Room Selection Switch-Ups

Danniele Fulmer ’17 standing outside Riddle Hall

Photo provided by Toni Marie

Living on campus is an integral part of the college experience. Learning to do laundry and putting up with roommates are special skills that are not taught in a classroom. Dorms become the center of a student’s life, and it is important that the space they live in is one they enjoy.

To facilitate ease of student life, Wilson offers four different housing options for students.

In Disert Hall, there are divided doubles. A storage unit splits the room in half, which allows separation between roommates. In MacElwain/Davidson Hall, the rooms are open doubles. In this layout, a student is in constant contact with their roommate.

Riddle Hall and South Hall are commonly upperclassman housing, but underclassmen are eligible to reside within these residences. Riddle’s suites are made up of two open doubles that are connected by a bathroom. Typically, these spaces are shared by four students, but due to occupancy projections, some rooms in Riddle will house up to three or four students next year. The suites in South come in either one room with an ensuite bathroom or two rooms with ensuite bathroom. These suites will house either 2 or 3 students.

Another important change is that buyouts will no longer be an option. The only exception to this rule will be if the student has ADA accommodations. Also, the current RA rooms will be repurposed as standard student dorms, and the RAs will be relocated to alternate arrangements.

Students are sometimes unaware of what their housing options look like, and can make it difficult to choose what option they want. In order to dispel confusion, Director of Residence Life Sherri Sadowski coordinates a series of events during room selection season.

The first of the three events takes place during the week after spring break.

“The week after spring break, we will be doing hall tours from 9-10 a.m. and each hall has a different day,” said Sadowski. “That way if students see there is a hall they are not familiar with, they have a chance to see the public spaces and an example of a typical room.”

This allows students to more easily picture what it would be like to live in these halls making the decision process easier.

The following Sunday, March 29, Sadowski will hold a room mixer. This gives students the opportunity to look for a potential roommate.

“We’ll be in lower Lenfest, and I’ll have the all of the floorplans out,” said Sadowski. “I’ll also have marked what has been squatted and what is

taken offline and held for the incoming class. It’s a good chance to see what’s available and also, they’ll have their lottery numbers so they can ask me what that may means for them.”

After deciding on potential rooms and roommates, room selection will take place. An email with more precise details will be sent out closer to the date of selection.

Another issue is the continuing transition to a co-ed campus. Currently, all residential men live on a single sex floor in Davidson except for five who are in Riddle. Next year, with incoming freshman being added to the mix, the halls will truly begin to go co-ed.

However, for those who prefer living in single sex halls, Sadowski says, “We want to maintain a single sex option for men and women, so there will still be a single sex female floor on the Mac side and a single sex male floor on the Dav side.”

Housing on campus is an ever-changing game and Sadowski is in charge of keeping it running smoothly. Although she cannot make guarantees about how things may change from year to year, students can communicate with her and she will do her best to make sure that all parties are satisfied.