Special needs housing is an invaluable program, and the fact that the housing department allows roommates or drawmates to accompany a special needs student is a sign of their commitment to providing high standards of living for all students. However, given the dramatic rise in the number of applicants over the last few years, it is hard not to suspect that some abuses are taking place.
Two years ago, 36 special need students with 32 drawmates — totaling 68 students — applied for special needs housing. The next year, this combined number went up to 109, and the statistics for the 2005-06 academic year are even higher: 76 special needs students with 84 drawmates, for a total of 160 students. One hundred and fifty of these students accepted their assignment, a clear sign that they were happy with the room offered to them.
For those not familiar with the application process, applying for special needs housing involves submitting a short application, showing some form of documentation of a disability, allergies, or another issue and attending an assignment meeting. The special needs student and his or her drawmates then request a specific room, and the coordinator judges the request's suitability based upon information provided by past special needs students and the department's own knowledge.
The Housing Department makes an effort to maintain a sense of fairness by predominantly assigning rooms from the middle of previous years' draw. Inevitably, though, special needs rooms are attractive thanks to their being in newer dormitories, and thus generally have less dust, better ventilation, heating, and cooling and easier access to computer clusters and study areas.
To reduce the potential for abuse, the Housing Department should modify their application process, requiring, in the majority of cases, that students produce a medical history documenting a preexisting condition. The first time a student's doctor diagnoses a particular ailment should not be when they sign a letter specifically clearing them for special needs housing. For those students who develop special needs after arriving on campus, exceptions can be made.
If abuses are taking place, then it is the special needs students themselves who are suffering the consequences. If the current trend continues, they will be the ones to feel the effects.
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