Two projects in the works for next semester may make living off-campus easier and more enjoyable.
The Tufts Community Union (TCU) Senate is putting the finishing touches on a Web site that lets student rate their off-campus houses, landlords and facilities.
The site - part of jumboAccess.com, which operates the professor and course rating site tuftsreviews.com - is awaiting approval from the administration and the University's counsel, but a preliminary version is up and running in the meantime.
TCU Parliamentarian sophomore Harsha Dronamraju, who is spearheading the project, said the site should be approved within a week.
Student frustration with off-campus housing, he said, "was something that we felt was really glaring, and we felt that it was something we could fix."
The Senate is currently working with the registrar to create a questionnaire for juniors to collect addresses.
No database currently exists of students' off-campus residences. Senators tried tabling on campus to try to get off-campus residents to sign up, but they did not get much response.
"Juniors don't chill on campus," TCU Vice President senior John Valentine said.
The questionnaire asks off-campus residents to rate their landlord, utilities and location on a scale of one to five.
Off-campus residents will also be able to comment on other aspects of their house, such as if the building is conducive to parties, or if the neighbors are especially sensitive.
The Web site may also include a list of off-campus addresses with the e-mail addresses of current and past residents. This will allow students in the market for a house to e-mail past residents and get a more complete picture of life in that house.
The system would be modeled after Tufts' career network, which allows Tufts students to contact alumni in specific work fields.
Senior Chris Eager, who lives on Mason Street in Somerville, said he would post on the Web site. "I would definitely let people know about our landlord currently and what I know about our house compared to other houses," he said.
Valentine is also targeting off-campus residents, with what he calls the "Five Boroughs Project."
He identified five areas of off-campus houses in Medford and Somerville, and he expects to organize gatherings on campus for each area. He said the project would encourage students in the same area to interact and "kill the stigma of junior year."
"I lived off campus last year and you don't even know the people who live two doors down, let alone your community," Valentine said. He expects to hold a couple trial gatherings by the end of next semester.
Eager, whose house is directly across Powderhouse Boulevard from South Hall, said he does not feel especially disconnected from campus life.
But junior Danny McGee, who lives on the other end of campus near the Science and Technology Center in Medford, said his location has decreased his interaction with other students.
"Where I am I know only my roommates and two other kids in other houses," he said.
Dronamraju said the goal of the two Senate projects is to ensure that "when you go off campus your junior year, you don't have to feel like a commuting student."
