For the first time, current and prospective Frederiksen Court residents will be able to choose their rooms for the 2004-05 academic year through the Step Inside program on AccessPlus.

Students can also use the system to select Buchanan Hall rooms when the hall reopens.

Ginny Arthur, associate director of residence halls, said the Department of Residence decided to move Frederiksen Court residents to the Step Inside program because it would make the process quicker for students.

“[The process of selecting a room] will be quicker, more efficient … and more user-friendly,” she said.

“Most students gravitate to [using the Step Inside program] more naturally.”

In order to select a room on Step Inside, students must have a contract through the Department of Residence, which they can obtain on AccessPlus, she said.

Arthur said current residents of Frederiksen Court will have priority in selecting, and can begin picking their rooms Feb. 20.

Tonia Sorensen, a senior working toward her professional degree in architecture and resident of Frederiksen Court, said using the Step Inside program will make it easier for students to see what rooms are available.

“[Students] will have an idea of what’s available — they’re not going to get thrown inside,” she said.

In the past, Frederiksen Court residents have used paper processes to claim rooms, including applications and preference sheets, which had to be filled out and returned to either the Frederiksen Court office or the office in Friley Hall, said Jeff Orasky, graduate student in neuroscience and community adviser at Frederiksen Court.

Moving to the electronic Step Inside program will allow students to cancel their conditional contract online prior to a specified date without having to pay a penalty fee, he said.

Buchanan Hall open to younger students

Alexander said students who formerly lived in Buchanan Hall wanted it to be limited to students 21 and older when it reopened, a request the Department of Residence said it would try to honor.

However, the department doesn’t think there is currently enough demand from older students, Alexander said.

A survey was sent to students 21 and older to gauge their interest in living in Buchanan Hall; nearly 260 students responded they would be interested in living in Buchanan Hall, but the building can hold 414 students, he said.

“There’s not nearly enough demand to fill the building [with students 21 and older],” he said.

Alexander said about half of the building is single-suite rooms, and the other is double-suite rooms.

“Some [students who showed interest] might not be interested if they can’t get a single,” he said.

The Department of Residence will provide floors which can be filled only with students who are 21 and older, he said. Once those floors are filled, the Department of Residence will fill the remaining floors with upperclassmen, primarily juniors and sophomores, he said.

“It will go by demand,” he said.

The entrepreneurship learning community will be located in Buchanan Hall. The group is made of primarily juniors and seniors, but could include sophomores and freshmen, Alexander said.

“The [Department of Residence] has no objection to having a hall 21 and over, but you have to fill it,” he said. “Based on what we’ve seen, we don’t think that will happen.”