With the housing lottery approaching, freshmen, sophomores, and juniors are all finalizing their plans for next year. Some concern has been raised regarding whether larger than average class size will affect room availability in the future. However, Assistant Director of Residential Life Bridie Mager hopes to inform students accurately about what to expect for the coming lottery.

Mager, who has worked in Saint Anselm’s housing department for six years, first wishes that students know that Residence Life does not work within a vacuum. They operate in tandem with Admissions and the Office of Finance to accommodate students. “There are times when we have to think outside the box because we’ve accepted a number of students. That’s fine, that’s great for the school. We always find housing, that’s our job.”

For this upcoming year, housing’s job is no different. Despite earlier stories about the size of the current sophomore and freshman classes being larger than before, Mager insists that any fears connected to the housing lottery are unfounded. “There’s a misconception that it’s the most we’ve seen: it’s not. I think for the students here it’s easy to see just their years and think that this is a new problem. We always have some growing pains. There are years when we have a lot of students and years when we have fewer students, and we always make it work.”

The use of common rooms in Dominic and expanded occupancy triples in Joan of Arc Hall have been used multiple times with the aid of Physical Plant. While at the beginning of the school year there were expanded occupancy triples in both male and female freshman housing, Mager reports that all expanded occupancy triples have been phased out, and that any remaining triples exist on a voluntary basis. The causes for these openings in housing for the second semester include transfers, studying abroad, and students who move off campus for internships or other jobs, among other reasons. This turnover is also referred to as “melt.”

“What the numbers were in the fall are not the numbers today,” Mager said. “I think that there’s an idea that the way the class started in the fall is how they are for next fall, and that’s not the case.”

For many upperclassmen, the goal of housing lottery is to obtain a townhouse or apartment. Mager said that the number of apartments open to juniors all depends on the size and actions of the upcoming senior class.

Saint Benedict Court, also known as Lowers, only houses about one hundred and twenty students. This is less than half of the junior class, which means that the other half will likely be placed in “traditional housing,” meaning singles, doubles, triples, or quads.

The upper apartments, Father Bernard Court, have a wider variety of options, including the incentive five-person apartment. Offered for the third time this year, incentive five-person housing increases the chance that students will get a townhouse. “We hope that more rising seniors consider it,” Mager said. “Those are some of the apartments that have been fantastic. Roommate conflicts are down, there are definitely growing pains about where to put your stuff, but that is to be expected.”

After submitting an application, incentive-five apartments are able to pick any available townhouse before the groups of four. Last year, the groups of five were able to pick their future homes on the same night as single room selection. Mager saw many groups whose average was higher than they would have liked still walk away with their desired apartments. While in the past, incentive-five apartments were limited to rising-seniors, this year rising-juniors will also have the choice to apply.

“We understand that the culture here on campus is that you move through traditional housing to eventually get to be a senior in a townhouse. We understand that view, but that’s not a reality because there’s only a certain number of townhouses. That’s why we always say ‘have a backup plan’ because it all depends on what people do ahead of you.”

Mager said that besides freshmen housing, there is no class specific housing on campus. That means that residence halls like Bertrand, Brady, and Hilary are all open to juniors and seniors if they desire.

As for the possibility of constructing a new dorm on campus, Mager explains that such a decision could cause more problems than it solves. “We offer quite a bit of housing options with singles, doubles, triples, quads, apartments, and so forth. . . Right now, you can’t decide to build a residence hall overnight. We work with so many people, and to be honest Residence Life doesn’t make that decision. There are so many other people that make that decision, and finances are a big part of it.”

“You have to be able to afford a new residence hall. If you don’t have the money you can’t do it and if you don’t have the students to fill it, you’re in trouble. That’s, unfortunately, what’s happening to a lot of our peer colleges. They have built residence halls and they’re not filling them. You have to be very cautious, and I think it’s very easy for a student to say we’re limited on housing and we need a new residence hall.”

While Mager explained that she couldn’t give an answer as to the future of housing at Saint Anselm due to the constant changes in school and student behavior, she urged students to trust the process, which at times can feel frustrating.

Mager, along with the rest of the Residence Life staff, is committed to transparency and always open to address the concerns of students. Recently, the Residence Life moved its office from the first floor of Alumni to the back of Davison Hall facing the football field. They are also available through email to answer any housing-related questions.