Housing updates impact upcoming selection

CSB+SJU asks all undergraduate students to live on campus all four years with few exceptions. As a result, the residential life teams on both campuses serve a larger group of students compared to other institutions with less on-campus living requirements. Now, these departments will undergo various changes in the coming months.

SJU Residential life has made procedural changes to the housing selection process for SJU students. Students will still use the housing portal to select their housing, but this year, students will be informed about the housing selection process in advance, and there will be more options for single-occupancy rooms. Additionally, juniors and seniors will select housing with their individual cohorts, meaning in apartment-style living, combined groups of juniors and seniors will no longer be able to live together. All apartment options available to these senior-only groups will be on lower campus.

“The changes to this year’s housing process are intended to better accommodate students,” SJU senior RA Caden Luden said via email. “These changes help provide juniors with easier access to apartment living spaces while also making sure that every senior who wants to live in an apartment will have the chance to do so on lower campus.”

Students will still be assigned a time to choose their housing, but the time windows will be elongated to allow students more time to select their housing.

“This approach provides students with more clarity and flexibility on the overall housing process while also making sure there is a smoother transition into preferred living spaces,” Luden said via email.

CSB Residential Life is also undergoing some structural changes as they look to fill vacant positions.

CSB Dean of Students Jody Terhaar said CSB Residential Life are actively looking to hire for the Director and Assistant Director positions in the department, following former CSB Director of Housing Attina Notch’s exit from the role at the beginning of the semester.

“We are looking forward to filling both positions with people who will add talent, knowledge and new energy and perspectives to our department,” Terhaar said via email. “In particular, we are excited about the work being done to clearly define a curriculum for the four-year residential experience, building on the strong foundation that already exists.”

Both CSB and SJU Residential Life departments have had open positions in the Res Life leadership team in the last year, and the deans and assistant deans of students on both campuses have stepped in to keep operations running.

Terhaar said the CSB Residential Life department has encountered feedback from students in the past few years, both positive and negative.

“One of the challenges of any residential life department is that the people we hear from are those who are frustrated or unhappy with some aspect of their experience,” Terhaar said via email. “We do our best to respond to concerns and feedback or provide information that is helpful.”

Terhaar emphasized that the Residential Life department understands student need for timely and informational communication and assures students that is a goal they are recommitting to executing. She encouraged students to read information that is being sent out about room selection and to contact Residential Life directly with any questions or concerns they may have regarding the information.

Terhaar also emphasized the importance of the four-year residential experience, explaining that is a foundation built on Benedictine values and committed to by President Brian Bruess and the Board of Trustees.

“We welcome feedback from students that helps us in these efforts and suggestions for ways we can improve the overall residential experience for students.” Terhaar said via email. “We also welcome conversations and opportunities to answer questions and clarify information. What has not been helpful are personal attacks or demeaning treatment of individuals, particularly when that happens on anonymous social media platforms.”

The Residential Life department at CSB also consists of a team of RDs, RAs and CAs, who all live on campus with the students they advise and support.

“The people who work in residential life at CSB are truly dedicated to serving and supporting students…We prioritize belonging, inclusion and equity in our interactions, policies, processes and practices,” Terhaar said via email. “The Benedictine Values of Community, Respect, Listening and Stewardship provide the foundation for the CSB residential experience and guide our day-to-day work.”