Residential Life will not offer a separate fall-only housing lottery for next semester. All sophomores will be put in the same pool to choose housing for next year, and those wishing to go abroad for the spring will then have to cancel their housing contracts for the second semester.
The change comes because renovations to the Latin Way and Hillsides apartment complexes that began three years ago are now complete. Different parts of these buildings were used to accommodate students each semester while other portions were being worked on. With construction finished, these dorms are available for students to inhabit year-round.
ResLife feels that the change should not have a great effect on the housing system, as neither the number of students competing for rooms nor the number of dorms available will be changed. A separate lottery will be held in November for spring-only housing as usual.
"We encourage juniors to explore all housing options: culture houses, co-ops, special-interest houses, and off-campus houses," Residential Life Director Lorraine Toppi said.
By signing the Housing License Agreement, students agree to occupy and pay for their dorm for an entire year. Therefore, students going abroad during the spring semester need to notify ResLife that they will need housing in the spring by the April 30, 2001 deadline in order to avoid paying the full-year cost.
Both Toppi and Study Abroad Program Director Sheila Bayne agree that the change in the housing program should not affect the number of students studying abroad.
"People choose to go abroad because they want to," Bayne said. "The availability of housing is a secondary issue."
"Some juniors maybe have given [housing changes] some extra thought, but all in all I don't think much has changed," Toppi said.
The housing system may help both students who want to live off campus but cannot afford rent for the entire year and those who are ambivalent as to whether they should study abroad for just a semester or for and entire year.
Most upperclassmen choose to go abroad in the spring semester, which creates a higher demand for fall-only housing.
"This is mostly due to the academic calendar most foreign universities have," Bayne said. Many fall programs go well into the month of February, ruling out the possibility for a fall semester abroad followed by a spring semester at Tufts.
The off-campus housing office, which opened last fall in South Hall, will also help students find housing for either the fall semester or the entire year if they choose to stay at Tufts. Recent increases in the size of the freshman class and expensive off-campus rent have posed great obstacles to upperclassmen, particularly juniors.
"There is lots of pressure on the juniors and seniors that don't get housed, and there is lots of pressure on the University as well," Toppi said. "[The off-campus housing office] won't solve all the problems, but it's a big help."
ResLife has also changed the location for the main housing lottery, in order to better accommodate the large number of students. Lottery numbers will be posted in the Hodgdon lounge this March instead of in the South lounge.
