As this school year draws to a close, Waynesburg University students are currently completing the process of figuring out where they will be living next semester through housing applications.

The dates of requests for triples, quads and on-campus houses have passed, and all that remains are the tier selection times for double rooms, which will take place April 4 and April 6.

Due to a select number of spots available for specific housing areas, not every student can fit into to their ideal housing situation.

“There has to be a fair process in order to be able to house everybody,” said Jessica Sumpter, assistant dean of Student Services. “We have established what that fair process is for each of the types of housing.”

Housing selections are mainly credit based, and seniority gets preference within all residential buildings.

On-campus houses work a little differently, though.

“There is a community aspect to [on campus housing],” said Sumpter. “It was very clearly stated through the application process what those minimum requirements are.”

On-campus houses are used for capacity overflow, so there are only a set number of beds for both males and females that are established, based on how many projections are needed.

However, on the other hand, for triples and quads, one of the main issues is that more than two people would have to fit in a space that’s only designed as a double room.

“The rooms that triples and quads were in were ultimately designed for two students,” said Sumpter. “We have added the ability for people to triple within a double sized room with a price break, or have a quad based on the number of beds that we need for male and female students.”

The number of triple and quad rooms depend on the number of students applying for the housing.

According to Sumpter, Waynesburg is anticipating around 1,100 residential students on campus.

“Our residential hall capacity, the way that it was designed, with only two people to a room across all of campus is about 975 [people],” said Sumpter. “So we do need on-campus houses, we do need triples and quads for capacity overflow.”

Sumpter said that more male triple applications were received than triples available, so some students ended up being turned away, as the decision making was based on credits – the same as double rooms.

According to Sumpter, every dorm has its benefits, and students can be surprised by how things end up working out.

“There really is a community that’s built [in an underclassmen dorm], so I think there’s a lot to be said for the community that happens within those buildings,” said Sumpter. “It may not be [a student’s] first preference of where they would like to live, but there can always be something positive. I’ve actually heard from several students that ended up going to a suite-style residence hall, maybe their sophomore year, and going back to a traditional hall for their junior year, just because they missed that type of community. I think it really is just a personal preference.”

Sumpter said the housing process is always open to change.

“I think ultimately we are always looking for improvement, and we can always learn from correcting any issues with that,” said Sumpter. “The only thing that I would correct would be [the] timing of when [the applications] are released. I would have liked to have gotten it out probably [at the] beginning of February, so people have plenty of time in order to complete it. So we would like to get it out earlier next year, I think is really the main change that I would make.