By the time Kevin Rix found out he wasn’t chosen to be one of next year’s resident advisers, his friends already had housing plans. Roommate-less, the Syracuse University freshman human ecology major turned to the Facebook group Suhousing Roommatefinder and found a roommate in about a week.

In addition to the usual bulletin board listings posted outside its Steele Hall office, the SU Office of Housing, Meal Plan and I.D. Card Services decided this year to try out a new Facebook group for students looking to find roommates.

The bulletin board currently has about 35 postings – some for Main Campus and some for South Campus. Meanwhile, the Facebook group has 105 friends, a photo album of the various housing facilities available, and a comment wall that allows students to post descriptions of themselves and what they’re looking for in a roommate.

Eileen Simmons, director of Housing, Meal Plan and ID Card Services, said she is pleased that so many students have joined the group.

‘I see a lot of people still looking at the bulletin board, but if we find that (Facebook) is the most successful venue we probably would get away from the bulletin board, and then students can see it from their rooms,’ she said.

‘I think it’s brilliant,’ said Toby Marks, a freshman acting major. Marks said she originally wanted a single but they filled up before her appointment time. By that time, all her friends had roommates. She said it took about a week to find someone she’d want to live with through the Facebook group.

Magdalena Mozol posted on the Facebook group, in addition to the bulletin board in Steele. Mozol’s future roommate called her after seeing her message on the bulletin board. Mozol estimated that she still received about five inquiries on Facebook and six from the bulletin board, even after she had secured her roommate. She found her freshman-year roommate through an SU Class of 2012 Facebook group.

‘It’s easier than looking at posters or actually going into Steele Hall, since a lot of people don’t know about that wall,’ said Mozol, an undeclared freshman. ‘You get to see who the person is before you officially get to room with them.’

The housing department has also been using the group to post deadline reminders for students. Simmons said she’s interested in exploring how students use sites like Facebook and Twitter and whether they would benefit if the housing department used them for communication purposes.

As for Rix, he said he’s happy everything worked out the way it did.

‘It definitely works, it definitely should continue to be used,’ he said.

bmdavies@syr.edu

Published on April 11, 2009 at 12:00 pm