Time to Think About Room Selection for the 2018-2019 Academic Year
By: Housing & Residence Life
The answer to the question of, “where will I live for the 2018-19 academic year?” is on the minds of both returning and incoming students. For current first year residents returning for their second year of residency, that question will be answered by the end of March. For incoming students, the wait will be a longer, since we can’t start the process until we know who’s joining our community. Since this is on the minds of many, we want to provide general information now.
Incoming First-Year 2018-19 Students
This process is still being finalized and more information will be provided in a subsequent newsletter. A selection/assignment process won’t occur until after the admissions acceptance deadline of May 1, 2018. We thank you in advance for your patience.
Returning Residents (Current 1st year residents continuing to their 2nd year of residency)
Returning residents are divided in to two categories, those who will have met the residency requirement and those who have not met the residency requirement by Fall 2018, generically referred to as “upper division” (typically rising juniors and seniors) and “lower division” (typically rising sophomores) respectively. The room selection for the upper division category occurred in November 2017, so we won’t address it in this article*. The room selection process for the lower division category starts now with the submission of applications in February and actual room selection in March. Submission of an application and room selection is through ZagLiving, our online portal.
The room selection process has a random component for those who meet the application deadline (including an electronically signed agreement) of February 28, 2018. These applications are randomly assigned a number which determines the applicant’s order in the room selection process. Applications received after the due date (or not electronically signed until after the due date) are added to the end of the list. This ordering of applications is used to establish time slots when the actual room selection may be made. Those higher in the order (closer to 1) will have earlier the time slots (and wider selection) than those lower in the order.
In February, students create an application and will establish a preferred roommate. Changes to their preferred roommate may be made through ZagLiving up until the time of the actual room selection (although we encourage changes to be made much earlier). Returning residents will not be constrained by any preferences they indicate on their application. All available bedrooms at the time of their selection will display. However, it is important to realize that the number of rooms in any location is limited, as is the number of rooms of a particular style and gender designation. Rooms and buildings do fill as applicants make selections, but we have space to accommodate all on campus.
In March, during an appointed time slot (to be established prior to the room selection), students may log in to ZagLiving to make their room selection. At the time of selection, they’ll add their roommate to the bedroom as well. Since a selection is for a roommate pair, it is advantageous for the person with the earliest time slot to make the selection for the roommate pair. Once a selection is made (by or on behalf of a student in the roommate pair), participation in the selection process by the roommate pair has concluded and no subsequent selection/change may be made during any remaining steps in this room selection process.
We recognize that room selection may cause anxiety, due primarily to the limited quantity of rooms available in some styles of housing within our system. For instance, not everyone will be able to select apartment-style living such as Kennedy or Corkery or suite-style such as Dussault. However, since this category of students is required to reside on campus, on-campus living is guaranteed! We are confident that residents can be successful in any of our living communities and will receive support through our live-in student and master’s-level professional staff.
Additional information will be provided to applicants directly and available to both students and interested family members through our website, once available. When questions or concerns arise, we’d like students to contact us directly so we can provide specific information and effective guidance. The skills involved in this contact (communication, problem solving and time management) need to be developed and exercised particularly now that students are adults. Their direct involvement promotes self-reliance and resiliency.
We recognize and appreciate your loving concern and respect your role as an interested party. If your student still has questions after reviewing the information on the website, encourage them to make direct contact. While we are always willing to answer questions, or provide clarification regarding our general policies and procedures, any question regarding a specific student or their particular situation will require their direct involvement anyway, due to Federal privacy laws.
*For students who will have met the residency requirement by 2018-19 and still seeking housing for 2018-19, we offer some assistance to aid in their search. Please suggest that they contact the Housing and Residence Life Office (housing@gonzaga.edu, 509-313-4103) for more information.