Talking Stick - March/April 2018 - 54

CONVERSATIONS
many first-year students may not have
had sufficient time to acclimate to university life or to make the friendships
that would lead to roommate decisions
if we moved the process to the fall. After making the move two years ago, we
only received a few complaints of this
nature. Now in year two of a fall signup we have received no complaints.

2018-2019 HOUSING & DINING SIGN-UP

where your
is

Skinner: The majority of our students did not express an issue with
the change, although we changed
to fall renewal in 2014, so our current population does not see this as a
change. It is important to note that we
do not require a new deposit nor do we
have a penalty fee if they cancel their
renewal. They only lose their original
$200 housing deposit from their first
year with us.

Heins: Our hesitations included the
following: Will students return for the
current term spring semester? If not,
will they remember to cancel for the
following fall? Will students remember
that they signed a contract to live on
campus? Will they get confused by our
marketing saying to sign up while at
the same time also encouraging people
to cancel for the spring semester?

King: FAU's hesitations for changing
to a fall sign-up model were concerns
that it might be too early, worry over
possible increased housing cancellations, and the potential for increased
housing melt (i.e., no shows).

Skinner: There was concern that we
are asking students who have yet to
complete even one full semester of
college to commit to another academic
year contract before they know their
plans.
TS: What has the student feedback
been for changes?
Jochum: With the addition of the roommate confirmation and room selection
part of the process to coincide with
the application entry for returners, the
students have loved it! Our admissions
team also likes it, as it is timely for all
of their high school campus visits in
the fall. Having the housing application open in mid-November provides
an action step for potential students
to take and create an earlier affinity
to UNK right after a recruiting visit to
their school.

54

TALKING STICK

1
2
3

STEP ONE
OCT. 2-19:

SIGN YOUR CONTRACT
CREATE YOUR ROOMMATE GROUP
SELECT YOUR DINING PLAN

STEP TWO
OCT. 20:

TIME SLOT NOTIFICATIONS SENT
VIA EMAIL

STEP THREE

TS: What has parent feedback been?

OCT. 23-27:

ROOM SELECTION FOR SOPHOMORES
& UPPERCLASS STUDENTS

clemson.edu/housing-dining
/clemsonhome
@clemsonhome

students. Many thought they were recontracting for the spring semester and
not the following fall. FAU is now in
the third year of implementation, and
the students rush to sign up (during recontracting students are able to select
the exact room they will be in).

HOME
DIVISION OF STUDENT AFFAIRS

Hughes: I think students are used
to re-signing in the fall. It has been
happening that way for a while. In addition, any upper-division student who
does not wish to re-sign in their same
area may participate in the regular
upper-division housing process in the
spring, but they select rooms after the
rising second-year students. Therefore,
they have the option to wait to decide
but in turn have a more limited selection of spaces.

Bradley: The feedback has been generally positive. I would say one lesson
learned is to make sure that you are effectively communicating with students
who are abroad so that they can still
participate in the process. We did not
do this, and students were left unaware
that our process had moved from the
spring to the fall.

King: The first year of implementation was challenging for our returning

Jochum: We have not received much
parental feedback, so we presume that
no news is good news, as the student
application numbers are solid.

Hughes: At a point in time, rising
second-years were signing up for the
next academic year in December, and
parent feedback pushed that timeline
back to January and February. Incoming first-year students start talking
about where they are going to live for
their second year in July, before they
even move in. Along with parents, we
have actually been trying to encourage
students to wait to make their housing
decisions until they have had time to
be acclimated to UVA. Some sign up
as soon as September for the following
academic year.

Bradley: We had a few complaints
from parents who had other children
attend Carolina and were caught off
guard with the change. Despite our
marketing efforts and mailings sent
home, change will always create some
conflict for parents and students who
do not read the materials we send. Our
assignments office does a great job of
http://www.clemson.edu/housing-dining
Talking Stick - March/April 2018

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