<p>Hi, I was hoping some of the parents out there might be able to help me.</p>
<p>My roomate and I are incoming transfer students, and we get along great. We were both told at orientation that transfer students were going to be housed in a newly acquired brownstone because the school had run out of space on the res campus. When I received my rooming assignment, this information was confirmed, and we were placed in a very homey double in a brownstone with some extra perks over the regular dorms (wireless internet, fridges provided on the hall (to be shard by 4-5 girls), bathrooms that were to be shared by a smaller number of girls (4-5 as opposed to a hall), free laundry), and we both were very excited. </p>
<p>More importantly though, we planned according to this new information. We're both out of state students (coming from TX and FL to MA), and have already had things shipped to that address, booked our hotel rooms according to that address, are forwarding our mail, etc., and just yesterday we were told we were going to be reassigned to the worst underclassmen dorm on campus (mostly freshmen) as the college was trying to consolidate in anticipation of students not returning. Needless to say we're both very disappointed to say goodbye to our pretty room which we'd looked forward to having, but we also both have some legitimate concerns with less than a week left before we leave for school.</p>
<p>Basically, we want our room back! Do you have any advice for dealing with reslife effectively? People I've talked to at my school say that if you're persistent, they generally cave in, but thus far my family has just been given the run around.</p>
<p>Sorry for the length of the post, and thanks for your help!</p>
<p>First, I would push them as hard as I can for the name of the decision maker(s) for stuff like this. Both the person who decided to consolodate, and the person who has the authority to make changes now.</p>
<p>Second, I would find out the name of the head of residence halls, residential life or whatever. You can probably find that out online. Then, use your best persistance to talk to that person. AND, this is a good time to use the phone - skip the email. You're unlikely to get a reply to an email, but with some persistance and luck, you can probably connect by phone. </p>
<p>Third, plead your case, speaking of hardship due to the planning so far etc.</p>
<p>And it all sounds like very solid advice, so thank you. I emailed and left two voicemails yesterday, then spoke with someone in the office this morning who was utterly useless. Apparently, they are using the 4th floor of that building for grad students, and found it to be "inappropriate" to ask the grad students to live in underclassmen dorms. I wasn't on the 4th floor though, so I'm not really sure why my room was also needed.</p>
<p>But since then I've been forwarded to the head of reslife, and I've handed things off to my parents because they didn't seem to be taking me very seriously and just kept talking down to me.</p>
<p>I spent some time as in Residence Life at BC and while our neighbors down the street is dramatically different when it comes to bureaucratic activities, I would take the same approach as newmassdad suggested.</p>
<p>Halls have to be maintained regardless of the number of occupants, so I wouldn't think that they'd be saving too, too much money by emptying that brownstone, unless they're firing a resident assistant or hall director who would have lived there.
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But since then I've been forwarded to the head of reslife, and I've handed things off to my parents because they didn't seem to be taking me very seriously and just kept talking down to me.
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Shame on them. I personally LOVE it when a student calls.</p>
<p>Well, apparently they're not emptying the brownstone. From what they've told me, they're trying to accomodate grad students that didn't have housing, and they don't want them living with undergrad students. I don't want to deprive anyone of housing, I just don't see why they don't fill in the gaps as they arise, instead of moving even more people at the last minute. </p>
<p>By the way, their solution for the shipping issue was to "Show me to the room where it was shipped to, or to reroute the order".</p>
<p>I hope my handing things off to my parents isn't a sign of my lack of independence and problem-solving skills, I just got the impression that they were not going to listen to me because I'm a student.</p>
<p>as someone who sounds experienced on the other side of these sorts of matters, do you think my roomate and I have a shot of getting our room back, or are we probably wasting our time?</p>
<p>If you get the director, there's a good chance. I don't know Jeanais personally, but I've never heard complaints about Simmon's housing staff. With such a small population, I imagine that they're very responsive to students.</p>
<p>If they have other students in the hall, they won't be shutting it down. In addition, I just looked at their website and it looks like they allow commuter students to stay over in the residence halls for $25 per night, so they can still "make money" off the open room.</p>
<p>"I hope my handing things off to my parents isn't a sign of my lack of independence and problem-solving skills, I just got the impression that they were not going to listen to me because I'm a student."</p>
<p>No, you handled things as best as they would let you. As an adult, I've been known to call up friends to "get me to the right people" because I knew that because of their reputation or position, I would have a much more favorable outcome with their intervention. If someone isn't listening to you because they view you as insignificant or a kid or if someone else can make more sense of things because of their experience or knowledge (parents calling the financial aid office to straighten out a student aid income tax issue), calling on that resource simply shows a good understanding of how the world works. When I've had to step in, I've always given my kids a blow by blow account of what happened and how and why the issue was resolved or not (sometimes I fail too) so the next time they have the benefit of that experience. I hope this works out in your favor.</p>
<p>So, my mother spoke to the director for a few minutes, who informed mom that she'd give her a call right back. Director has 2 cell phone numbers and a house number by which to contact us. Director never calls back, in spite of our leaving 2 more voicemails prior to office closing hours. </p>
<p>It seems to be bad manners to me to imply that you'll call right back and then not do so over the course of seven hours.</p>
<p>If she's the highest person in the reslife office, and the only one with the power to address this issue, and she refuses to communicate with any of us (we really were very polite in our attempts to settle this matter, or at least shed some light on it), is there anyone else I can talk to? It just seems really unprofessional, and I'm not quite sure what my next step should be.</p>
<p>In fairness of busy professionals, keep in mind that all h*ll can break out at any moment when one is in such a leadership position.</p>
<p>If, in spite of all, you cannot connect on Monday, you have all the ammunition you need to escalate. Find out who the boss of this person is, and start dialing. If you still get a runaround, let us know.</p>
<p>In fairness, too, the director needs to find out more details from the housing staff before getting back to you and your mom; sometimes, it is not possible to get that info right away.</p>
<p>Thanks again for the responses, I'll definitely keep these things in mind and I'm sure I'll be a bit more at ease over the weekend prior to attempting to contact them again. I'll update this as soon as something of any significane is accomplished.</p>