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Housing Reed students when
demand is high
By Sharon Goodman Lasher
Assistant Dean of Residence Life
Living on campus has been a popular choice for many of our students over the last few years. Unfortunately, with two very large first-year classes in a row, the demand has exceeded the capacity of our on-campus housing. To help meet the need we have been able to rent nearby apartments and offer them to all the students on the waiting list.
The residence life office has dedicated more time and energy to improving the housing selection process; our hope is that we will have enough space for all the students who want to live on campus. We also want to prepare for the possibility that supply may not meet demand and have worked hard to provide enough information so that students can feel comfortable securing housing off campus.
In early February we gave all students a copy of Where Am I Going to Live Next Year? This new guide gives a detailed explanation of the housing lottery, theme dorm and language house selection, how to find a place to live off campus, and a calendar of important dates. The information is also available on our website.We will also be sending email reminders to all students about the housing lottery and the upcoming deadlines as well as listing this information in the student newspaper and community newsletter. Students who are abroad or on leave who intend to return in the fall of 2003 will receive information through the mail, so they should not miss any deadlines. They can also find this information on the web, or we can fax it to them.
You
may find it helpful to discuss next year’s housing plans with
your child now. If your daughter or son plans to live on campus, encourage
her or him to meet all the deadlines, which will significantly increase
the chances of securing a room on campus (important dates are listed
below). Students must pay the $100 housing deposit, fill out a lottery
card, and
bring it to the residence life office in Eliot 101 by noon on Thursday,
April 10. If they miss this deadline they can still enter the lottery,
but may not be able to secure a room on campus. If they do not get a
room, we will place them on a waiting list for on-campus housing at their
request.
If your student chooses to live off campus, we have created a helpful
new Off-Campus Survival Guide, both in print and on
the web. This guide
offers
tips on finding and renting an off-campus apartment or house. Our website
also features an off-campus
housing bulletin board and provides information
about the Reed night bus, nearby apartment complexes, the Oregonian and Willamette Week classifieds,
and many other resources for finding off-campus housing and roommates. These resources can make
finding a place much
easier when you are far from Portland.
If you have any questions about our housing program please feel free to email me at slasher@reed.edu or call me at 503/777-7536. I would be happy to answer any questions.
