Residential Life is offering residents of Newing College’s Chenango Hall priority housing for the spring 2010 semester because of the impact of the East Campus construction project.
On Oct. 22, Chenango residents received a letter via e-mail from Suzanne E. Howell, director of ResLife and University housing, regarding their housing options for the semester. According to Howell, Chenango residents who stay in Chenango for the entire fall semester will receive a $500 credit to their accounts, which will be added on Dec. 1, 2009.
The letter added that residents can now move to another community by contacting the Newing College Office to find available housing, as there are currently over 100 vacancies campus-wide.
The residents also received a letter explaining their priority for the spring 2010 housing reassignment process in addition to instructions on ResLife’s Web site.
Howell clarified that ResLife will do its best to accommodate all residents’ requests, provided the proper vacancies exist. According to the ResLife Web site, residents who decide to move have two options.
The first option is that Chenango residents can submit a mutual request form, which means someone living in another room, suite or apartment with a vacancy has requested them to be their roommate.
“Residents who want to room change can be ‘pulled in’ as a mutual request by someone who has a vacancy in their room for the spring semester,” Grace Hoefner said, senior associate director of ResLife. “This would allow them to be housed in a community and with a roommate of their choosing.”
Hoefner added there are also some completely vacant rooms on campus for residents who want to continue living together.
The second option residents have is to submit their name on a wait-list for a specific community.
“How many [residents] can be accommodated in their first choice will depend on cancellations and demand; however, it is worth noting that Chenango residents will be given priority over other students in the wait list process,” Hoefner said.
East Campus construction began at the start of summer 2009 with the demolition of Newing College’s old Bingham Hall. Over the summer, ResLife sent out e-mails to all students residing in Newing College informing them that there will be some excess noise in the area during construction.
According to Howell, it is the Chenango residents’ choice not to change their room or participate in a room re-assignment.
“[They] are making the choice to remain in Chenango Hall for the spring 2010 semester with full knowledge of the conditions surrounding the ongoing construction,” Howell said.
These students will not receive additional refunds for the spring semester, as they are now given the option to move out.
Some Chenango residents feel that is not worth it to move.
“I am going to stay in Chenango because the construction hasn’t really bothered me due to the location of my room and I don’t feel like moving all of my stuff elsewhere in the middle of the year,” said Alyssa Santivicca, a sophomore undeclared major.
Howell hopes that these options will help assuage the situation for Chenango residents. Residents can call the Newing College Office at (607) 777-2864 with additional questions.