Report of the USG Committee on Student Housing

 2020 Room Draw

Overview:

On February 16, 2020, the USG Committee on Student Housing released a report outlining the randomization errors of Room Draw 2019 and the changes implemented as a result of a series of technical meetings between the USG Committee and Housing. Since this last report, we have reached out to the students who analyzed Room Draw 2019, who analyzed the 2020 Room Draw Lists released on undergraduate Housing portals on March 25, 2020. Utilizing the same battery of statistical tests as last year, the 2019 and 2020 room draw lists were analyzed to see if there was a correlation among the two lists and if group size impacted draw time. The analysis found that room draw times are fair for 2020. This report will cover the randomization analysis, reiterate the new changes implemented for Room Draw 2020, outline helpful resources students can use to guide their room draw selection, and provide a Google Forms link to call for question submissions.

 

Was Room Draw Fixed?

After Room Draw 2019, Housing implemented a new in-house randomization system that was conducted by Housing staff, in conjunction with the University Services Information Technology, and the University’s Office of Information Technology.

In order to confirm randomization was fixed, the USG Committee on Student Housing reached out to the students who found the discrepancies in the Room Draw for last year.

The findings of the analysis:

  1. Larger draw groups do not have an advantage over smaller draw groups. Draw times were not affected by group size.
  2. There was no correlation between 2019 and 2020 draw times. Room draw times are random.

Therefore, the independent analysis found Housing’s new system to be effective. Room Draw 2020 is fair.

What You Can Expect in Room Draw 2020:

For the past several months, the USG Committee on Student Housing worked with Housing on implementing new improvements to Room Draw based on student input.

The new changes are as follows:

  1. The timer to complete the specific room selection (5 minutes in 2018, 8 minutes in 2019) was extended to 10 minutes for Forbes, Mathey, Rockefeller, and Wilson (all other draws remain 8 minutes).
  2. A full list of available rooms on the website.
  3. Confirmation email of selected room assignment and meal plan will be sent at the conclusion of each day of room draw.
  4. Information about the waitlist process (timing, further steps, for both upperclassmen and residential college room draw) was released.
  5. Extended time between room draw groups.

In addition, Housing has initiated the introduction of a chat feature that will be available to all students.

Room Draw has always been virtual, even on-campus, so Housing has not had to implement further changes to accommodate COVID-19 at this time. As in years past, Housing will continue to provide phone and email support, as staff members can continue to answer office phones and email remotely. Housing will monitor the first few days of draw and re-evaluate if necessary.

Helpful Resources:

  • Using this platform, you can search for:
  • How many singles/doubles/triples/suites/etc there are in each dorm
  • Square footage of each room
  • Sub-free/ Non sub-free
  • Sort by Features (ADA accessible, bi-level room, shared/private bathroom, strobe light)
  • And more!
  • Undergraduate Room Draw Guide:
  • The Room Draw Guide, created and published by Housing administrators on the Housing website, provides a comprehensive overview for rising sophomores, juniors, and seniors.
  • We would like to highlight the section on Room Improvement. If you are a rising Junior or Senior who participated in Upperclass Draw and had draw times in the bottom quarter of your class, you are eligible to apply to “improve” your room. The application process and more details can be found here.
  • The above PDF is a complete list of times when specific rooms were drawn last year, which you can use to estimate your chances for your desired room. Please note that room draw is different every year, and nobody can accurately predict when any room will be selected.

Frequently Asked Questions:

  1. Is the room draw list subject to change? 

A: No. Room draw times will not change for those students who have a posted room

draw time.

  1. I applied but my name is not on the room draw lists. What happened? 

        A: ALL students who submitted a COMPLETED room draw application have been

assigned a draw time. You can check the status of your application in your My Housing

portal. If your status is pending, your application was incomplete. Please email

askhousing@princeton.edu ASAP if you believe you should have a draw time but do not.

  1. What are my chances for a single? 

A: This depends according to your building preferences, your draw time, and what

students before you select. Nobody can give you a clear answer on this before you log in

at your specified draw time and see rooms are available, but you can check out the

Helpful Resources section above to see last year’s room selection times.

  1. Are certain rooms “reserved” for different class years?

        A: Other than the freshman rooms (which will not show up on the available rooms list

during Room Draw), rooms are not reserved. All available rooms left during your draw

time are up for grabs.

We are still accepting questions through our Google Forms! The above questions are recurring trends we have seen from the form, but we are continuing to aggregate questions to serve as liaisons between students and Housing at this time. We will ask administrators in Housing, and then we will directly reach out to you with their responses using the NetID email information you provide on the Google Form. With the questions above, our response and follow-up time has been less than an hour. We will continue to uphold our commitment to transparency by promising responses within a few hours, maximum.

You can also directly reach out to your Housing engagement specialists at askhousing@princeton.edu or send a message to Housing’s Instagram @princeton_studenthousing. All of Housing and the USG Committee on Student Housing are here to support you.  

Respectfully submitted,

USG Committee on Student Housing

Sarah Lee ‘22 (Chair)

Yafah Edelman ‘20

Alec Leng ‘21

Lachlan McCarty ‘22

Betsy Pu ‘22