Stevens Leased Housing follow up

Last week, an article titled “Majority of first years waitlisted for Stevens Leased Housing” was published in The Stute.

Due to the extremely short timeline of events (the first sophomore selection date was Wednesday, February 27, and The Stute picked up the story and went to press the following day), the Office of Residential and Dining Services (RDS) was unable to provide a statement about the situation before publication.

After the publication of the original article, Patrick Monaco, the Assistant Director of Residence Life, responded to the The Stute with a joint statement from all of RDS. When asked about the reportedly oversized waitlist, RDS said, “First, we want to make sure all students know that although not every student who applied is currently assigned to a specific room or apartment, all students who applied by the housing deadline will be assigned a specific space as we sign leases for new apartments in the coming months. The anticipated waitlist is similar to the waitlist in previous years. Approximately 50% percent of the first year students who applied have already selected a room.”

Regarding the housing status of the current residents of 1700 Park, RDS said, “We are not renewing our lease at 1700 Park for the 2019-2020 academic year. A small percentage of the residents retained their assignments in 1700 Park; these students who retained were then given the opportunity to choose a room in another leased property at the same cost. The remaining students who currently reside in 1700 Park are either not returning to Stevens Housing, or chose to go through the room selection process to select a different assignment.”

When asked about how they intended to address the waitlist, RDS said, “The waitlist is an expected aspect of our housing process, as we cannot take on leases in Hoboken apartments until closer to the summer. Students on the waitlist are guaranteed to have a space in a leased apartment, but we do not know the specific apartment until we finalize our lease agreements during the spring semester. Once leases are finalized, students will move from the guaranteed waitlist into specific housing assignments in leased properties. It is our intention to add leased apartments in the buildings where we already occupy space.”

As a closing statement, RDS said, “The housing process can be a stressful one for students, but it is important for students to remember that anyone who has submitted a housing application by the February 15th deadline is guaranteed an assignment.”