AMANDA DEDIE
Staff Writer
Fear not: instead of waiting outside in cold temperatures this semester to pick out a room in next year’s dorm building, the campus has finally upgraded to technological means of housing application.
That’s right, electronic housing has finally made its way to Fredonia. Instead of the two-day process that entailed drawing numbers and coming back the next day to pick your room in number and class order, on April 12 students can now go online (after paying their registration fee) and choose what dorm and what room they want to live in.
“Depending on which type of housing they’re registering for — like special housing such as substance free, kitchen suites, and the special senior suites we’re offering — at all those different times they’ll go online and register for whichever one they want to do,” explained Daniel Goodwin, assistant director of Residence Life and townhouse coordinator. “There’s roommate selection through the system, as well, so roommates have to register under the same [dorm] choice, and then they can select one another.”
The new system not only provides an easier room selection process, but also makes it easier for people to pick suites. The people who want to live together in a suite can all sit together during their selection time and work to pick the same suite, instead of one person going up at a time, picking a suite and hoping that no one else picks a room in their suite.
“The old system was very antiquated. As much as I loved doing it, because I got to see the students face-to-face, it is something that was long overdue,” said Goodwin. “It doesn’t restrict them to the set time standards of the old system. It’s all automated. There’s a lot of behind the scenes. Alicia [Wroblewski, secretary of Residence Life] and Kathy [Forester, associate director of Residence Life] spent a lot of time making sure that all the categories are set up, all the rooms are in there, and all the options that we want to show are in there.”
According to Goodwin, the old system had been in place for at least 30-40 years, having been in place when he attended Fredonia back in the early ‘80s.
Students have mixed reactions on the new system — the negative ones coming mostly from students who don’t get to actually use it.
“How did it take them over a decade to come up with this?” said Alyssa Barrett, a senior majoring in communication studies. “I mean, technology wasn’t always as great as it is now, but I feel like they could have come up with something like this a lot sooner. I’m graduating this semester, so I won’t be able to try out the new system, which sounds great and a lot more convenient.”
Those who do get to indulge in the online experience, however, are excited to try it out.
“Last year I had to stand outside, waiting to get into McGinnies Hall, and it was so cold,” said Katlynn Cole, a junior majoring in public accountancy and finance. “I don’t deal with cold well, which is surprising considering I chose Fredonia to go to college,” she laughed. “But I’m really excited to choose my housing online this year. I was surprised when I’d heard that they’d been doing the old way for at least 30 years, and I’m even more surprised that they didn’t do this sooner. It’s a big step forward.”
As for the easier aspect of the system, it hasn’t had any complaints so far from those who have given it a test run before it was launched.
“I actually did it myself, and I’m not the most computer literate. I was surprised at how quick and how easy it was,” said Goodwin. “We actually created YouTube videos with tutorials for students, as well as directions posted online and slips of papers in the office [with directions on how to use the system]. If I think it’s easy, our students are probably thinking, ‘Is this all it is?’”
The electronic housing system can be accessed at http://www.fredonia.edu/reslife/roomselection.asp.
“It’s taken us a long time to do this, but we’re here! It’s going live,” Goodwin exclaimed excitedly.