Dean of StudentsRoom Draw

QUESTIONS?
Please do not hesitate to visit the Residential Life Office (Converse 105) or contact a SHAC (Student Housing Advisory Committee) member if you need assistance or clarification. SHAC members will be tabling in the Valentine atrium 5:30-7:30 p.m. prior to Room Draw.

Questions can be e-mailed to SHAC@amherst.edu.

This year’s SHAC members are:

Welcome to Room Draw

Contents:

DORM INFORMATION
ROOM DRAW ELIGIBILITY
LIVING UNITS
LIVING UNIT VALUE (LUV)
ORDER OF THE DRAW
THE DRAW
JENKINS SPECIAL LOTTERY
ROOM DRAW ORDER GUARANTEE
VACANCIES
HELPFUL INFORMATION
OFF-CAMPUS HOUSING
MIXED-CLASS GROUPS
ROOM SWAPPING, OR “HOW I BEAT THE HOUSING SELECTION SYSTEM”
OPT-OUT PROCESS

DORM INFORMATION

ROOM DRAW ELIGIBILITY

Only students currently enrolled in Spring 2009 courses can participate in Room Draw.  Students who are away who have paid the Advance Tuition Deposit or have signed a promissory note through the Financial Aid Office by April 1, 2009 may participate.  Each student and room group is responsible for ensuring that all members are eligible.  Students who accept room assignments in theme housing, residential language programs, Jenkins lottery, off-campus, and RC’s and their designated RC friends, are ineligible to participate in Room Draw.

LIVING UNITS

An individual or a group not exceeding 8 people may enter Room Draw as a unit.  These groups need not choose adjacent rooms; however, entering as a group allows you to select rooms simultaneously and maximizes the chance of friends living with or near each other.  No Transfer and 12-College Exchange students entering the Fall of 2009 can be included in a living unit.  These students will be assigned rooms during the summer.

LIVING UNIT VALUE (LUV)

Each student has an eligible point value based upon his/her class standing at the end of the spring semester, with the following provision:

All students taking time off retain the same point value as their entering class provided they enter Room Draw: (1) in a group that includes students from their entering class;  (2) in a group that includes students from a class ahead of their entering class, or (3) by themselves. Current transfer and first year students who entered during the spring semester are given the option to be included with their class with the same restrictions listed above.  Individuals who fulfill the above requirements must calculate their “eligible points” as that of their entering class on their Room Draw Application. No appeals for situations that do not meet the above criteria will be accepted.

Anticipated summer school credits will not be included in the formulation of the point count.  The average of these values is calculated for each group and verified by the Residential Life Office.  This becomes the LUV for the individual group.

Class of ’10 and ’10E 5 points
Class of ’11E 4 points
Class of ’11 3 points
Class of '12E 2 points
Class of ’12 and '13E 1 point

ORDER OF THE DRAW

A computer program orders all living units according to descending LUV; those with the highest LUV will draw first (i.e., individuals and groups with an LUV of 5.0 will draw first, followed by those with a 4.99, and so on).  Ties within LUV’s are randomly ordered by the computer.  If a student drops out/joins a group with mixed-LUV members after the ordered list has been posted, and the LUV for the group changes, the group will be re-assigned, randomly, among the groups that have the same LUV as the group’s new LUV.

THE DRAW

Tuesday, April 14, - Selection of rooms by those with highest LUV’s.
Wednesday, April 15 - Selection continues for those with next highest LUV’s.
Thursday, April 16 - Selection continues for the remainder of the participants.

At the posted time, at least one representative from the living unit (or designated proxy) will select the combination of rooms appropriate for the size of the unit.  A group of 6 people may select 6 singles, or 2 singles and a 4-person suite, or a 6-person suite, or 3 doubles, etc.  However, the number of rooms chosen may not exceed the number of students in the living unit.  For example, an individual may not choose a double room.

JENKINS SPECIAL LOTTERY

Students interested in living in the 10-person suites in Jenkins must submit a special application due March 6th at 12 noon.  These applications are available in the Residential Life Office, Converse 105.  See calendar on last page for specific dates.

ROOM DRAW ORDER GUARANTEE

Students in the class of 2011 are eligible to be placed in the top three-quarters of their class during 2009 Room Draw if they meet the following criteria: 1) if they were in the bottom quarter of their class’s Room Draw last year AND 2) if during their sophomore year lived in either a one-room double or a two-room triple for at least one semester. Special application must be made in the Residential Life Office.  (Note: one quarter and three quarters will be defined by numbers of students, not by numbers of room groups.)  This only applies to those students who enter Room Draw by themselves or with others who meet the above criteria.  Consult with SHAC members in advance to find out whether you fall into this category.   There is no separate application; students who are eligible should visit the Residential Life Office.  No appeals for situations that do not meet the above criteria will be accepted.

The Room Draw Order Guarantee is a one-time option for the current Room Draw Process only and cannot be used in a future Room Draw.

VACANCIES

When vacancies occur in a multi-person room configuration AFTER the Room Draw process has been completed, it is the Residential Life policy to contact ONLY the suite/room that is directly affected by the vacancy.  It is the responsibility of the entire room group to contact one another if they want to discuss the re-assignment process and to make changes.

The following process is used based upon how rooms are configured during the Room Draw process:

Singles:  The vacancy goes back to the Residential Life Office.  Exception: if the single was considered as part of a suite of rooms in the Room Draw process, and so designated on floor plans, then roommates are given first consideration to fill the vacancy.

Doubles, triples, quads:  Remaining roommates have first consideration as to who to invite in.  If this type of room becomes completely empty, it goes back to the Residential Life Office.  Remaining members of the room group cannot fill this space.

Suites:  Remaining roommates within the specific suite where the vacancy occurs will have first consideration as to who to invite in.  If the suite becomes completely vacant, the remaining room draw group cannot have the option to fill it.  The vacant suite goes back to the Residential Life Office.

If vacancies within any room configuration are not filled within 7 business days of notification, they will be filled by the Residential Life Office.

HELPFUL INFORMATION

SHAC will be sponsoring a program designed to match up people who need to complete, join or create a room group.  Students interested in this service may sign up during SHAC office hours. An ongoing list of openings and people available is kept in the Residential Life Office.  This service will only work if people are willing to list themselves, so students should feel free to sign up.

There can be no less than 35% of each gender residing in each building.  Also, an effort will be made to maintain a gender balance on each floor of most buildings.

Suites can be co-ed.  In cases of adjoining suites (through the bathrooms), either side may be selected by a single sex or coed room group.  Doubles and triples are same gender.

When a vacancy occurs after the Room Draw process, student(s) invited in will remain for the academic year and cannot be asked to leave to accommodate a student returning in January from Study Abroad.  See additional information below.

Larger units do not draw for rooms first; individuals and groups are treated equally by the computer and draw for rooms based on their LUV.

To combine with another individual or group the night of Room Draw, the current individual or group must sacrifice its order in Room Draw and drop a minimum of five groups to recombine at the lower Room Draw number to become a maximum of no more than 8 in the new group.  New group numbers cannot be created. (For ex. Group #100 cannot combine with group #101, 102, 103, or 104.  They must combine with group #105 or below, creating a group of no more than 8 people.) This can only be done during the nights of Room Draw.

If your room group includes someone who is currently away from campus, and nobody in your group is their designated proxy, please contact their proxy before submitting your group’s application.  Check with the Residential Life Office to find out who their proxy is.

All students are urged to review the Unordered List of Room Draw participants that will be posted online and outside the Dean of Students Office on Tuesday, March 24th.  Any errors must be communicated to the Residential Life Office by Monday, March 30th.  Students will be allowed to reconfigure groups provided the new grouping does not exceed 8 people. The only changes that will be made on the Unordered List are those made by the Residential Life Office.  Absolutely no changes will be made after March 30th.  If a member of a room group is deleted (due to study abroad confirmation) AFTER the ordered list BUT BEFORE the night of Room Draw, the room group may add another name to their application.  This additional person should be the same LUV as the deleted member, so as not to change the LUV average for the group.  If the new person’s LUV is different from the deleted name, then the LUV average for the group has changed, and the group will be randomly placed within the appropriate LUV average location on the ordered list.

We suggest that students enter as groups in an even number to ensure that they will be living with friends next year.

It is advisable for friends to enter Room Draw in groups, as it will be much simpler to separate into smaller units (singles, doubles, triples, and quads) than it will be to increase the group’s size.

The Residential Life Office reserves the right to adjust the floor plans.

OFF-CAMPUS HOUSING

If you are thinking about moving off campus, you must submit an off-campus housing application.  Applications for the fall semester must be submitted by March 1, 2009; and applications for the Spring '09 semester must be submitted by November 1, 2009.  A limited number of off-campus requests will be granted.  Failure to meet these deadlines may result in denial of off-campus status.  Applications for off-campus requests can be obtained online, or from the Residential Life Office, Converse 105.

If you have been approved to live off campus, please be aware that you will no longer be eligible to enter Room Draw. If you change your mind over the summer you will not be guaranteed a space on campus and will be placed on a waitlist for housing.  The reason is that you have given up your opportunity for guaranteed housing by not going through Room Draw.  You will be housed after everyone who has been guaranteed housing has been placed. Should you change your mind any time during the upcoming academic year, you will be placed on the room change list and offered rooms as your number comes up.  Please note that you will not be considered in the same category as people who return to Amherst for the second semester. 

MIXED-CLASS GROUPS

If all upperclass students (those with the higher LUV in a mixed-class group) move off campus during the first semester, then this will be taken as a deliberate attempt to manipulate the Room Draw system.  A judgment will be made on an individual basis by the Residential Life Office and may incur the following penalty:  Placement of each member of such a room group AT THE BOTTOM OF THE ROOM DRAW ORDERED LIST in the next Room Draw in which he/she takes part.

ROOM ASSIGNMENT SWAPPING, OR “HOW I BEAT THE HOUSING SELECTION SYSTEM”

Any student who attempts to “beat the system” by selecting a housing assignment in one location with the intent of exchanging rooms with another student, or who in any way attempts to undercut the intent and good will of the selection system, will be removed from the housing process and placed on a waiting list for housing in the fall.  We encourage all students with questions or proposals to stop by the Residential Life Office or contact a SHAC member before attempting any type of room change.

OPT-OUT PROCESS

Rooms for the opt-out process are those that are vacated between the end of the Room Draw process and the start of the fall semester as well as any unused reserved rooms.  Each year the Residential Life Office designates an undisclosed number of rooms on campus that do not go through the Room Draw process.  These rooms are located within dorms, not in houses.  The Residential Life Office only reserves the anticipated number of rooms needed.  They are used to house incoming fall transfer and 12-college exchange students.  If an individual or group is not satisfied with the options available to them at the time of their pick the night of Room Draw, they can decide to opt out.  This process also occurs for rising sophomores when there are no more rooms available to choose from. 

Students who opt out during Room Draw must fill out an Opt Out Form online: https://www.amherst.edu/campuslife/reslife/housing/optout.  You will be asked to list, in preferential order, a wish list of the buildings you would like to live in.  All opt-out students are then housed in August.  The Residential Life Office begins with the rising senior group who opted out first, and works through to the rising sophomores, in the same order as the Ordered Room Draw list.

We will not contact people when their number comes up, nor will we contact a designated proxy. The reason we will not do this is because often people are out of the country or difficult to reach. Making such a promise to speak personally with each person prior to their assignment would make the process extremely slow, if not impossible.

Often, assignments are done later in August - especially those in the bottom half - because the longer we wait to assign people, the more rooms open up and, typically, the options are better.

FINAL NOTE: Don't worry! All students will be placed, somewhere. Every attempt will be made to keep room groups together where possible. Students answering the questions should be as specific and as explicit as possible. If we get to a number and none of the student's preferences are available, we will place the student according to our best judgment.