When students who take semesters off return to campus, they often find that they cannot get the housing that is available to the rest of their class. According to administrators and members of the Wesleyan Student Assembly (WSA), that is about to change.

The WSA, in conjunction with the Undergraduate Residential Life Committee (URLC), has just passed a resolution to change the General Room Selection (GRS) process in order to make it fairer for students who have taken semesters off. Students in this situation, who previously received no points for the entire year, will now receive a 0.5 bump for each semester they completed.

Each student participating in General Room Selection is given a point based on class year. Sophomores are given one point, juniors two points, and seniors three points.  Previously, students who had taken a semester off saw a full point deducted from their GRS number, placing them in the class below their own. As a result, these students were placed at the very end of the room selection process.

Under the new system, students will receive the number of the class below them, plus 0.5. For example, a first semester sophomore entering the selection process will be given a value of 1.5, instead of a value of just 1 under the old system. 

“This change gives students the opportunity to live with people from their class year,” said Rebecca Weiss ’09, WSA member. 

Although most people will be given a half point increase, second semester juniors will be given a full point bump. 

“[This is] so they can live with their friends they made when they entered Wesleyan, and not negatively impact that group’s chance of getting a house,” said Fran Koerting, director of Residential Life.

First semester seniors, or “super seniors,” on the other hand, will be given only three points despite having completed seven semesters. 

“We thought it was unfair to give them better point values,” Weiss said. 

In the past, this process was disadvantageous for students who had taken semesters off because it put them with the class below their own, making it substantially more difficult for these students to obtain desirable housing. Now, while the students will still be at the bottom of their class, they will have the advantage of being ahead of the class below them.

“I believe this is a much more equitable system than what has previously been in place, as it accounts for the number of semesters a student has been at Wesleyan,” Koerting said.