By Victoria Durgin, Co-editor-in-chief
As the future remains unclear in light of the uncertainties brought by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, some Susquehanna students are also unsure of where they will live if the university returns to campus in the fall.
Housing registration, which took place the week of April 27, left some on waitlists and others frustrated with the process.
According to Dr. Colleen Bunn, the director of Residence Life at Susquehanna, between 130 and 150 students are on a waitlist.
Bunn said this is not an uncommon issue.
“We had the same issue last year where we ran out of beds for sophomore students at the end of selection,” Bunn said.
She added that she is confident her team will work out a plan to house all students.
Jena Lui, a rising sophomore who went through registration on April 30, is one of the students left on the waitlist.
Lui said the rising sophomores received an email in advance of registration opening that spots were limited. Later that night, according to Lui, she was emailed and asked to put herself on a waitlist for a spot.
Lui also said using the system itself was frustrating.
“The moment I chose something [the site] said that someone for already registered for it. When I reloaded, all the options were taken,” Lui said.
Rising sophomore Joy Tushek said by the time she was supposed to select housing at 8:40 p.m., all the spots had been taken.
Tushek said she received an email at 6:45 p.m. on April 30 that housing was full and all students would be put on a waitlist. The housing selection process opened at 4 p.m. on that day.
According to Bunn, there were more students than usual who went through the selection process this year due to the cancellation of several study abroad trips.
Every student who planned to study abroad during the fall semester was told to apply to on-campus housing either because their program was cancelled or so they had a housing assignment at Susquehanna in case their program cancels over the summer, according to Ariana Stuhl, an advisor in the Global Opportunities program.
This influx of approximately 115 students did create a shortage of housing, as did the rate of retention, which Bunn said increases the overall total of people applying to live on campus.
Some students also found that the system did not work properly during the selection process.
Rising junior Dustin Waleff said the system did not recognize one of the people he requested as a roommate as a rising junior even though the student was. Waleff said he had to call the Residence Life office “multiple times” to have the issue fixed.
“By the time we got it fixed, we lost out on where we wanted to live,” said Waleff. He was still able to get a housing assignment, however.
Bunn said she wishes the program could have been conducted on campus but that her office sent out the necessary information to students ahead of registration.
“We sent a lot of information to students over the past three months-that can be overwhelming, and we believe some folks didn’t read those emails thoroughly and may have been confused in the moment,” Bunn said.
Bunn also said her office will continue to work to find housing for all students.
“We are looking at alternative plans for housing upperclassmen as we learn more about GO programs for the Fall, learn more about the academic standing of students, and navigate a summer that has looked very different from the past without Summer Housing and in-person summer classes,” Bunn said.
Bunn also said she is working with Vice President for Student Life Susan Lantz to find additional spaces on-campus and will begin assigning students from the waitlist to housing in the coming weeks.
Still, those left on the waitlist say they feel added stress at a time when they don’t need much more of it.
“The farthest that I can plan for is what tomorrow will bring, because if I try to think for what will happen next fall, it will give me even more stress and anxiety,” Tushek said.
Lui said she is trying to be optimistic.
“I’m hoping for the best, but I am very skeptical for now,” Lui said.
According to Bunn, students with concerns about housing should email the Residence Life office at residencelife@susqu.edu.
