Surveys may be the answer to better roommate pairings.

Roommate compatibility is a concern residence hall dwellers and staff have struggled with for quite some time.

Is an Internet survey the answer to roommate woes?

The 8-month-old Web-based system WebRoomz is offering a site that allows students to fill out a form online to answer questions about his or her habits, personality, hobbies, etc.

When the student fills out the form, the computer generates a list of compatible people. The student can look through those profiles and e-mail the other students to find out more about them. This way, students coming to NIU for the first time already will have a connection with the person they will live with.

“You could pick someone who has some of the same interests instead of them just picking someone for you,” said Clint Humphreys, a junior kinesiology major.

Other students agreed.

“I think it would be a good idea,” said Sakina Jackson, a junior business management major. “That way you can compare interests and be able to relate to the person instead of NIU just placing you with someone.”

Georgia’s Kennesaw State University has more than 15,000 students. It recently began offering housing for the fall semester, and used WebRoomz to help with roommate pairing. The system seemed to work for a university of that size, but would it work for NIU?

“From our perspective, it doesn’t seem to be worth it for residence halls,” said Michael Coakley, executive director of Student Housing and Dining Services. “It has some benefit for the off-campus market.”

NIU provides a similar service, which can be accessed through www.och.niu.edu. This site brings you to a list of people looking for a place to live and those looking for roommates for off-campus housing. Experimenting with the service could do many of the same things as WebRoomz.

“I deal with roommate situations way too often,” said Sholondo Campbell, graduate hall director for Stevenson A-Tower. “The computer system may be better than blind assignment, but you’re still going to have the same problems as long as people don’t communicate. What it would do is take the blame off us and put some responsibility on the actual residents themselves.”

Residence hall staffers try to do everything in their power to make the residence hall experience as positive as possible for students.

“The general complaints we usually get are guest issues and communication,” said James Brunson, assistant director and area coordinator of Student Housing and Dining Services. “People have a problem talking to their roommate. The first thing we try to do is work out the problem before we do any room changes.”

SHDS works to make the residence hall sign-up process easier. Coakley said he expects an upgrade in the current system by next year, which would have a Web-based sign-up for people who are looking for specific rooms. At any time of the day, a student would be able to access the site and click on a desired room.

The process could take the hassle out of the room sign-up process. But what about new students who don’t know who they want to room with?

“There are studies that show that there is as much roommate dissatisfaction with this service (WebRoomz) as there is with random assignment. There is no significant difference except with smoking and age,” Coakley said.

NIU has strived to make the college experience positive for students, but staffers understand the difficulties in roommate placement.

“Most people want their room to be a safe zone,” Coakley said. “They want to go back to their room to someone they feel comfortable with.”