Talking Stick - January/February 2016 - 42

Outside
Opinion
Bruce Sacerdote, a professor of economics at
Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire,
was profiled earlier this year in The Chronicle
of Higher Education (August 6, 2015) for his
research into roommate matching and its effect
on students. In the profile he touts the benefits
of randomization among roommate assignments
saying, "I started out just simply noting that
they were randomly assigned, and then seeing
how much they would influence each other with
regard to their GPA and their study habits. Then
I branched out into things like drinking and
joining fraternities and sticking with their varsity
athletic team. And now it's been broadened not
only by me, but by other folks, to think about
how does it influence your attitudes. If you come
from a very white place and you room with an
African-American student, how did that influence
your attitudes toward affirmative action, toward
people of different races, and actually your
willingness to room with those folks in the
future."
After the Talking Stick shared the results
of our panelists' experiences for his feedback,
he responded, "I think there are a number of
common themes," Sacerdote wrote in an email.
"First, I was impressed that many departments
have a motto or statement of goals in trying
to serve students. For example Stephen from
Bucknell pointed to the overarching mission
statement that 'We foster a residential
cocurricular environment.' SFU noted its theme
of 'Engaging the World' while UTM uses the
motto 'Excellence Lives Here.'"
"If I read correctly, none of the institutions
use pure random assignment, and most see
the value in allowing students to choose a
roommate. UTM uses random assignment
within a program, which is a neat idea because
this encourages mixing but also makes sure
roommates have a similar interest. Oregon State
has a full blown online roommate matching
system."
"That said, all institutions said that they only
get a modest number of change requests, and
rarely are these requests crazy. So it seems likely
that college students are thriving under a whole
variety of different assignment systems."
42

TALKING STICK

fluctuated between using auto-allocate and using manual assignment
based on the preference of the current assignments coordinator.

Talking Stick: How does the
process that you utilize reflect
your department's or your
institution's mission?

Magura: This is a fantastic question. Our vision is, "University Housing
& Dining Services will engage our students, enrich their lives, and help
them thrive." I see this vision as a core tenet of how our roommate
matching and assignments process works. We encourage students to
utilize our roommate matching option to find someone who will be a
good roommate for them, but we do not require them to use this system.
Want to live with a friend from home? I don't recommend it, but I
won't stop you. Want to change rooms during the year? We will find ways to
support you through that process. I am fortunate to have a staff group who
truly understands that helping a student get into housing of their choosing
will assist the student in meeting and exceeding their academic goals.
King: At the University of Waterloo, we are big on co-op work terms. Our
roommate policy on same academic streams reflects the need for many of
our students to come and go every four months.
Humphries: Our department's motto is "Excellence Lives Here." We
believe that excellence in the residence environment includes academic
success for our students, not just personal growth. We believe and have
evidence that matching roommates of the same program increases
academic success.
Our residence population has a high proportion of international
students, approximately 40 percent, and we care a lot about their success
at the university but also in Canada. Our director read research on how a
high number of international students did not have one Canadian friend,
and we think that is really unfortunate for all parties. We want to better
their experience and make them feel welcome in their new home and
country. Combined with many programs and initiatives, one of our steps
toward this in terms of administrative functions is doing our best to pair
them with a Canadian roommate in the high hopes they will call that
person their friend.
Johnson: Simon Fraser University's motto is "Engaging the World." We
feel that allowing our mature students to self-select roommates and room
assignments fosters engagement in the housing process and encourages
students to take more responsibility for their living environments.
Students are more likely to take responsibility for their space and to make
efforts to solve disputes on their own when they feel ownership over
the assignments process.



Talking Stick - January/February 2016

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Talking Stick - January/February 2016

Talking Stick - January/February 2016
Contents
Vision
Just In
Calendar
Your ACUHO-I
Transitions
Res Life
Assessment
Conduct
Match Game
Basic Training
Conversations
First Takes
Around Student Affairs
New Members
Snapshot
Talking Stick - January/February 2016 - Intro
Talking Stick - January/February 2016 - Talking Stick - January/February 2016
Talking Stick - January/February 2016 - Cover2
Talking Stick - January/February 2016 - 1
Talking Stick - January/February 2016 - 2
Talking Stick - January/February 2016 - 3
Talking Stick - January/February 2016 - Contents
Talking Stick - January/February 2016 - 5
Talking Stick - January/February 2016 - 6
Talking Stick - January/February 2016 - 7
Talking Stick - January/February 2016 - Vision
Talking Stick - January/February 2016 - 9
Talking Stick - January/February 2016 - Just In
Talking Stick - January/February 2016 - 11
Talking Stick - January/February 2016 - 12
Talking Stick - January/February 2016 - 13
Talking Stick - January/February 2016 - 14
Talking Stick - January/February 2016 - 15
Talking Stick - January/February 2016 - 16
Talking Stick - January/February 2016 - 17
Talking Stick - January/February 2016 - Calendar
Talking Stick - January/February 2016 - 19
Talking Stick - January/February 2016 - Your ACUHO-I
Talking Stick - January/February 2016 - 21
Talking Stick - January/February 2016 - Transitions
Talking Stick - January/February 2016 - 23
Talking Stick - January/February 2016 - Res Life
Talking Stick - January/February 2016 - BC1
Talking Stick - January/February 2016 - BC2
Talking Stick - January/February 2016 - 25
Talking Stick - January/February 2016 - 26
Talking Stick - January/February 2016 - 27
Talking Stick - January/February 2016 - Assessment
Talking Stick - January/February 2016 - 29
Talking Stick - January/February 2016 - 30
Talking Stick - January/February 2016 - 31
Talking Stick - January/February 2016 - Conduct
Talking Stick - January/February 2016 - 33
Talking Stick - January/February 2016 - 34
Talking Stick - January/February 2016 - 35
Talking Stick - January/February 2016 - Match Game
Talking Stick - January/February 2016 - 37
Talking Stick - January/February 2016 - 38
Talking Stick - January/February 2016 - 39
Talking Stick - January/February 2016 - 40
Talking Stick - January/February 2016 - 41
Talking Stick - January/February 2016 - 42
Talking Stick - January/February 2016 - 43
Talking Stick - January/February 2016 - 44
Talking Stick - January/February 2016 - 45
Talking Stick - January/February 2016 - 46
Talking Stick - January/February 2016 - 47
Talking Stick - January/February 2016 - Basic Training
Talking Stick - January/February 2016 - 49
Talking Stick - January/February 2016 - 50
Talking Stick - January/February 2016 - 51
Talking Stick - January/February 2016 - 52
Talking Stick - January/February 2016 - 53
Talking Stick - January/February 2016 - 54
Talking Stick - January/February 2016 - 55
Talking Stick - January/February 2016 - Conversations
Talking Stick - January/February 2016 - 57
Talking Stick - January/February 2016 - 58
Talking Stick - January/February 2016 - 59
Talking Stick - January/February 2016 - First Takes
Talking Stick - January/February 2016 - Around Student Affairs
Talking Stick - January/February 2016 - 62
Talking Stick - January/February 2016 - New Members
Talking Stick - January/February 2016 - Snapshot
Talking Stick - January/February 2016 - Cover3
Talking Stick - January/February 2016 - Cover4
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