Priority Applications and Pre-Assignment for Language, Culture, Academic Theme and Focus Residences 2008-2009

What is a Priority?

List of Special Residential Programs

If you are seeking priority you need only complete Part I below.

If you are seeking pre-assignment complete Parts I and II below.

Part I

Priority

Please download and complete the application forms for the house where you are seeking a priority. The application states the nature of the program in the house as well as the priority requirements. Submit the completed form(s) to the Residential Education office located in the dorm complex where you are applying (you can ask for the RSAS). If you are applying for priority in a Row House you may have to submit the form to a Special Priority Representative living in the house - please note instructions on individual applications. If you have questions about a house priority please contact the Special Priority Representative for the house.

A complete calendar of important Housing Draw dates for 2008/09 can be found here.

Part II

Introduction to Pre-Assignments*:

For 2008-2009, we will be offering a preassignment system for Language, Culture and Academic Theme Houses in Governor's Corner and the Row. This process will allow house program staff to pre-assign a percentage of 08/09 residents who complete the preassignment application and meet all necessary requirements prior to the Draw. IMPORTANT: If you are intending to apply for preassignment to relevant houses you must understand if you succeed in being preassigned, you automatically accept the preassignment and therefore are not eligible for the 2008 Housing Draw or other housing application periods.

(LCTH= Language, Culture and Academic Theme)

Key Points

1. Up to two-thirds of spaces in Row LCTH (Slav Dom, Haus Mitt, Casa Italiana, La Maison Francaise, Storey) will be pre-assigned to students before the annual spring housing Draw. Up to 100% of spaces in Governor's Corner LCTH (Yost and EAST) will be pre-assigned to students before the annual spring housing Draw.   
   
2. Students assigned to Row LCTH will need to use a preferred year; students assigned to Yost or EAST will not have to use a preferred year (i.e., can use an unpreferred year).
3. Priorities will continue to be given out for all LCTH. The one-third of spaces in Row LCTH which are not pre-assigned will be assigned through the regular housing Draw--priorities will still apply for these spaces. (You will also want to give out priorities to Yost and EAST just in case 100% of the spaces there aren't pre-assigned.) 
   
4. Publicity about the pre-assignments to LCTH will occur in language courses and via the Language Center. HAS (Housing Assignment Services) will also include information about the pre-assignment process in all of its publications (which are posted on the web as of April 12) For EAST and Storey Houses, the pre-assignment process should be announced within department courses and posted/ via electronic announcements and bulletin boards.
   
5. Current Co-Op residents are not required to perform additional jobs for Co-Op priority, be they house jobs or priority work day, because they have already met this requirement of priority through their work as a resident. Similarly, current residents of co-ops are not required to attend a House Tour.
   
6. Students may pick up pre-assignment forms from the Governor's Corner and Row Office starting April 6, 2008. On-line forms may be printed out starting April 6. In order to be considered for pre-assignment, the form must be returned, along with an unofficial transcript and signed priority agreement, to the specific Residence Office by Friday 5:00 PM, April 25. (see attachment for specific requirements) Applications for pre-assignment will be time and date stamped upon receipt. Depending on the number of applications received, they may be considered on a first come, first served basis.
   
7. House staffs must review pre-assignment applications and let the Residence Offices know no later than April 27 who they wish to pre-assign. Similar to the priority system, it is the responsibility of house theme staff to notify students of their pre-assignment or priority status (whether or not they were pre-assigned or received a priority).

If you are applying for pre-assignment in the following houses please download and complete the form below and submit it with your priority materials and any additional house specific materials posted to the left.

• EAST
• Haus Mitteleuropa
• Casa Italiana
• La Maison Française
• Slav Dom
• Storey
• Yost

Culture/Language/Academic Pre-assignment Application & Agreement Form

Important Dates:

-Go to top

Background on Priorities Some of Stanford's on-campus residences offer special academic or social programs. Several residences sponsor intensive foreign language study. Some other residences are "co-ops", meaning that cooking and cleaning for the residence is performed by the students who live in the house.

One of the core principles of the Housing Draw is the concept of support for Residential Programs. This principle states that students who want to live in a residence offering a special program deserve to know that the other students who will be living in that residence are also committed to its program.

Without some sort of special provisions in the assignment process, a residence designed to support a special program could easily end up becoming filled with students who had no real interest in the program but who only wanted to live in the residence for other reasons -- such as, its desirable location on the campus, superior physical condition, or large number of "single" rooms.

The priority system is designed to deal with this problem. Students who are truly interested in, and committed to, a residence's special program can visit the residence (during an "open house" period before the Draw) and receive a priority for that residence. When the Draw Program determines students' residence assignments, it will give preference to students with a priority for a given residence by assigning these students ahead of other students who did not obtain a priority -- even if students without priorities have better (lower) random "draw numbers" and would normally be assigned first.

Some residences offer more than one level of priority. When deciding who will be assigned to a residence with multiple priority levels, the Draw program will give first preference to students at the first priority level. If not all spaces in the residence are filled by students with first-level priorities, the remaining spaces will be offered to students at the next priority level, and so on. Finally, if any vacancies still remain, students without any priority at all for the residence will be considered.

Eligibility for priorities is determined according to publicized, objective criteria for each residence. The priority system is not intended to depend on subjective preferences (i.e., it is not a fraternity-style "bid" system). For example, to get a priority for Enchanted Broccoli Forest (a co-op), a student must take a tour of the house, sign the house's "supplemental agreement" (conditions for living there), and work a kitchen shift in the house (or in another co-op). Current residents are not required to perform additional jobs for priority, be they house jobs or priority work day, because they have already met this requirement of priority through their work as a resident. Similarly, current residents of co-ops are not required to attend a House Tour.

-Go to top