Housing and Food Services released housing assignments to students Monday, leaving some returning residents upset.
Some students who applied to live at OU Traditions Square are unhappy with the results of their housing matching because some returning residents were not given the rooms or roommates they had requested, and many showed their frustration on their Facebooks and Twitters.
Megan Underwood, meteorology sophomore, said she signed a contract with Housing and Food Services in October in the hope of getting the room she wanted.
“I signed up for who, where and which apartment I wanted to live in,” Underwood said. “We were told since we were early, we would get what we wanted. I signed up at the tables inside Cate [Center] and was guaranteed I would get what I requested.”
When Underwood received her housing assignment Monday, however, she did not receive what she had requested. Her assignment puts Underwood with her requested roommate, but in a different room with additional roommates.
Lauren Royston, marketing and public relations specialist for Housing and Food Services, said OU Traditions Square uses a matching system which prioritizes roommates above rooms, which may explain why students weren’t given the rooms they requested.
“Roommate preference is the highest-ranked preference on contracts, which could be why certain students receive a housing assignment with their preferred roommate, but not necessarily their first-floor plan preference,” Royston said in an email.
With fewer two-bedroom apartments available, students who do not wish to move out might keep those rooms, making it difficult to fulfill room requests, Royston said.
Travis Darling, meteorology junior, received the opposite of Housing and Food Service’s priorities. Darling said he completed an application in April for a four-bedroom apartment and, in May, changed his application to request a two-bedroom apartment. He was matched up with the room he had requested, but not his roommate.
“My friend and I had requested each other, but weren’t placed together,” Darling said. “I went to the front desk and was told a ‘computer error’ didn’t match us.”
Underwood said she can understand if OU Traditions Square couldn’t accommodate all of her requests, but was upset that she didn’t know the reason why.
“I think they need to be better organized or make it more clearly known,” Underwood said.
For students who would like to change their living assignments, they can go to Housing and Food Services Offices in Walker Tower to speak with an assignment specialist, Royston said. She said students can also apply for a “Move-Around,” which allows residents to relocate, if a move is possible or needed.
“We will do all we can to provide residents with a community that supports them, provides them with useful amenities and keeps them at the heart of their University,” Royston said.
Students may also email housinginfo@ou.edu for more information.
If you or someone you know have not received the priorities you requested from Housing & Food Services, and are upset with your living arrangement, please contact the writer, Luke Atkinson, at ljatkinson88@gmail.com
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ricflair 2 years, 10 months ago
I can understand not getting the floor plan you wanted but not getting the roommate you wanted when you both requested each other is ridiculous.
OUguy 2 years, 10 months ago
I think the main complaint for my roommate and I is we filled our app out really early. We both requested each other and it didn't happen.
JJanowiak 2 years, 10 months ago
My girlfriend has had constant trouble getting any of her requests honored. She had to go down there before summer because her entire contract was botched. After being reassured that these kinds of problems were a one-time thing, she assumed they would take care of it. Now, she's gotten her fall assignment and they have still not given her the 2 bedroom/1 bathroom that she wanted. Getting a lease at another complex is so much easier than this - the housing office is completely mismanaged, as you can tell by the boilerplate non-speak coming from Royston.
Traditions needs to understand that some students want a specific bedroom size. If my girlfriend had known that no amount of haggling and frustration would get her what she wanted, she would never have signed up for Traditions. She is in the loyalty program and has lived in Traditions for a year and university housing for two. Now you tell me why her requests can't be honored.
Is anyone surprised that Housing botched room assignments a second time? Someone from above needs to come in and fix things because their office has shown it is chronically incapable of doing its job.
somad 2 years, 10 months ago
Experience over 3 years in traditions west: I am a grad/phd student and living in Traditions for 3 years. I can only say when Daisy Patton used to manage traditions assignment, things were different. It was better, much better. The service and gestures of the managers and housing people associated with traditions only have gotten worse. The free food has gone to nothing.
Also this year as a returning grad i wanted a room and i DID NOT get any. because i missed the deadline to secure my same room. yes, i think there is no recognition here for returning.
Last year my stuff was misplaced and stolen while I was moving from one apt to other (inside traditions) since the manager let the cleaning crew in (inside my bedroom) before I checked out!!
My conclusion is , the traditions have only gotten worse due to the lack of good credentials of the people who handle this apartment complex.
TheJR 2 years, 10 months ago
I've lived in Traditions quite happily for going on 3 years now. To be honest I have yet to really run into any issues. I didn't get the apartment I wanted the first year I lived there, but I have since that time. I filled out my paperwork really early, so I'm guessing these people complaining probably didn't. My only complaint is that it took so long to get an assignment... happy with what I got though. I guess what I've learned at this point is that the earlier you fill stuff out, the better off you are.
oubob 2 years, 10 months ago
This is nothing new, most of the administration that students have to interact with(Bursar's Office, Housing Office, etc) are filled with so many incompetent people that it is incredible anything ever gets done.
Just in the last year I can give you a long list of things that Housing has managed to muck up. 1. The housing payment was posted to our accounts last June the same day they were due resulting in instant late payment fees. They eventually sorted this mess out but it shouldn't have happened to begin with. 2. Reduced summer rates and discounts was applied at the end of the summer instead of being billed correctly to start with. 3. The fire alarms were non-functional for awhile and might still be actually (The Daily should look into this...) and as a result they had Sooner Security standing fire watch at night 4. They kicked us (people in Traditions East A,D,E?) out of our apartments for the summer. Talk about a pain in the butt! They better have installed a golden toilet for me to use for my troubles now... 5. Now they've had all sorts of issues with room assignments, go figure.
I like that The Daily has started reporting on these issues, I hope they keep it up and start digging deeper! Maybe we can get someone in the administration to wake up and realize that they have a problem and need to make changes.
brettmarley 2 years, 10 months ago
I am so sick of dealing with the Traditions people. Everything I have ever tried to do has been a problem for them. I would go into the housing office to speak to someone and they tried to send me away and do it on the computer. When I finally do talk to someone, I get the runaround. I ask for a guarantee i will get my preferences and they won't give me one. I ask if it's probable and they tell me that they don't know because the computer does it. I ask if people have gotten what they wanted at this time in the past, and I'm told someone else had this job last year. It's ridiculous. At Traditions West, Mike, the Community Manager is a complete jerk who has no business dealing with people and tears the residents like children. Over the summer they are always entering your apartment without notifying you beforehand and scheduling parties at the pool for OU departments that are not open to residents. The only qualified person in the whole place is Mandy, the Area Coordinator. She is nice and helpful and the only reason I have yet to write any letters directly to David Boren. Steer clear of Traditions Square.
Sooners14 2 years, 10 months ago
If I had a dollar for everything that's gone wrong with my living arrangements in Traditions, then I'd be rich. Just to name a few things...
nichole 2 years, 10 months ago
I have live in Traditions for 5 years and really haven't had too many problems. Things are starting to become bothersome though. First, the so called "loyalty program" is incredibly inconsistent. We are supposed to have received a fixed rate from the beginning. Then they gave meal points, then promised refunds for a good gpa and now they are back to meal points. I only got 1 semester of refund for good grades, rates just changed and meal points are nice, but for a phd student, not entirely useful. Also, this time around, I was in Europe during re-app. I was only there for 3 week on university business and during that time, I missed the 1 re-app. letter AND the deadline. Fortunately it all worked out and I was able to get my same apartment. The person in charge of assignments has been very nice but my old roommate is getting married and my preferred roommate is a new grad student coming from across the country. When she tried to talk to someone about setting things up, they told her that she would have to come in person to sign a lease and that there was nothing she could do!?! Because of this error, the student that was assigned to live with me just finished her first year at OU! We weren't even born in the same decade. I am really uncomfortable with the arrangement but don't want to lose my apartment due to some housing slight. I really hope they redo assignments but understand that the chances of that are HIGHLY unlikely.
SoonerTexan88 2 years, 10 months ago
Why would anyone choose to live in Traditions when the Reserves is the same price and you get your own bathroom?
drawinfinity 2 years, 10 months ago
I have had nothing but trouble with housing this year. I didn't stay in the dorms the full two semesters last year. At the beginning of the summer I was told this was not a problem and that I would still be allowed to live in traditions.
First they accept my application and then LOSE my contract fee. Not only that, but I receive no notification until my future roommate sends an email about a completely unrelated topic and they tell her they don't have my contract. Then they make me fill out a paper contract and brink a bank statement to "prove" that i paid them. TWO MONTHS LATER.
Then less than a week later assignments come out and my roommate is severely confused as to why we are not paired. She calls them and they tell her I am not eligible to live in traditions. THEY GAVE ME NO NOTIFICATION OF THIS WHATSOEVER. NOTHING IN THE MAIL, EMAIL, OR A PHONE CALL. So I call them and find out, no i am not eligible, even though I was originally told I was and even though they accepted the housing application because they, and I quote "just accept all applications until assignments are made." Then the lady on the phone basically tells me no one would have even checked if I was eligible if they had not lost my deposit in the system and made me fill out a paper contract.
Then, the best part. I email them twice about getting my deposit refunded. No answer. I call today. They won't even talk about that, because now they are trying to make me live in the dorms even though I have already made other living arrangements. They tell me I have to fill out an exemption booklet and lived there for a semester and a half, that if I am not exempt they will try and put me in a dorm. I am out of town and cannot see them in person, but am planning to spend a lot of time arguing in the housing office. There is no way I will go through the hell of living in a dorm with someone I don't even know, especially since I would be assigned cate center at this late date, and I am not paying them the thousands of dollars or so it would cost.