Technical difficulties with UMW’s online housing system

By EMILY ROSSI

Staff Writer

During the week of March 19, the UMW online housing system ran into many technical difficulties, leaving students stuck in rooms they didn’t ask for, with people they did not know. The school’s housing system backfired when students attempted to claim  their rooms for the upcoming academic year, and many were kicked out of their groups and sent into rooms with random other students.

Students immediately contacted Marye house, where the office of residence life is located. Some students received emails back within a day while others awaited  responses for longer periods of time.

One Freshman described their experience with this glitch following their attempts to claim a room.

“A glitch in the housing system caused me and many others to be separated from our original roommate groups, and while Reslife has stated that they are trying to fix the problem, many people, myself included, have still not been given a solution,” said freshman Joseph Milbank.

Before these events took place, students had been preparing and were given specific time slots to sign up for housing.The time slots varied throughout the days of the week and some students were given earlier time slots than others.

Many were trying to live with a group of friends, in an apartment or a suite. However, when students attempted to make their room selections  the housing system only allowed students to see one room per apartment/suite, when typically they’d be able to see at least two rooms within that apartment.

Students were also  unable to see whether the entire apartment was free, and when  two students would choose to live in a room,everyone else in the group would be placed in a random room.

Some students reported that they never received an email with their time slot as they should have, and at the time were unable able to sign up for a room altogether.

“I got a bad time slot and the girl I was supposed to room with didn’t even get a time slot so when we went to pick rooms the only things left were Virginia and westmo so we got stuck in Virginia but then I was able to join a group in eagle because they had an open bed,” said freshman Meg Holland.

One of the biggest frustrations at the time following the new housing system’s failure was was that following the events many had significant issues getting in contact with the Office of Residential life. The Office of Residence Life did the best that they could to manage the number of students and student complaints that they had to address all at once.

While in waiting many students had to remain in a random room and hope for the best, or to spend the extra money to live off campus.

Following the events, three different employees of the Marye House were contacted by The Blue and Gray Press about the technical difficulties but all stated that  questions would need to be directed to David Fleming, the Assistant Dean for Residence Life and Housing. Following all of the chaos, Fleming has not been available for comment.