Housing lottery numbers to be released this week

After extensive lobbying by members of the Tufts Community Union (TCU) Senate, housing lottery numbers will be released this week, possibly today. This is the first year lottery numbers will be released before winter break.

The earlier release date is "the result of Senate prodding" of the Office of Residential Life and Learning and other administrators, according to Senator Josh Belkin. "This is something the Senate made a priority," he said.

Last year, housing numbers were released in the spring semester, despite early hopes that they would be available by Thanksgiving. Many students prefer an earlier release date to give them more time to find off-campus housing if necessary.

"At this point in the year, it's much more of a renter's market than a landlord's market," Belkin said. The earlier release date is "a victory for students" because it gives them more control over their choices early in the year so they will not be subject to the higher rent that landlords charge later in the year.

The April date for housing selection will likely remained unchanged. One of several reasons for this is that the amount of housing available is contingent upon the number of students who will be studying abroad next year.

Lottery numbers will again be released through WebCenter _ the same website used for registration. Students will receive an e-mail with a link to their number and a letter with information about their options and the number's meaning. To make the letter "as meaningful as possible," it will advise juniors as to whether or not they should seek off-campus housing, Dean of Students Bruce Reitman said.

Technicians must "work out the technical details" before the numbers can be released. This fall, the Dean of Students Office surveyed the junior class to determine the number of students who would be interested in living on-campus as seniors, given the options. Using the survey results, administrators were able to gain a rough estimate of how many beds would be available for rising juniors and how many would be required to live off-campus.

The Dean of Students Office received over 600 responses to the survey, but several students sent in multiple responses due to a computer glitch. Administrators are investigating, because they want the survey to be as accurate as possible.

Reitman would not comment on whether the survey showed a higher or lower number of rising seniors wanting to live on-campus than in past years.

Even with the survey results, current sophomores will be unsure about their living arrangements for next year. "It's really nice that they're being released earlier, especially for our class," sophomore Tim Wagner said. "I think if Tufts isn't going to guarantee housing, they at least have to give people enough time to make alternate arrangements."