It seems to be the question on everyone’s minds - who will get to live in Few when it reopens?

As is usually our practice with Spring housing, the priority in the process goes to returning students, within the usual constraints of seniority and availability.  Here’s what we anticipate happening:

Available space will include:

• ~400+ beds in Few, including singles, doubles, and triples
• ~150-200 beds elsewhere on campus (from current vacancies and from students canceling their Spring housing to graduate or go abroad)

Assignment process will be:

• Place students returning from abroad/leave who have a high preference to be in Few.  This will include pulling in preferred roommates who currently live elsewhere on-campus.
• Review reassignment requests from students who are currently elsewhere on-campus who want to move into Few.  Get a sense of the types of spaces they will open up if they move.
• Review the requests from the students returning from abroad/leave who wanted locations other then Few.
• Using seniority and a random lottery, work to move and place the remaining students in a manner that “maximizes happiness.”

Basically, if moving someone from Craven to Few results in four people getting what they want, as opposed to just placing someone in Few meaning that no one gets what they want, we’ll go with the former.  Our hope is that the flexibility of having an empty quad at the start of this process will result in the majority of students being placed in a way that meets their preferences.  Of course, there is no way to predict what spaces will open as students cancel, and there’s no way to predict what housing students returning to campus will prefer - when we have a better sense of that (November), we’ll post another update!

• Spring Housing applications (for assignment, reassignment, getting your preferred roommate, etc) will be available at the end of September.
• Few Quad is proceeding on-schedule.
• The majority of students who are currently abroad or on Leave and who return for Spring will be assigned to Few Quad.  There will also be various openings in other quads and on Central Campus as students who are going abroad for Spring cancel their housing.
• All students should plan to live on-campus for Spring 2009 - we anticipate having enough on-campus housing for all returning students.  We do not anticipate needing to do an off-campus lottery (remember, the off-campus lottery only happens if there are more students who need housing than there are bedspaces available).  We will keep students updated if the status of the lottery changes.

Some tips for keeping your stuff safe during inclement weather:

Check http://emergency.duke.edu/ for official status updates about inclement weather. News about canceled classes or canceled major events will be posted on the emergency website.

• Close and lock your windows to minimize any dribbles of water that may seep in and soak your walls and window sills.
• If your room has window unit air conditioner, close the vent to decrease the ability for water to enter the room. Consider putting a towel underneath the unit as well to absorb any other water that gets through. We also suggest unplugging the unit until the storm has passed.
• Pick your stuff up off the floor, especially electronic devices. In the event that you do get some rain in your room from an open window or other means, the water tends to soak into the carpet or spread quickly across the wood floors. We recommend that you move computer towers, TVs/DVD players, cell phones, etc to an elevated place in your room (such as on your desktop or dresser).
• Pull your furniture an inch or two away from the walls to prevent condensation or leaks from soaking your belongings.
• Report any leaks to your RA right away! Horizontal rain behaves differently than normal vertical rain and may find a crack that does not normally impact the building.
• Some of the rain may be heavy at times and our storm drains may need a little time to catch up so please let a staff member know if you notice any large puddles of water near the buildings.
• The recent drought has weakened many of the tree limbs around campus. Windy conditions could make some of these branches susceptible to falling. Be cautious when walking underneath trees and report to DUPD any limbs or trees that appear to be in danger of falling.
• Stay attentive to the weather report. In the event that the need for more drastic measures develops (such as evacuation), more information will be made available via university communications (email, websites, or postings).

Remember to stay safe!