Conversations requests I get. I have also noticed more students transferring to the university after attending a community college for a year or two. To address this population, we have developed housing specific for transfer students since their needs are not the same as those of traditional firstyear students. We realize that sometimes roommates are selected after a cursory glance at an online profile, so we continue to encourage communication before move-in as well as developing a mutual roommate agreement with the residence hall staff after they arrive. actually select their own room! Knowing that they can select X room in Y building in the spring could make the difference in why a student chooses to attend my university. I also attend recruiting trips with our admissions staff (as do our marketing staff) so we can assist with the housing decision process. Magura: Over the last few years I’ve Berthold: I have seen a significant increase in preferred roommate requests by our incoming students over the past few years. Our department uses a random lottery-based assignment process that honors roommate preference to the extent possible. Students often connect with the official Marquette University Class of 20XX Facebook group after they are admitted and begin building those relationships online in order to find a potential match. also seen students treat their university selection process as more of a consumer process. Similar to buying a new T.V., students (and their families) are shopping around for the best experience. This means that the selection of housing can literally make or break the decision to attend a specific institution. I have addressed this by becoming more innovative in the assignments process. Not only can our first-year students select their own roommate, they can Berthold: I think the success of do-ityourself television and room makeover shows has also had an impact on residence hall living. Students want to customize their home away from home a lot more than just putting up a few posters on the wall. Our biggest phone inquiry over the summer is for specific room layout information. This includes general room dimensions and questions conTInues 52 S T U D E N T L I F E S TA R T S H E R E KSQARCHITECTS.COM 44 Talking STickhttp://www.KSQARCHITECTS.COM