As housing registration starts for next year, plenty of on-campus students are trying to figure out where they will live via room selection. For the second year, the process will be driven by credit hours, prioritizing those with fewer. Unfortunately, a combination of credit-driven applications and upperclassmen with extenuating circumstances is leading to stress and difficulty because of an overall flawed system.
The current credit-driven system divides room selection into 5 groups, with those having lower credit hours having earlier times to select their room for next year. This excludes Wolf Ridge, as it has a special time option, but it is the only exception. We are currently transitioning from “Option 3” to “Option 4” letting those with less and more than 92 credit hours apply during their respective time period. These options make plenty of sense in theory, as they encourage upperclassmen to move off campus and make space for others.
However, in practice, they have some large problems. Specifically, if a soon-to-be upperclassman with more credits is still wanting to live on campus after two years, then often they have a valid reason for doing so. For example, many students don’t have licenses if they are from other countries, or simply don’t have access to a car. This means guaranteed access to a Wolfline is essential, and they need to stick to NC State’s options.
It is for loyal students like these that having upperclassmen draw the short straw of housing starts to turn into an aggressive policy to remove them from campus, putting their housing situation for next year in jeopardy.
This is especially unfortunate since these are individuals who have typically given more to the university, by definition, they have more credit hours. Ideally, those who give most to NC State should at least have some security when it comes to housing for the next year. Additionally, it is no secret that this is compounded by the first-year live-on requirement, with more new students on campus, more upperclassmen must be pushed out.
This flawed system lets rising second-years get access to openings in places like Wolf Ridge and Wolf Village before others when they could very well fit into an on-campus dorm room for another year. For upperclassmen, it’s harder, as they may feel socially excluded in a dorm surrounded by first-years. Simply put, having second-years to move out of dorms before the third- and fourth-years is both impractical and socially destructive.
Since University Housing seems to be seeking feedback for their system this year, I want to bring up some potential solutions to this scenario. The most straight-forward would be to get rid of the heavily criticized and widely despised first-year live-on campus requirement, freeing up room in the dorms, and meaning fewer upperclassmen have to be pushed off campus.
Additionally, housing should consider improving their current system with a small change: having one-room selection process for dorms, and another for places like Wolf Ridge and Wolf Village (apartment-style living). The former being identical to the current system, and the latter giving preference to students with higher credit hours. This would incentivize lowerclassmen to go for the safe bet of dorm rooms, and upperclassmen to go for the safe bet of apartment-like living through NC State, allocating both effectively.
Regardless of what University Housing decides to do for the next year, they need to consider the effect that a system like this has on the upperclassmen who, for good reasons, wish to stay on campus via apartment-style living. This system is new, and it is no surprise that there are flaws, but they must be worked through.
