Housing is now guaranteed for second-year students, as announced by the Office of Residence Life in an email to residential students on October 20.
According to the email, the guarantee applies to all students entering their second year at Simmons “who previously lived on campus in each semester of their first year.” The guarantee does not apply to transfer students.
Second-year students will be allotted a priority deadline during the housing selection process. “Once that deadline passes, the guarantee is no longer applicable,” said Rae-Anne Butera, interim vice president for student engagement and dean of students. “If they haven’t put their name in the hat, they go right into the same process as everyone else.”
The housing guarantee is not a requirement, Butera said. Second-year students will still have the choice to live off campus, unlike first-year students who are required to live on campus.
“The first two years on campus is not an unusual scenario,” Butera said. According to her, implementing this guarantee aligns with best practices in residence life across higher education institutions.
Overall interest in housing also factored into the decision. “There’s definitely more juniors and seniors who have interest in off-campus housing than there are sophomores or second-years,” Butera said.
Danielle Williams, a computer science and design communications double major in the class of 2026, worries upperclassmen will face more challenges accessing housing on campus.
However, Butera is confident that this guarantee will still leave room for all students who want to live on campus. “While we may still have to have a waitlist, we imagine we will still be able to accommodate everyone that wants to live on campus even with the second-year guarantee.”
Second-year psychology and women and gender studies double major Hazel Desio has mixed feelings about the decision. “I’m happy for future second-years, but as one right now it makes me more anxious about [future] housing selection,” they said.
The email also announced that changes are being made to the housing application process for the 2024-2025 academic year.
“The last two years, we know there have been challenges with the housing process,” Butera said. “We’ve been talking since early in the summer about what changes we can make to possibly continue to improve the process.”
The new housing application process is “still in the planning phase.” An initial information session will be given in early December, Assistant Director of Housing Operations Amber Whitton wrote in an email statement to the Voice.
Questions can be directed to reslife@simmons.edu.
