After some negotiations, UCLA Housing and the On Campus Housing
Council have reached an agreement to begin on-campus room sign-ups
on March 8, about a month earlier than last year’s April
sign-ups.
Housing officials had proposed to move the date for room
sign-ups ““ during which students choose which dorm they want
to live in the following year ““ to February, almost two
months earlier than previous years.
But concerns from OCHC and Policy Review Board members caused
Housing to consider alternative dates.
Joanne Williams, assistant director of Housing Services, said
the Policy Review Board, a group of student leaders who review
policies and represent student concerns, proposed that Housing move
sign-ups to the week of March 8.
Housing agreed to the proposal last week.
OCHC and Policy Review Board members were concerned that an
earlier sign-up date would be detrimental to students, said
Danielle Malvini, chairwoman of the Policy Review Board and the On
Campus Housing Council.
Malvini said concerns included that students might be forced to
decide on their housing before determining their academic plans,
such as studying abroad and receiving notices as to whether they
were awarded financial aid.
OCHC members are still sifting through the reasons provided for
why housing sign-up dates have been moved up at all, Malvini
said.
Housing Assignments Manager Robert Smith said the change was
made for several reasons, including demands from students and
parents.
Malvini also said the OCHC had been told that University
Apartments officials complained sign-ups were too late in the
year.
However, Williams said a request from university administration
was the driving force behind the change.
She said administrators requested numbers on housing
availability for new students in January last year, but Housing
could not provide them that early.
“If there is a high return rate, then we have more time
now to figure out the configurations,” Williams said.
Joseph Vardner, the facilities commissioner for the
Undergraduate Students Association Council, said USAC’s role
in the negotiations is primarily to support OCHC members as they
begin to work more closely with Housing.
“There are other issues that come up and we will help to
address them. Our role now is to educate students about the change
come winter quarter, so that they are prepared,” Vardner
said.
In an effort to better include student opinion, Housing is
seeking to include a student representative at its weekly
meetings.
Williams said the OCHC has sent representatives to their
meetings in previous years, but when the new board met last year,
no representatives attended.
“It’s important that OCHC and Housing work together
in the best interest of students,” Malvini said.
Vardner said having a representative from OCHC present at
Housing’s weekly meetings is another step in promoting shared
governance and student empowerment.
“Shared governance is important because we live here, and
who knows better for students than students,” Vardner
said.
He said the OCHC’s presence at the meetings for policy
decisions with Housing and the Office of Residential Life will help
to identify problems with potential changes before they are
made.
“We just want to help make it better. The best way is for
us to be present when these decisions are made,” Vardner
said.