Barnard’s Dean of the College Avis Hinkson sent an email to all Barnard students yesterday updating them on the College’s plans to to avoid a housing crisis similar to the one Barnard finds itself in right now, and in anticipation of an inevitable re-shuffling of room assignments this spring. AHinks writes:

Now that the semester is well underway, our next step is to establish protocols and deadlines for on-campus housing for spring 2013 and future semesters. Throughout October, we will gather all  the data we can to inform the decision-making for this coming spring. We will work together with the Housing Advisory Board and SGA Exec Board to review the information and draft the policies. To this end, I would like to extend an invitation to you to send any thoughts, concerns or recommendations you may have [for] either me or your elected officers.

We aim to issue revised guidelines by November 1st. The guidelines will address how housing priorities will be established and the timeline for when decisions will be made. Our goal is to inform students as soon as possible of their housing status for the spring semester.

This email comes a week after SGA’s Rep Council meeting saw a significant turnout of concerned students and their opinions regarding the crisis. Likely responding to the consensus among students at the meeting that the administration had not appropriately addressed individual students who were directly impacted by the crunch, in her email AHinks also “express[es her] concern for the many of you who were deeply affected by the shortage of rooms this semester,” and is “grateful to those of you who moved into less-than-ideal accommodations.” She also “apologize[s] again to those of you who ended up living off campus due to the timing of when housing became available.”

This email landed in students’ inbox just before DSpar spoke at yesterday’s Rep Council meeting, offering a brief but notably transparent report on her perception of the crisis as motivated by “a really unfortunate series of bad events,” and her plan to develop “better early warning signals” for the future.

Dear Barnard Students,

I hope that your semester is off to a good start, and that you are enjoying these first few weeks on campus.

As you know, we recently experienced a housing shortage that was both complicated and unsettling for many of you.  Due to the convergence of a variety of factors, in August we were left with a significant lack of on-campus housing—something we want to avoid going forward.

Therefore, as I’ve discussed with many of you, now that the semester is well underway, our next step is to establish protocols and deadlines for on-campus housing for spring 2013 and then future semesters. Throughout October, we will gather all the data we can to inform the decision-making for this coming spring. We will work together with the Housing Advisory Board and SGA Exec Board to review the information and draft the policies. To this end, I would like to extend an invitation to you to send any thoughts, concerns or recommendations you may have either me or your elected officers.

We aim to issue revised guidelines by November 1.  The guidelines will address how housing priorities will be established and the timeline for when decisions will be made. Our goal is to inform students as soon as possible of their housing status for the spring semester.

I want to express my concern for the many of you who were deeply affected by the shortage of rooms this semester.  I am grateful to those of you who moved into less-than-ideal accommodations and apologize again to those of you who ended up living off campus due to the timing of when housing became available.  Please feel free to email me, the Housing Advisory Board, or SGA Exec Board.  We will do our best to incorporate your feedback as we refine our housing policies and plan for the future.

My sincerest thanks for your patience in this matter, and I look forward to seeing many of you at the Town Hall meeting on Tuesday at 6pm in the Event Oval.  The Town Hall discussion is dedicated to “cultivating better collaboration” and I hope you will be there.

Respectfully,

Dean Hinkson