Overview

Residents with continuing housing status (i.e., renewable housing contracts) are eligible to change rooms and room types through the annual internal room lottery each May. Incoming officers also participate in this process.

The following is a brief overview of the procedure. Note, however, that anyone who enters the internal lottery should be sure to first read and understand the more detailed policies below.

1. If you have continuing housing status, renew your contract with the MIT Housing Office.
2. A list of available rooms will be publicized on this website by May 5th, 2009. Look at the list of available rooms and vacancy dates, noting that in-house moves MUST be completed by August 20th, 2009. (If you plan to change rooms and will be away for the summer, you will have to vacate your current room before you leave, since it must be available for a new resident by August 21st, 2009.) Visit any specific rooms you think you might want to move to.
3. Submit an online ballot with up to 10 choices for rooms or room types by 11:59pm on Saturday, May 9th, 2009. If you want a specific roommate (who must also be eligible to participate in the internal lottery), be sure that both of you list each other on your ballots.
4. Results will be posted by Tuesday May 12th, 2009. Seniority points (based on house service and length of residency) will be used to determine the sequence of room assignments.
5. Note that these results are binding. If you receive a new room assignment through this lottery, you must take it.

Please note that the MIT Housing Office makes room assignments for first-year residents who get re-assigned to Sidney-Pacific. Thus, with very few exceptions (other than officers), first-years do not participate in the internal lottery.

Detailed Administrative Policies

Purpose:

The internal housing lottery provides an opportunity for Sidney-Pacific residents with renewable housing contracts (i.e., continuing status) to change rooms or room types and for incoming officers to be assigned rooms.

Eligibility:

The internal housing lottery is open to Sidney-Pacific residents with renewable housing contracts and incoming house officers. Current first-year residents who have one-year contracts are ineligible (unless they become officers); they must instead enter the continuing housing allocation and if successful will receive notification and be assigned a room by the Housing Office. ELIGIBLE RESIDENTS WHO WISH TO REMAIN ASSIGNED TO THEIR CURRENT ROOMS SHOULD NOT ENTER THE LOTTERY; THEY WILL KEEP THEIR ROOMS BY DEFAULT.

Process:

Participants in the internal housing lottery will be given the opportunity to list their top 10 preferences for rooms and/or room types. Participants not awarded a room through this process will remain assigned to their current rooms. Seniority points will be used to determine the sequence of room assignments; participants with the same number of seniority points will be assigned a random number for tie-breaking.

Seniority points:

Every resident earns one resident seniority point for every semester of residence in Sidney-Pacific. Officers may earn up to two additional officer seniority points for every semester of holding office. Any resident who provides exceptional service to the house may be awarded an additional service seniority point per semester at the discretion of SPEC with recommendations from residents and the house council. Check your seniority points. Note to current officers (2008-09): Spring seniority points for some offices have not yet been updated due to SPEC members being away. They should be updated by Saturday, May 9. Please send sp-hallchair an email if discrepancies still remain at that time.

Roommates:

Both parties need to be eligible for the internal housing lottery, and both parties must indicate their desire to live with each other on the online ballot. The seniority points between the two parties will be summed to determine their selection priority within the lottery.

Co-ed housing pilot program:

New in 2009, co-ed housing will be available to a limited number of continuing residents who specify roommates of the opposite gender. The co-ed pilot program policies are as follows:

• The number of co-ed rooms allocated through the internal lottery will be capped at seven.
• If one roommate in a co-ed arrangement moves out partway through the year, the Housing Office will attempt to fill the vacancy with a new resident of the same gender as the remaining roommate (thus reverting the room to single-gender). If Housing is unable to do so, however, the remaining roommate must be willing to either (a) have a stranger of the opposite gender be their new roommate; or (b) move to another room, provided space is available.
• If the co-ed program is not extended beyond 2009-10, residents in co-ed rooms may keep their arrangement until one of the roommates moves out.

Capacity limitations:

In order to ensure a diverse resident population, the number of beds allocated to students in the internal housing lottery will be capped at 70% of all the beds in each wing or floor. No current residents will be displaced by this rule; if a wing or floor currently exceeds this cap, it simply means that no new beds will be allocated in the particular floor or wing.

Move-out / move-in dates:

Move dates are subject to the following constraints:

1. Rooms will not be available for move-in until a few days after the previous resident moves out, so that cleaning and necessary repairs can occur. Toward the end of summer (the busiest time of year), 4-7 days may be required. The "Vacancy Date" shown on the list below is 2 days after move-out, which is the earliest date a room could be available in the best-case scenario.
2. Doubles and quads that change gender through the internal lottery will not be available for move-in until the LATER of the vacancy dates. More precisely, if both rooms of a two-bedroom suite are on the vacancy list and a resident of gender opposite to the current residents chooses the room, he or she will not be able to move in until both current residents have moved out.
3. All moves must be completed by August 20th, 2009 (excepting moves to rooms that only become available in September). In particular, if you will be away for the summer, please vacate your room before you leave: it must be available for a new resident by August 21st, 2009.

After the conclusion of the internal lottery, Housing will contact each resident who is changing rooms to coordinate his or her precise move date, which can be any date within the above window. (Note that there are no rent penalties for mid-month moves within Sidney-Pacific. Rent is prorated for in-house moves between room types.) Each resident will then be issued a transfer letter confirming and approving the room transfer. To obtain keys and coordinate their physical moves, residents should contact the House Manager at sp-housemanager [at] mit [dot] edu.

Penalties:

Lottery results are binding. Participants in the internal room lottery who decide to forfeit their new room assignment will be fined $300 and will be ineligible to enter the next two internal room lotteries. This penalty will also apply to residents who do not vacate their old room by the move-out date (as arranged with the House Manager).

Rent:

Lottery participants will be responsible for the rent associated with the new room type. The current rent schedule for the remainder of the 2008-2009 academic year is as follows:

1. Two Bedroom Quad: $640
2. Two Bedroom Double: $958
3. Single Efficiency: $1078
4. Two Bedroom Two Bath Apt: $1078

The new rent schedule for the 2009-2010 academic year is as follows:

1. Two Bedroom Quad: $662
2. Two Bedroom Double: $992
3. Single Efficiency: $1116
4. Two Bedroom Two Bath Apt: $1116

There is an additional house tax of $6 per month.

Questions:

If you have questions, please first check the Lottery FAQ page. Any other questions can be directed to the Chair of the Halls at sp-hallchair [at] mit [dot] edu, but please limit questions to those absolutely necessary.

Available Rooms

The links below will open the list of available rooms for May 2009. Please note that the room list is subject to change as minor errors are sometimes detected and fixed. Any changes in the room list that occur after the lottery opens will be recorded here (as well as updated in the links below).

Rooms sorted by Room Type

Rooms sorted by Available Date

Floor plans are also available for your convenience.

Lottery Form

Please make sure you've read the rules above and know which room(s) you'd like to select before filling out the form below. The entry submission process is as follows:

1. Make a list of rooms you would like to transfer to. Physically visit these rooms to ensure they are what you are expecting (floor plans are a useful resource, but a visit to the room in person will help you avoid any unpleasant surprises in the fall).
2. Fill out the lottery form here. In addition to selecting rooms, you can also specify roommate preferences. If you want to keep your current room but specify a roommate preference, follow the directions on the form.
3. After submitting your entry, you will receive a confirmation email.
4. If you change your mind after submitting, you may resubmit your ballot. Only your last submission will be saved.