Divine Lunacy

The following is the result of a recent experience with The Department of Housing and Residential Life at the University of Rhode Island. Said experience left me angered, and disappointed. I guess I’m probably just sour and selfish, but when I get pissed enough, I write random essays.

Early in the spring semester, resident students are mailed instructions^[1] informing them of the process and deadlines for registering for housing in the following fall semester. This, however, is the last notice one is likely to receive from Housing and Residential life. After submitting housing applications in March, students are assigned random registration times.

When registration times are posted in April, students are expected to look up their registration times on the housing website and present themselves at the Roger Williams Building at the randomly assigned time. One might casually refer to registration times as appointments. In casual conversation, however, the word appointment is generally associated with mutual consent–a courtesy clearly lacking in this instance. It is unquestionable that this process is flawed and requires review. To my knowledge, no significant changes have been made to the student-facing part aspects in recent years. Even the simplest change, such as an email reminder, would have a tremendous impact.
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