. It should be extended to two. The longer time period would provide for a more relaxed, cheerful atmosphere rather than the rushed, stressful one that currently exists.

The author is a Barnard College junior majoring in Political Science. She is the Vice President of SGA.