In response to the editorial, "Campus Engagement Point Housing System Disengages Students," this letter will attempt to clarify several facts about the housing selection process. Specifically, students are guaranteed housing on campus (as long as they have remained in housing since their first year) and may select their roommates. Regardless of the specific residence area that students select during the online housing selection process, the overall housing selection system at Ramapo is designed so that students may select a group of roommates/suitemates with whom they are comfortable sharing their college experience.
This semester, as in the past, admittance times for selecting housing are based on a student's overall class status (freshman, sophomore, junior or senior). The modification added this year is for freshmen and sophomores only; the sum of a group's campus engagement points will determine the groups admittance time instead of the person in the group with the highest earned credits.
In order to gain feedback and to communicate about the additional points available to students, this modified process was vetted by the Student Government Association (SGA) prior to being sent to the student body via e-mail on October 11, 2012. It was also published in the Ramapo News. During this vetting period, students had the opportunity to voice their concerns or ask for clarification about the modified process by e-mailing points@ramapo.edu. After publishing this information, the Office of Residence Life received a limited number of e-mails asking for clarification of the modified system.
The Office of Residence Life is committed to providing resident students with a positive residential experience that contributes to a student's overall success at Ramapo College. Encouragement of student engagement is also encouragement of student success. Unfortunately, it is not possible to ensure that all residents receive their first choice of housing. As indicated, Residence Life is open to suggestions from students on how the residential experience may be improved, including concrete suggestions on improving the housing selection process. Suggestions should be sent to points@ramapo.edu.
