From the issue dated September 20, 2002
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Self-SelectionWeb-based systems let freshmen choose their own roommatesBy ERIC HOOVER On most college campuses, a crucial part of the freshman experience hinges on chance. First-year students often arrive at their dormitories not knowing whether their roommate will share their study habits, musical tastes, or penchant for body piercings. Luck often determines which students will become as close as brothers and sisters, and which ones will end up fighting like cats and dogs. But a handful of institutions are trying to eliminate roommate roulette by allowing incoming students to match up with a roommate (or roommates) online. This year, an Atlanta-based company called WebRoomz unveiled an Internet matchmaking service for incoming students at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga and Kennesaw State University, in Georgia, and the company says it is working on deals with a number of other colleges. Other institutions, including the University of Texas at Austin and Ball State University, have developed their own Web-based programs over the last three years that let students cut administrators and the housing department -- along with alot of paperwork -- out of the matching process. Months before matriculating, students who choose to use these systems fill out detailed questionnaires about their interests and personal habits, and in some cases, write their own "ads" describing what qualities they're looking for in room- mates or suitemates. The systems, which students log onto with a password, rank potential matches, and include names, e-mail addresses, and phone numbers, allowing freshmen to break the ice ahead of time. Some housing officials who are critical of self-matching systems argue that part of the point of college is to learn how to get along with people with different tastes and beliefs. They worry that the systems could become tools for segregation. But housing directors at colleges that give students the option to self-match say their systems are perfectly suited to an era of computer-savvy students and consumer-minded colleges. Fewer than a dozen colleges and universities now offer these services, but because incoming freshmen remain anxious about their roommates, housing officials say that more institutions may see a competitive advantage in giving students a way to influence the outcome of that crucial process. "There's no end to the number of services a college might provide to its student population, and goodness knows every student generation seems to have higher expectations," says Gary J. Schwarzmueller, executive director of the Association of College and University Housing Officers International. "This is just another personal touch." 'Like a Singles Ad' Justin Webb, a freshman at Chattanooga, jumped at the chance to do some reconnaissance on his potential roommate last spring. "It's sort of like a singles ad," says Mr. Webb, who first contacted Jay Parke after seeing that his answers matched more than 70 percent of Mr. Webb's on the WebRoomz questionnaire. Mr. Webb had a hunch that he would get along with Mr. Parke since the two shared an interest in hiking, Frisbees, and blues music. "This was a big relief because there was one less thing to worry about," Mr. Webb says. "It was better than just going with the luck of the draw." By the time the two students spoke on the telephone, they had plenty to talk about. "I was able to get a rough idea of [Mr. Webb's] personality from the Web site, and I liked having freedom to choose," Mr. Parke says. "I know people here who didn't look too hard for their roommates, and now they're complaining about having to put up with certain ticks. I had more of a feeling of control over the whole process. The only tick I have to put up with is his eating my doughnuts." Many colleges have long taken a simple approach to roommate matching, sorting students into a few basic categories (such as smoking and nonsmoking) before pairing them up in a more or less random fashion, although some institutions have tried to take luck out of the roommate equation before. In the early 1980s, for instance, some colleges and universities tried linking like-minded freshmen by using psychological tests and lengthy questionnaires. While those practices continue on some campuses, including those that "hand-match" students, many colleges gave up on more-elaborate methods after determining that the tricky science of sorting an entire class for two peas in a pod was time-consuming, too expensive, and often no more successful than the old method. Three years ago, for instance, officials at the University of New Hampshire designed a questionnaire for potential roommates that included specific queries that students helped compose. The process allowed New Hampshire to successfully match all incoming freshmen on the three factors they had listed as most important. But at the end of the first year under the new system, there was no difference in the number of students requesting room changes. Little Improvement "Psychologically, it had a positive effect upfront, because people believed that they were somehow better off having matched themselves. But it didn't amount to a significant improvement," says Scott Chesney, New Hampshire's housing director and assistant vice president for student affairs. "There was a philosophical argument that it's better to throw people together and see what happens, and we went back to the old way." Mr. Chesney says that New Hampshire now uses a "semi-random" system, in which students answer basic questions about study habits and bedtimes but do not get into their personal tastes. That isn't a Web-based system, however, and officials at a few colleges say that online matching services offer a more efficient method for hooking freshmen up. Three years ago, housing officials at the University of Texas at Austin devised a Web-based "profiler," which includes a list of questions about students' musical tastes, exercise habits, and social interests. Students can also comment on the importance of other issues. For example, "I would prefer a roommate with this level of cleanliness: Very Neat, Neat, Average, Don't Care." It's hard to tell if the system has been successful so far, as the university did not keep records of whether self-matched roommates requested changes less frequently than students who were matched by housing officials. But Laurie Mackey, the university's associate director for housing and food, says that there are definite advantages for the university itself. "If every student here used this system, we would certainly see some ease on our housing staff," Ms. Mackey says. "Putting students in control of the process is a time-saver for us." Mr. Schwarzmueller, of the Association of College and University Housing Officers International, sees some advantages to giving students more control, but worries that searching for roommates who are "too similar" can minimize a student's chances to get to know someone he or she might not normally meet. Odd Couples? "College is where you can learn from somebody who is from a different part of the country or a different part of the world, and there's the idea that when you find somebody who doesn't look like you or who doesn't want to be a chemical engineer, you aren't running off and looking for a room change," Mr. Schwarzmueller says. Alan Hargrave, Ball State's housing director, agrees, but he says that choosing your own roommate and seeking out diverse friends on campus are not mutually exclusive. "Learning to get along with people who have different experiences, values, and beliefs is important, but there's a significant difference between this generation of college students and others," he says. "Most students today have had rooms by themselves at home, their own TV's, their own telephones, so the very idea of sharing a room is foreign to them." Ball State's program asks students only a limited number of questions -- about study and sleep habits, for instance -- but lets students write as much about themselves as they like. As with the other self-matching programs, Ball State's system does not ask students about their race, ethnicity, religion, or sexual preference, although students are free to describe themselves in more detail in their personal statements. "We had a student say, 'I'm gay, and I want to live with someone who's tolerant,'" Mr. Hargrave says. Since many housing officials say there is no correlation between personality traits and how well roommates interact, the matching programs may or may not work better than random methods. After all, students won't truly get to know one another until that inevitable first argument over who snores loudest or who's hogging space in the mini-fridge. Mr. Hargrave is optimistic. "I think our job, whether traditional or not, has a customer-service component to it," he says. "It may turn out that our service does not provide better roommate pairings ... [but can] help students feel more comfortable about coming to school and make those first few weeks easier. Not to mention their parents." http://chronicle.com Section: Students Volume 49, Issue 4, Page A35
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Copyright © 2002 by The Chronicle of Higher Education