Briana Gardner — Staff Writer  

About two months ago, posters with rooming options and housing dates appeared on bulletin boards throughout residence halls, advertising student housing for the 2024-2025 school year. 

Students can be heard discussing their housing options as early as the first months of first semester. Dordt University’s student services, which intentionally assigns students to housing locations and groups each year.  

According to Derek Buteyn, associate dean of students and director of residence life, housing is a year-round process. Admissions and the registrar work alongside him and his team to predict what the student population will look like so they can have a better understanding of what housing is needed. 

“As our enrollment has grown, we’re asking the question, ‘how do we facilitate housing for a growing student population, while still maintaining the core values that shape the residential side of campus?’” Buteyn said.  

To keep this delicate balance, the administrative housing decisions include consideration of graduation year, lottery number, apartment preference, and gender.  

“It’s really like a giant puzzle,” Buteyn said. “But the systems we have in place help us put the pieces together as objectively as possible.” 

In preparation for housing assignments, student services sends out an email in which students are instructed to fill out housing cards and pay the $150 housing fee. Interested students also apply for residence life positions and the positions are filled before student services decides upon housing assignments. That way, students who do not get positions can adjust their housing plans. This year, two new Community Development Assistant Positions (or CDA) were introduced for the new Townhomes, along with an additional Director of Student Activity position (or DSA). 

Last fall, 1366 students registered for on-campus housing, which Buteyn cited as 89 percent of Dordt’s student body. That percentage is within the typical range for Dordt, as most students elect to live on campus every year.  

After housing registration ends in April, Buteyn and his team have a decent idea of where upperclassmen will be sorted, but his team works through the summer due to late registrations. Because of the fluidity of housing, the residence life team generally waits until July to post housing assignments.  

For students who choose to go potluck, Buteyn says that process runs through admissions. 

“They do a great job getting to know their recruits and make placements based on personality, likes, dislikes, musical tastes, cleanliness,” Buteyn said. 

However, if availability or potluck opportunities are limited, there is the potential that students are placed based on the availability of rooms, rather than personality matches with fellow students.  

The Townhomes are the newest addition to the housing registration, which could potentially pose complications that arise as more buildings are added and more students enroll. However, Buteyn does not see it as an issue, as he and his team have been forecasting the potential changes for several years.  

Even though the administration remains calm and collected through the fluidity of housing, the process can certainly feel overwhelming for students. However, Buteyn believes his team’s job is to not only organize housing assignments, but also to alleviate any concerns students may have.  

“Our team enjoys helping students feel confident about the process and excited for living on campus,” Buteyn said.