Ask Tufts students what frustrates them the most about our school; I would bet that housing is the most popular answer. This is what I found when running for TCU President last spring.
One of the most important parts of my platform was better campus housing. Let's face it: additional dorms are not built overnight on this campus. This makes the way that housing is determined the main issue at hand. I put forth a proposal to the entire student body to refine the housing lottery system. While the proposal would go into effect starting with the Class of 2009, I hope to gain feedback from upperclassmen to ensure this project will achieve its intended goals.
This proposal is designed to cure two flaws in the current distribution system: lack of predictability and fairness. The first problem, the inability to predict lottery numbers, can be easily fixed. Lottery numbers are currently randomly assigned each November for the following academic year only. Under the new system, students will receive their lottery numbers for sophomore, junior and senior year in the fall of their freshman year. By getting all three housing numbers at once, students will be able to better plan housing arrangements, study abroad plans and off-campus living preparations. Personally, from the student perspective, I do not see any drawbacks to this change.
The second part of the proposal is to increase fairness of lottery number distribution. Presently, lottery numbers are randomly distributed for each class. Sophomores are guaranteed and required to live on campus, and so rooms are earmarked for them to pick. This leaves juniors and seniors. Seniors select first and juniors pick from whatever rooms are left. While the Office of Residential Life and Learning does not guarantee housing for seniors, they can "meet demand," meaning they can accommodate the approximately 50 percent of the senior class that wants to live on campus each year (this is a very rough percentage).
Seniors will still have preference over juniors, and the sophomore living requirement will remain in place. The main difference I propose is linking numbers during one's sophomore and senior years so that they are reciprocals of each other. In other words, if Jane gets the lowest number her sophomore year, she will get the highest number during her senior year or visa versa. Similarly, if Jane's number is dead in the middle during her sophomore year, she will have the same place her senior year. I believe this is a beneficial change because it ensures parity in the distribution of lottery numbers for two years. Junior year numbers would still be randomly assigned. The main drawback students may find with this part of the proposal is that they can no longer "gamble" on getting lucky for all three years.
Double rooms would be picked by averaging the numbers of the two residents. Let me elaborate on this for a moment: in the case that a student gets a low number sophomore year but his roommate has a high number, the student will end up with an artificially high number sophomore year and his reciprocal Senior year which will also be high. Averaging is essential to make this system effective and give greater meaning to the proposed distribution of numbers.
There is also the issue of the soon-to-be opened Sophia Gordon Hall. Of the 21 (6-person) apartments, up to 17 will be assigned through application. Students can apply to live in these apartments much like Latin Way and Hillsides, where all six numbers get averaged out. The remaining four apartments will be incorporated into the housing lottery so students can select individual rooms even if they don't have five other friends to live with them. Apartments will be "senior preference" in order to have a central community for the senior class, something that is seriously lacking.
I understand that these changes would not be a cure-all. But they definitely improve the inadequacies of the current housing lottery system. I hope the rest of the student body agrees with me. While it may sound confusing, this is the background to how the three lottery numbers would be calculated and presented in future years.
I urge you to show your support for the aforementioned changes, although we will respect and follow through on the results of the student body vote either way. I look to the TCU to make an informed decision about a meaningful and positive policy change that will hopefully improve student life at Tufts. Thank you for your support in this endeavor. It has been a wonderful start to the semester and I wish you all the best through the rest of the year!
Jeff Katzin is a senior majoring in economics. He is currently the president of the Tufts Community Union.
