Tips for Room Draw

In accordance with student and Student Government Association (SGA) feedback from last year, the housing process has been refined. In an interview with The Campus, dean for residential life Doug Adams explained the new process and gave advice for students as they navigate the various draws. Adams acknowledged that the process can cause anxiety but advises that preplanning can reduce stress.

- After spring break, juniors and seniors will have a period of time to fill out their housing applications on StarRez, the online housing draw platform. The first draw for seniors will take place between April 3 and 6. The second, for juniors and mixed grade groups, will occur between April 19 and 24. The final draw for sophomores will take place between April 11 and 16.

- Since many students will not receive their first choice for housing, Adams advises students to make a list and develop contingency plans. Going into the draw process with several alternatives can reduce students’ stress once the process has started and housing options begin to fill. Once housing is drawn it is final, so all students should feel comfortable and confident with the selection they make and with the group they enter the process with. Adams recommended entering the draw with at least one other person because if a student is not available during their time slot, the person they entered the draw with can act as their proxy, even if they do not choose to live together.

- Each individual or group will be randomly assigned a time slot, with slots spanning the course of several days. In order for a group to receive a time slot the group leader must “verify” the group is complete after all members have joined. The length of each time slot for the upperclassmen draws will be dependent on the number of groups who enter into the draw, but will likely be 15 minutes.

- Once a time slot has begun, the individual(s) in that slot will have from then until rooms are selected or the process has closed. However, new groups will join the draw when their time slot begins. When a group is choosing housing during their slot, they can either opt to remain as a large group or section off into smaller groups or chose to room as individuals.

- At the end of each draw day, the residential life team will release information regarding which housing options are still available for students to claim. This will allow students who have not yet drawn to plan accordingly.

- There will be a drop-in session today from 1:30-3:30 p.m. outside of the box office in McCullough with members of Adam’s team to help students plan for the housing draw. Additionally, during the application process there will computer lab space available where students can receive assistance with their applications.

Adams encouraged any questions to be directed towards reslife@middlebury.edu or Karin Hall-Kolts (khall@middlebury.edu). There is detailed information about Middlebury housing available on the Middlebury Residential Life website at go/floorplans and go/quicklist.