The UGBC Senate hosted two members from the Office of Residential Life (ResLife) to discuss improvements to the housing process at its meeting on Tuesday night.
“Even though I have lived in a lot of the residential halls on campus, I’ve never gone through the process,” Dorrie Siqueiros, director of residential education said. “So being able to talk to someone who has gone through that and navigated it is sometimes much more helpful than the FAQs and things like that.”
According to Siqueiros, ResLife is in the process of creating an advisory group for Living & Learning communities (LLCs) and working to add an academic component to some pre-existing LLCs.
“Any LLC that exists at BC should be linked with some sort of academic requirement,” Siequeiros said. “If you’re familiar with the LLCs, not all of them right now meet that standard, so we’re really trying to … put them in compliance with that idea of having an academic course as part of it.”
Cristina Gregory, student senator and MCAS ’26, suggested ResLife allow transfer students to fill empty spots in suites to prevent people from being kicked out of housing groups that are trying to fill a certain number of spots and acquire a suite.
“It would be a way of kind of transitioning transfers more into Lower, into communities and suites, but also not creating a scenario in which groups are kind of feeling like they have to get kicked, or two people, one person is getting kicked,” Gregory said.
Caitlin Codding, director of housing operations, said ResLife may be open to this possibility, but that the comfort of transfer students is also important to take into consideration.
“I think the other component that we would just want to consider is the experience of that transfer,” Codding said. “Feedback that I have received from transfers—and transfers in the rooms—is oftentimes it can be isolating to be that one person.”
Colleen Blascik, first-generation student representative and MCAS ’27, asked whether ResLife would be willing to work with the Montserrat Office to supply students with funds for dorm room necessities.
“I was wondering if, in the past, you guys have ever partnered with [Montserrat] and given them a grant in order to disperse to Montserrat students to possibly get … the basic necessities that we might need access to,” Blascik said. “I do know that Monsterrat does have things for food, clothing, and things like that, but there’s also the dorm experience.”
While Siqueiros said ResLife would need to consider funding, she said it is open to the idea and always looking for ways to make residential living an equitable process for students.
“We are always open to partnering and improving the student experience, so I think it’s a matter of identifying what the ask is and—if not funding—how we can support that, what are ways in general to make the residential experience as equitable as possible,” Siqueiros said.
At the end of the meeting, UGBC Vice President Meghan Heckelman, LSEHD ’25, introduced Alessandra Veveiros, MCAS ’27, as the new international student representative.
Veveiros said that while she was born in the United States, she has lived in Uruguay, England, Indonesia, Nicaragua, and Kenya.
“I hope to advocate for the international students here,” Veveiros said. “I’m very excited.”
Correction (Feb. 21, 2024 8:11 a.m.): This article was corrected from a previous version to note that Cristina Gregory, MCAS ’26, suggested allowing transfer students to fill empty spots in suites, not Minnah Abdel-Naby, MCAS ’27.
