In a move that has prompted two protests and hundreds of phone calls from parents and students, the University of Massachusetts at Dartmouth announced last week it will change its housing lottery to favor current underclassmen.
“We have 5,600 students here and there is absolutely no way we can house all of them. Nor will we try,” said Maeve Hickok, Communications Director for UMass-Dartmouth.
Officials from the school’s Office of Student Affairs announced the decision last Sunday during a meeting with campus residence hall directors and assistants. News quickly spread by word of mouth, triggering a violent protest last Monday that left $4,000 worth of damage.
According to Hickok, the decision is a result of supply and demand. The University currently houses only 2,400 of its 5,600 students on campus and has seen growth in both its freshman and out-of-state student populations. She said the new lottery changes seek to make housing distribution more equitable to all undergraduates.
“There is an intent to have all four years represented on campus,” she said.
Besides changing to give rising sophomores and juniors first choice and rising seniors last choice of housing, the new lottery system also denies on-campus housing to fifth-year seniors. While they will not be certain until the May 1 housing deposit deadline, UMass officials estimate that the changes will displace about 100 students.
Hickok maintained that because the UMass-Dartmouth campus is located between the cities of Fall River and New Bedford, students living off-campus have ample apartment properties to choose from. She said officials have not yet figured out how the University’s $5,403 annual room and board charge compares to the cost of living in an area apartment.
Student input on the lottery decision was limited to consumer opinion surveys conducted by the University’s Office of Housing last fall. Residence halls distributed fliers last Tuesday — the night before housing selection began and three days before Spring Break — explaining the changes and stating lottery dates.
That night, roughly 1,000 students attended a Student Senate information session to voice their concerns. On Thursday, 75 students gathered outside the administration building to peacefully protest the decision.
Lisa Marsh, a UMass-Dartmouth sophomore from Agawam, called the lottery decision “awful.”
“I think it’s unfair that they decided to bring this on us now,” said Marsh, who plans to both claim her current room and participate in the lottery. “I wanted to find off-campus housing, but there really isn’t any right now because half the school’s looking for it.”
Marsh also voiced safety concerns regarding apartments in New Bedford and said she feared area rents will rise as more Dartmouth students look for off-campus housing.
“I know a lot of people can’t afford to live off campus. It’s a big expense,” she said.
UMass-Dartmouth sophomore Shawn Theriault said the new lottery is necessary.
“They needed the change,” said Theriault, a Wakefield native. “There’s not enough housing. People are getting forced into triples all over the place.”
“Our general sense is students have a feeling of insecurity and we can understand that,” Hickok said. “We think their insecurity is based on a lack of information and that is something we’re willing to correct.”
The University plans to better inform students as they return from Spring Break by giving written information on the decision to residence hall directors and establishing a Housing Referral Service in the Enrollment Management Department. The service will provide help such as posted classified ads for area apartments and information on tenant’s rights.
Unlike BU, which guarantees its students on-campus housing for all four years, UMass-Dartmouth has no housing guarantee. Freshmen are notified of limited housing space in their acceptance letters.
“We know, anecdotally, that there is a significant number of students who opt to live off campus from the beginning,” Hickok said.
Boston University spokesman Colin Riley said there are no plans to change the BU campus’ current housing lottery system to resemble that of UMass-Dartmouth.
“We look very seriously at providing appropriate housing,” Riley said. “The system we have in place works very well and has worked very well.”
To further accommodate the growing student population, UMass-Dartmouth plans on building two new dorms totaling 800 beds to be finished within the next two years.
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