In preparation for the 2023-2024 academic year, the Elizabethtown College Office of Housing & Residence Life (Res Life) has made changes to its independent living unit (ILU) selection process. The ILUs include the Hackman Apartments, the Schreiber Quadrangle (the quads) and the College-owned houses.
Associate Dean of Students for Community Living Jenn Crowder shared insight about the main changes for the upcoming housing selection. “Our priorities for this year are two-fold,” she said. “First, we want to be clear about the housing selection process. This is why we have provided informational sessions and provided the presentation in [an] email to students…Second, we want to make the process as easy as possible for students. The link to the housing intention form that went out on February 1 will better allow Housing & Residence Life to craft a specific path for students based on their fall 2023 plans. This takes the guesswork out of it for students.”
Crowder then highlighted that the changes were aimed to alleviate the stress of housing selection for students by reducing the amount of “to-do” items. Residence Life also does not want to penalize a group of students if an individual fails to complete a step in the lottery or selection process, which has been an issue for some in past years.
Listening to feedback provided by students last year, Residence Life was able to pinpoint certain problems and frustrations experienced during housing selection. This year, they hope to work toward fairness and transparency.
ILUs are available to students who have at least 60 credits by the end of this semester, meaning they must at least have junior class standing. However, there is limited space, so it is not guaranteed that all students—especially rising juniors—will have the opportunity to live in an ILU.
“We have 89 ILU units available. The combinations of group types: all seniors, all juniors, or a mix of the two makes it really difficult to predict how many rising juniors will get a unit,” Crowder said. “This is why we really encourage folks to plan ahead in case they are not one of the 89 groups who will get an ILU and instead will go on the waiting list and choose from a traditional residence hall.”
In addition, ILUs are more expensive than standard dorms. For the 2022-2023 academic year, a room in the quads, apartments or houses was $7,374, and a double room in the residence halls was $6,282. Although students would prefer to live off campus during their undergraduate career at Etown, noting these prices, they are not permitted to do this under the four-year housing contract all students are required to sign—unless they pay the 50% buyback.
“The College continues to assess our housing options for students. The decisions are a balance of ensuring we are effectively managing the maintenance of our current housing options, being good fiscal stewards of campus resources, and meeting the wants and needs of students, which change over time,” Crowder expressed about the housing contract. “When we are presented with options for our long-term residential planning, we absolutely keep these three things in mind. For small, private liberal arts colleges, a four-year contract seems to be the standard in this region, and to my knowledge, there are no plans to change our housing contract length.”
Although the four-year housing contract will continue to stay in place, the addition of Royer as a residence hall will help ensure that there is not a housing crisis in the future, as enrollment has increased for the past three years.
Students who want to live in the ILUs must have a complete group of four to five people, depending on the unit, by March 15. Each member must also be eligible to live in an ILU. Students can email reslife@etown.edu with any questions.
