First-year Amanda Tomney’s (SFS ‘08) e-mail box was inundated with messages from anonymous admirers and potential roommates all summer long.
“Dealing with all of those messages was a full-time job,” she said. “It was like online dating.”
This summer, incoming first-years were able to select their roommates, something no previous class had been able to do. Using the Campus Housing Roommate Matching System, first-years searched for potential matches, read revealing “about-me” personal descriptions and eventually sent or accepted a roommate invitation.
A little over 50 percent of first-year students utilized CHARMS, and the initial results are positive, Interim Executive Director of Student Housing Jonalyn Ware Greene said. The program will be used again next year.
“Usually after opening weekend, we spend a lot of time talking to students and parents about roommate concerns,” Greene said. “This year, we had a significantly smaller number of people in the office.”
Students posted profiles online and contacted potential matches through the site.
Most first-years interviewed who used CHARMS reported that they are relatively content with the outcome. The profiles, combined with the online messaging, allowed potential roommates to get well acquainted before deciding to live together.
That ease of communication in CHARMS has led to hard feelings between some first-year roommates. Some students wish their roommates had been more explicit or honest while messaging online.
Such complaints have been more pervasive among male first-years, who seem to have spent less time messaging potential roommates and considering their options.
First-year Stephen Kim (SFS ‘08), now happy with his roommate situation, said he was initially frustrated by his CHARMS experience. Kim searched for roommates with a cleanliness rating of “10” and eventually found such a student. He said, however, that some aspects of his new roommate’s personality did not make it onto the form.
“After he accepted it, he told me that he was gay,” Kim said. “If he had told me that he was gay, I probably would have been reluctant to be his roommate. However, now that I’m here, I don’t have a problem with it.”
According to Greene, the initial profile posted in CHARMS was created when the students responded to questions that were based on those that Housing Services used in the past when the staff itself matched the students with roommates.
Several students said that some questions were confusing, as they required students to score their answers on a 1 to 10 scale. First-year student Lauren Randle (CAS ‘08) thought some questions were too specific and tried too hard to find each student’s “perfect” match.
“A lot of the questions were about flexibility,” Randle said. “It was awkward having to choose how important things were. Like for temperature, if I’m cold I’ll put on a sweatshirt. And sharing items, does that include a toothbrush?”
After responding to the questions, which covered smoking habits, willingness to share and music taste, students were able to search for matches using an “advanced search” engine. First-years could then contact students with corresponding results.
Messaging opened up new channels of communication. Although CHARMS guidelines stipulated that no personally identifiable information be exchanged, many first-year students admit giving away their personal information freely. Even those students who admitted sharing personal information said that they liked the process’ relative anonymity.
Tomney said that the process would have been more difficult if it had not been anonymous.
“Three people invited me to be their roommate, and I didn’t want to, which made me feel really bad,” Tomney said. “I had to cut those ties. That’s why I was kind of glad that it was mostly anonymous.”
Greene said that University Housing monitored the over 20,000 messages and found no infringements of the guidelines.
Although Greene said that Housing Services tried to provide comprehensive questions and monitor the messages exchanged, some first-years felt uncomfortable pursuing roommates online.
Kathleen O’Hara (CAS ‘08) did not use CHARMS in order to avoid responsibility for a bad roommate experience.
“I wasn’t trying particularly hard because I guess you don’t really want it to be your fault if your roommate sucks,” O’Hara said.
Housing Services assigned roommate pairs for first-years who did not participate in the program.
