The Office of Residential Life altered its housing selection timeline after it was disrupted due to IT server issues, according to an email sent to students on Wednesday. The housing selection process resumed on Thursday.
“We have made some changes to the room selection process that will help control user traffic in the My ResLife portal and provide a more streamlined experience when registering roommate groups,” the Wednesday email reads.
ResLife reversed its decision to switch the order of two apartment selection dates. Four-person apartment selection will now occur on Friday, prior to two- and three-person apartment selection, which will occur on Monday—according to an email sent to students on Thursday.
“Since announcing our updated schedule for Room Selection, students have voiced their concern that the 2 & 3 person apartment night was switched with the 4 person apartment night,” the Thursday email reads. “Due to these concerns, we have adjusted the schedule to better accommodate student selection preferences.”
ResLife initially switched the order of the selection dates on Wednesday, with two- and three-person apartment selection occurring on Friday.
Anna Conidi, MCAS ’23, said she did not fully understand ResLife’s initial decision to switch the two housing selection dates.
“I feel like if people were voicing their opinions, and then they switched it back, I guess that’s a good thing, but I wasn’t exactly sure what was happening,” Conidi said.
Though he registered for a six-person apartment, Jordan Callahan, CSOM ’23, said the switched selection dates must be frustrating for those planning to register for either a four-person apartment or a two- or three-person apartment.
Yosenlis Fabian, MCAS ’25, however, said she did not see an issue with adjusting the housing selection dates.
“I would say that it’s not an issue because if the software is having issues, of course they have to fix it, so I don’t see an issue with all of that happening and stuff like that,” Fabian said.
Other housing selection dates were pushed back, but their order did not change.
Registration and room selection times will remain the same, according to the Wednesday email, with the registration period running from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. and room selection times beginning at 4 p.m.
“The timeline for each day will remain the same, the only changes are the days that each room type selection night will take place,” the Wednesday email reads.
Though the Wednesday email said group members are no longer required to log on to the My ResLife portal to join a housing group—only the leader would form and verify the group, returning to previous housing policy—ResLife sent each student registering for four-person apartment pick times Friday morning an email instructing them to verify their housing group in the MyResLife portal.
“All roommate groups that were partially created, fully created, and/or verified are still in the system and were not lost,” the Wednesday email reads.
Abby Goodwin, MCAS ’23, said that as a transfer student, this is her first time going through the BC housing selection process. The experience, she said, has been very stressful.
“As soon as I found out that everyone had to accept the invitations to join the group … everyone else was saying that was new, and then the website crashed,” she said. “I was like, ‘I don’t really know what I’m supposed to do,’ because I sent out the invitations, but my group members couldn’t even accept them. So it just felt out of my control.”
ResLife also resolved a glitch that prevented students from blocking a co-ed roommate group, according to the email.
Conidi said her group was able to register for six-person apartment selection on Tuesday, unlike many other groups she knew, but they were not able to block housing groups.
“We went in to put in the blocking and, like I said, it’s co-ed, but you just couldn’t see any people of the opposite gender,” she said. “In the email they said that there was an issue with that, but they fixed it.”
Goodwin said she was surprised that ResLife had issues with housing this year.
“It’s kind of frustrating because, I mean, housing selection happens every year, so you would think that the website is equipped to handle it,” she said.
ResLife apologized for any difficulties due to the server issues.
“We again thank you for your patience and flexibility while we work to resolve the issues that impacted room selection yesterday,” the Wednesday email said. “We deeply apologize for any stress and inconvenience this may have caused.”
Update (3/18/22, 12:50): This article was updated to reflect that all students registering for housing pick times Friday had to verify their groups.
Featured Image by Maddy Romance / Heights Senior Staff
