One of the most exciting aspects of senior year is to enjoy the off-campus apartments and houses that up to 250 students can finish their time at Colgate in. This past week, those members of the Class of 2009 approved to live off-campus were notified by the Office of Residential Life. This year the number of applicants far surpassed the past three years and because there is often confusion surrounding the process, we hope to shed some light on it for all students.
To be included in the off-campus lottery, a student must meet two criteria: be a member of the rising senior class and have a satisfactory disciplinary history. Once the list of entrants is set, the lottery is picked using a randomization algorithm in Excel. This year, representatives of the SGA were able to witness the lottery in order to ensure a transparent and fair process due to the efforts of James Amato, the Associate Director of Residential Life. Although there are often legitimate frustrations with the housing selection process, we commend the efforts of Residential Life in working with students to create an optimal procedure for the Colgate Community while leaving room for future modifications.
Whether you live off-campus or on-campus, you are most surely in need of summer or permanent employment. We wanted to highlight the fantastic opportunities that the Center for Career Services has been providing students throughout this semester. One such opportunity that was offered to students this past weekend was The Real Estate Forum. Many alumni traveled to Colgate to participate in the forum to discuss their experience and offer their advice to students. As we have written about earlier this semester, we believe that Colgate's alumni are perhaps our most invaluable resource. They can be helpful to students of all classes, majors, and interests. For the students willing to reach out to alumni at events like this, networking can lead to valuable advice, internships and even employment.
