Moving into the housing selection cycle for fall of 2026, Bucknell’s Housing Services has rolled out some changes to how selection processes will work. “The Bucknellian” spoke with Tomas Sanchez, Associate Dean of Housing & Residential Life since January of 2025, about what students can expect as they prepare to choose housing for next academic year. Sanchez previously worked at the University of North Texas and the University of Vermont; his focus in the past, which he’s brought with him to Bucknell, has been “strengthening transparency, improving access and ensuring students feel confident navigating housing selection.”
The housing selection process will remain a “student-led, online process,” even with these new changes in place, “designed to be structured and fair.” Upperclass students—essentially, all but incoming freshmen—select their housing for the following academic year “during an assigned lottery slot,” which are “released in waves” in a descending order that begins with rising seniors. Should a student be a part of a roommate group, the individual within that group who holds the earliest time slot is able to select for the entire group at once.
However, there are a “variety of changes” being made to the progress moving forward. “Broader access” is one focus, with upperclass students now able to access selection of “most buildings and room types, rather than being limited by class year,” as well as being able to “bring in a roommate(s) of the same class year, or a member of the class immediately following” (with the exception of freshmen). Later selection times have also been implemented— slots will run “from 2 to 8:30pm to reduce conflicts with classes,” and, to cement guaranteed placement, “students who do not select a room during their time slot will receive a housing assignment instead of being placed on a waitlist” as they have been in the past. Beginning May 1, students will be able to submit room change requests, which will be evaluated “every two weeks” beginning June 1. Affinity Housing applications will be given a “structured application process” through myHome; current themes will be maintained.
Perhaps the change most important to students— many of whom have been speculating on the possibility of it for several months—is the new “flexible apartments” option. For “some four-person apartments,” students will “no longer need to form groups of four” to select them. When a student expresses interest in a flexible apartment, “they can select if they want to be part of an apartment that is all women, all men, or mixed gender.” Should, for example, “a group of two” select an apartment, they may not know who the next two selecting that apartment will be, but “the gender” of the next to select “would match what [the original two] selected” preference for. “If concerns arise after selection, students may submit a Room Change Request beginning May 1,” and housing will “work individually with students as needed if urgent.”
The adjustments housing has made to this upcoming selection process were inspired “directly” by “student feedback” about “limited access to certain buildings, difficulty forming full apartment groups, room selection time slots conflicting with class hours,” and feeling uncertain when placed on housing waitlists. Students will now have increased flexibility, greater access, and immediately guaranteed placement.
“In the short term,” housing’s goal is for students to “experience greater flexibility in selecting where they can live, more accessible time slots, more options when forming roommate groups and assurance that housing is guaranteed.” From a bigger picture perspective, the goal is for students to always live “in spaces that work for them,” with roommates that suit their preferences and selection, and consistently “feel confident” in how the housing process works for them.
In closing, Sanchez emphasizes that housing’s “overall commitment is to make housing selection transparent, predictable and student-centered.” If students have questions, they can visit the room selection site, access myHOME for tutorial videos or “stop by the information sessions” housing “will have in person and online.” Students are always welcome to meet with Housing & Residential Education staff to talk through their housing experience.
