The Office of Residential Life and Learning (ORLL) received criticism from students after this year's housing lottery, which left 77 students temporarily without a dorm assignment for the fall.
Rising sophomore Alejandro Pi?±ero, who was originally wait-listed, said he was frustrated with the wait to find out where he would be living next year.
"[The ORLL] was very unhelpful," he said. "They didn't do anything to clear up how the situation was going to be solved."
Approximately two weeks after the original housing lottery, a second lottery took place for all waitlisted students.
In response to the waitlist at this year's lottery, Tufts Community Union (TCU) Senator sophomore Andrew Caplan proposed a new "three-tiered" lottery system that would prevent the assignment of low numbers to students year after year.
In this system, each class would be divided into three parts. The students in each division would receive low, middle and high numbers once each in the three years they participate in the lottery.
This system would be most useful for rising juniors, who have the fewest housing options. They would be able to predict whether they were going to get a high or low number and know if they should look for off-campus housing.
TCU senators fleshed out this idea and approached Director of the Office of Residential Life and Learning Yolanda King.
According to TCU Senator junior Jose Vazquez, the ORLL has not expressed any problems with this plan and King has been negotiating with people in the Student Information System (SIS). Principal Programmer Analyst Renie Wolfson declined to comment on any work being done on a new lottery system.
According to King, the lottery was not poorly handled, and the size of the waitlist this year was consistent with that of past years.
"I do not think we experienced any big problems this year. Lottery is a stressful time for students," she said. "I think we are always challenged to move students along a little quicker when they are trying to select their assignments and the line is starting to back up."
Nevertheless, the TCU Senate is determined to get this plan into action, and Vazquez said that Dean of Students Bruce Reitman is going to assist the TCU Senate in the creation of this lottery system if it does not go into effect by next spring.
According to King, however, the only change that will take place next year is the extension of the lottery for the rising sophomore class from one day to two.
The ORLL is always open to release information about the likelihood of housing to concerned students, King said. "We share our interpretation of the range of lottery numbers with students when the lottery numbers are released so students know what to expect," King said.
Apart from working on this year's lottery, the ORLL has also been planning for the future. For the fall semester, Hill Hall will be converted into an all-freshman dorm, and Miller Hall will be reserved for sophomores. Tilton and Houston Halls will remain all-freshman, as King said she has noticed a rising demand from incoming students for all-freshman housing.
The ORLL has also been in discussion with the TCU Senate about a Senate-proposed universal JumboFob that would grant all students access to every dormitory on campus. Vazquez said that he had been working with Director of Public Safety John King, as well as Yolanda King on the matter.
"We met last week, and it looks like there's a good amount of resistance from Public Safety on the matter," Vazquez said. "[John] King thinks that student convenience isn't a good enough reason to go on with the project."
John King confirmed his reluctance in allowing the creation of a universal fob, saying he does not agree with the arguments that it will increase campus security. King's arguments address his concern that the fob will eliminate "piggybacking," or holding open dormitory doors for people who may not be students. He said, however, that no decision has yet been made, one way or the other.
"To this point, we've just had a series of discussions," he said. "If this is just a question of convenience, we have to ask ourselves if it's worth the change."
John King also mentioned other obstacles that might stand in the way of the creation of a universal fob.
"Other important questions are whether students living in [fraternities] and sororities get the fob, and whether students want anyone to be allowed to get into their dorms." he said.
The TCU Senate had previously conducted a survey of students that showed that most are in favor of a universal fob, but neither John King nor Yolanda King said that the survey was specific enough or conducted on a large enough scale to be accurate.
John King said that Vazquez has asked for another meeting, and that he and Yolanda King were doing their best to meet one more time before the summer.
John King, however, is in no rush to make a decision since the creation of a universal fob will, according to him, set a precedent for decreasing security on campus.
"We can't take this lightly," he said.
