Many Syracuse University students either skim or disregard emails they receive from different divisions and departments on campus.

Given the new housing lottery process, that’s causing problems, said Eileen Simmons, the director of the Office of Housing, Meal Plan and ID Card Services.

The largest change to the housing lottery this year was that the Office of Housing, Meal Plan and ID Card Services held enough beds to allow students who still need to fulfill their two-year on-campus housing requirement to have options to select, Simmons said. As a result, the type of room available to students during the lottery will depend on their year in school. The lottery begins Wednesday.

“Previously, a number of current freshmen would pick just North or South campus without an actual assignment and get their placement over the summer via cancellation of those who selected housing,” Simmons said in an email.

Simmons said she is not certain there are any misconceptions regarding the housing lottery, but rather a lack of updated knowledge based on the fact that some students have not been reading emails regarding the housing lottery, attending information forums or just asking questions.

For some students, they don’t just have questions about what the changes are, but also questions about how the lottery itself works.

“I’m just not very sure about how to do it,” said Allison Clark, a freshman public relations major. “I have my roommates picked out and we are trying to get a quad, but we are still trying to figure out how to do it.”

Clark, who currently lives in the Brewster, Boland and Brockway residence hall complex, said she does not know where some dorms, such as Kimmel and Marion Halls and Booth Hall, are located because of her current housing location on campus.

“I wish there were dorm tours for freshmen so that we could see all the different housing options instead of just choosing blind,” Clark said.

The Office of Housing, Meal Plan and ID Card Services set up information tables to answer student questions on March 4 in Graham Dining Center, located on Mount Olympus Drive, and Goldstein Dining, located in the Goldstein Student Center on South Campus.

The office also hosted two information forums and the first ever webinar for parents of SU students to answer questions about the housing lottery process.

In addition, the office conducted a student survey with the assistance of the Office of Institutional Research and Assessment last spring, and there was data that strongly encouraged change to the lottery to take into account the two-year requirement and availability of housing during the lottery, Simmons said.

As a result, for next year’s housing, Brewster, Boland, Brockway, Sadler, Flint and Day Halls will all be exclusively freshman dorms.

In addition, Watson, Walnut, Washington Arms, Kimmel, Marion and Booth Halls will all be exclusively upperclassman dorms for next year’s housing.

Another change that has been made to this year’s housing lottery is that only students who have already fulfilled their two-year on-campus housing requirement may select a single-person housing option if they choose to participate in the lottery. Therefore, all students who still need to fulfill their two-year requirement must select at least one roommate.

The lottery begins Wednesday with students interested in living in a learning community or a six-person suite next year. The lottery will continue through the end of the month for students seeking other housing options and will conclude on April 10.

“Students are advised to have a thorough plan going into the (housing lottery) rounds,” Simmons said. “List the halls and room numbers the group is interested in. And talk honestly and openly with perspective roommates on how you will live together.”

Ann Marie Karis, a sophomore aerospace engineering major, said she thinks the university should offer single-person housing options for students who have not fulfilled their two-year requirement if they have special circumstances. She added that she thinks SU needs more housing options overall.

“There are too many students and it is very difficult to find on-campus housing,” Karis said. “I feel like they are trying to push older students off campus and not all older students can afford to do that. Not everyone has a car and when it gets down to minus 11 degrees outside, it gets pretty bad.”

Published on March 17, 2015 at 12:01 am

Contact Sara: smswann@syr.edu | @saramswann