Stanford Report, October 10, 2007

Task forces to review housing matters

The Student Housing division has announced plans to form two task forces—one to simplify and improve the undergraduate housing draw and another to ensure its policies comply with Stanford's new nondiscrimination policy on gender identity.

The task forces will convene this fall and are expected to meet throughout the year.

The group reviewing the draw will include representatives from the offices of the Vice Provost for Undergraduate Education, the Associate Vice Provost for Residential and Dining Enterprises, Student Housing and Residential Education, and students chosen by the Associated Students (ASSU).

The draw is a lottery-based process through which approximately 3,500 upper-class undergraduate students choose and are assigned to campus housing, including residence halls, small-group houses, apartments and suites.

One of the goals of the university's 2005 housing master plan is to thoroughly redesign the draw by establishing a simpler seniority system that better allocates premier living spaces (single rooms and two-room doubles), by simplifying the process of assigning rooms within residences and by establishing measures to create a greater sense of fairness and equity across the entire student body.

The task force on gender identity, which will include representatives from Student Housing and Residential Education and students selected by the ASSU, will examine housing assignment policies and related programs as they affect transgender students.

"Over the years, Student Housing and Residential Education have worked closely with individual transgender students to meet their needs in university housing," said Rodger Whitney, executive director of student housing. "Through this review process, we seek to ensure that our programs and procedures best reflect the values articulated in the new nondiscrimination policy."