Many students faced a wave of panic on Friday, Feb. 21 when an email was sent out that the deadline for Phase Two had been extended from that day at 5 p.m. to Feb. 24 at 5 p.m. They did not feel that this was properly communicated, as this was the first email they had received about Phase Two.
This was not the first time students had been informed of the Phase Two deadline; it is included in the room selection guide that students received via email on Feb. 4, but students did not get a reminder.
The stress and anxiety involved in the process of room selection prompted the change in the theme this year. The Office of Residential Life has moved away from the previous” Fordhamopoly” theme because Residential Life recognizes that “housing is not a game.”
Kimberly Russell, assistant dean of students and director of residential life, said, “The intention behind Fordhamopoly was to make it a fun and exciting thing for people to go through, and I don’t think that was the impact that it had.”
This year the theme is “Keep Calm and Live On,” as can be seen on the cover of the Room Selection Guide this year.
“Lottery refers to someone wins and someone loses, and that’s not what this is,” said Russell.
In addition to detailing the change in theme, Russell was able to dispel one of the myths that comes along with that process.
“If a student is evaluated by Fordham University EMS, that does not impact their room selection time slot or anything along those lines.”
Judicial records are not taken into account when students are assigned a time slot randomly by StarRez, a housing software trusted by over 300 educational institutions including Boston College, Cornell, Tufts, Ohio State and Dartmouth. That does not mean that a student’s actions do not impact his or her housing process.
First year students who did not attend Core Programming are automatically placed into post-lottery room selection.
“We know that this is inherently stressful at every university; at every college, room selection is a stressful situation. Fordham is no different. We want to try to reduce that in any way that we can,” said Russell.
Students with questions or concerns should reach out to resliferh@fordham.edu and follow @resliferh on Twitter to keep up-to-date on information regarding the room selection process.
“It will work out; you just need to be patient,” said Dean Russell. “And keep calm and live on.”
