New housing process leaves students scrambling

By Caroline Haviland

The housing selection process for the 2025-26 school year opened at the beginning of February, but with the newly appointed Residence Life Director Sean Killion, the usual operation students had known in previous years took a turn, resulting in confusion among returning residential students. 

Killion said the main concern students voiced regarding this year’s process was the allotted time slots that determine the order in which rooms are chosen. Students received a time to select their dorms based upon their class standing and how early they made their $200 housing deposit due on March 1, making it a “first come, first served process,” according to Killion. 

In past years, students’ time slots were based solely on class standing, with upperclassmen having first priority, but the order within each grade was randomized. However, Killion said this new organization is fair and is standard practice at most universities.

Phase one of the housing selection began April 8 and concluded April 14. The process included 39 fifth-year seniors, 233 juniors, 184 sophomores and 202 freshmen. The process for incoming freshmen to choose their dorms will commence once returning students complete their selections. 

Another change came for students interested in gender-inclusive housing, which involved submitting an additional housing application. The groups were then placed in a space chosen by Residence Life for gender-inclusive housing, a new development this year, according to Killion. 

“There’s generally a conversation that happens [between Residence Life and a student] so that students are aware of what it means to be a part of [gender-inclusive housing] and that as long as they’re OK with that, then we would go ahead and place them in these accommodations,” said Killion. 

According to Killion, the interest in double-single rooms, a standard double inhabited by one person, has grown substantially in previous years. The increased demand caused Residence Life to consider this type of living situation in specific residence halls. 

With the reopening of Conover Hall, Killion and his team decided to designate the building as well as Poyda Hall to double singles, but students are permitted to request a double single in another residence hall if those buildings fill up. As of April 14, Poyda and Conover are almost at full capacity, according to Killion.

Residence Life was initially going to split the housing selection into a three-part operation for certain types of dorms to be available on different days, such as apartments and suites, singles and then doubles. The final decision, however, was to allow students to select any kind of their choice during their time slot. 

“We felt like because of the way this process was going to unfold that it was going to be easier for students that if they found out they weren’t going to get apartments and suites, that they were going to want to be able to select that second option right away instead of waiting another week before they were able to make that selection,” said Killion. 

Rihanna Clayton, a sophomore health sciences major, and Ashleigh Allen, a sophomore psychology major, were in a four-person group going into the housing process, hoping to obtain an apartment in Moore Hall. Clayton was given a time slot at 12:30 p.m. on April 8, the first day to select housing, which she considered to be a “good spot.”

However, due to the option for students to select any housing at their designated time, all of the apartments available had scattered people within them, meaning an apartment meant for four people had at least one person in it. This was not a problem students faced before because only housing groups had access to apartments and suites.  

“It’s different than what we were told in housing last year and the standard we come to expect because we were always told that when group formation happens, you can only select a room based off of how many people you have in that group,” said Clayton. 

In email communications from Residence Life regarding the housing process, contradictory information was given: an email on March 24 detailed different dates to select varying types of dorms, but in another email on March 25, the option of choosing any room type during a student’s selected time was mentioned. This furthered the miscommunication around the new housing selection process. 

“Certainly I think we could always go back and look at how we could improve on communication,” Killion said. “The other thing I would say is that my hope and advice to the students in the future is that they would take advantage of reaching out to us ahead of time, participating in things like the information fair. … Choosing your housing and going into this process with a plan is so critically important.”

Assistant Director of Housing Operations Keenan Bailey emphasized the importance for change in the housing process since it allows for the opportunity of reevaluation and bringing processes up to date. Bailey came into his position in October 2024 as one of the many new staff members at Residence Life, following former Residence Life Director Roberta Butler’s departure in July 2024.

“We continue to overhaul the system and take feedback from students that we’re hearing and meeting with folks,” said Bailey. “We just make sure we address individual needs. My office door says come on in and I mean that. So if there’s anything that folks need, even now, come on in and see me. If I can’t do it I’ll get you connected to the person who can.”

Zyheim Bell is an incoming news editor for The Rider News and is a community assistant in Ziegler Hall. Brianna Velazquez is a copyeditor and a community assistant in Becket Village. Neither had any part in the writing or editing in this story.