Room Draw began this past week with applications for Nebraska Hall due last Friday and will continue through March 19 when the draw occurs.
The room draw process this year will be very similar to what occurred last year with some minor changes, according to Paul Lynch, assistant director of Housing and Dining Programs, who is responsible for room assignments and billing.
Last year, all rooms except for McDowell suites, single rooms and Centennial suites could be requested online, The Eagle previously reported.
However, changes in the process this year include a new draw process for Centennial, an increased deposit and the addition of rooms available in the newly renovated Nebraska Hall.
Lynch said the Nebraska, Centennial, McDowell and single room draws have been streamlined this year, so if students do not get their first choice of housing, they may apply to the other residence hall options.
Centennial room draw has changed in that students will not be required to line up this year to wait and see if they may receive a room. Previously, all students attempting to receive placement in Centennial spent time in a line organized by credits. Lynch said it was too much of a "circus atmosphere."
This year Lynch said there will be pre-screening, so students who come to room draw will know for sure they have a spot in the building. Centennial applications are due the Friday before spring break, Lynch said.
In addition, the housing deposit this year increased from $200 to $500 as a way to deter students from securing on-campus spaces and then deciding to move off campus, Lynch said.
"We have found large groups of students would secure university housing and drop out at some point during the summer and go off campus," Lynch said. "This makes the job to house incoming students harder."
As soon as students activate their room draw permit on their my.american.edu portal, they commit to paying the $500 deposit. The deposit fee will apply toward housing costs but will not be repaid if the student chooses to live off-campus, unless he or she leaves housing for an approved reason such as going abroad or taking medical leave, Lynch said.
Many students interviewed said they were unaware of this required deposit.
"I didn't know we had a deposit," said Tony Taylor, a sophomore in the College of Arts and Sciences.
Andrew Huynh, a sophomore in the Kogod School of Business, also said he did not know about the deposit until he read about it while activating his room draw process.
Lynch said in an e-mail that students were made aware of the deposit through many posters in all halls, the online room draw guide and applications for the suites and singles on campus.
"I have had a lot of conversations with students who had read these and wanted to [know more] about it, so I do feel that the message has reached a lot of students," Lynch said in an e-mail.
Nebraska Hall is a new option for housing opening in August 2007. As of Thursday, Lynch said that Housing and Dining had received 75 applications for Nebraska Hall, although many more were expected by Friday, the deadline.
The building will house 113 students and is broken into 19 four-bedroom apartments, seven three-bedroom apartments and six two-bedroom apartments, Lynch said.
As of Thursday, the applications were split fairly evenly across the different apartment types, Lynch said.
At press time, Lynch said Housing and Dining had already reached the halfway point of permits activated last year, meaning many students will be returning to on-campus housing.
Activating a permit and selecting a space on campus guarantees on-campus housing, Lynch said.
Huynh said he thinks the room draw process is unfair and should solely be based on number of credits, not the number of years one spends living on campus. Currently it is a mixture of both.
However, Carleen Hawthorne, a sophomore in the School of Communication, said she thinks the process is fair and that juniors should have preference over freshman.
Both Huynh and Hawthorne will be able to express their opinions at the end of room draw, as Housing and Dining will have an online survey to see how the system works, a new feature this year.
"We do hope students participate," Lynch said of the survey.
REVIEWING THE ROOM DRAW DATES:
Room Draw began Feb. 19 with room squatting and will continue through March 29 with campus draw. Below are important deadlines related to room draw for academic year 2007-2008:
Centennial Hall, McDowell suites and single rooms All applications are due to the Housing and Dining Programs Main Office on the first floor of Anderson Hall. March 6: McDowell Suite Applications due at 4 p.m. March 6: Single Room Draw Applications due at 4 p.m. March 9: Centennial Suite Applications due at 4 p.m. Note: Nebraska Hall suite applications are past due and late applications will not be accepted.
McDowell, Hughes, Leonard, Anderson and Letts Halls Room draws are done online at the my.american.edu portal, based on credit hours during the days listed. Those with 90+ credits can draw from 7 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. Those with 60 to 90 credits can draw from 10:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Those with 30 to 59 credits can draw from 3:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. Those with 0 to 29 credits can draw from 9 p.m. to 6 a.m.
Squatting - or staying in - your current room Now through 7 a.m. on March 21. March 21: Floor draw, resident with pull-in March 22: Floor draw, resident alone March 26: Hall draw, resident with pull-in March 27: Hall draw, resident alone March 28: Campus draw, resident with pull-in March 29: Campus draw, resident alone
SOURCE: Housing and Dining Programs 2007-2008 Room Draw Guide, available online or in the Housing and Dining office
