CHUL Will Consider Initiating Program for Room Exchanges

Juniors may be allowed to change Houses for a semester if a proposal designed by members of The Committee on Houses and Undergraduate Life (CHUL) passes the committee when it meets Monday.

If the proposal wins approval, the University will conduct a pilot program next semester involving no more than 50 students, members of CHUL's House systems subcommittee said.

Students wishing to switch rooms will probably have to receive permission from their roommates and House administrators, although the details have not yet been hammered out.

A room exchange program will help eliminate certain stereotypes affixed to Houses and stem the flow of requests for permanent House transfers, proponents of the proposal said.

Barbara Klein '80, a member of CHUL, first recommended the room exchange program last spring.

Over the summer, William S. Friedman '79, a CHUL member who worked in University Hall this summer, and Mack I. Davis, director of advanced standing, interviewed House Masters and senior tutors to determine the feasibility of such a program.

This fall, the House Systems subcommittee of CHUL has drafted a proposal to present to CHUL and will work out the specifics of the pilot program if their proposal receives CHUL approval.

Limits to Growth

If the pilot program proves successful, the University will allow more students to exchange rooms in the future, although the subcommittee recommeded a limit of ten student participants from each House per semester.

The subcommittee members recommended barring sophomores and seniors from the room exchange programs because sophomores are not settled in their own Houses and seniors are too involved with career counselors and advisers in their own Houses.

One member of the House systems subcommittee who wished to remain unidentified said seniors were excluded from the room exchange program because they might use the program to get to know better pre-med or pre-law advisors.

The subcommittee's proposal recommends that when students transfer to different Houses for a semester, their advisers and House affiliation should not change.

All the members of the subcommittee contacted yesterday said they think CHUL will approve of the subcommittee's recommendations.

Hanna Hastings, co-Master of North House and a member of the House systems subcommittee, said yesterday, "We don't see any reason we shouldn't give it a go. It involves only a few people and might have a positive effect."