On Friday, Oct. 1, students with priority room selection, which is for students who are currently living in a residence hall, were able to prepay $250 to ensure a slot for Winona State University’s housing application. Students are able to access this until Oct. 31. On Nov. 2-3, students are able to choose a room that is in their current hall or complex. On Nov. 8, they may choose a room in a different hall or complex.
Students will receive a time slot to access the application process and if you are in Haake or Kirkland Halls – Winona State dorms with suite-style options – roommate group, all individuals will receive the same time slot. For those not in priority housing, the housing application opens for all students on
Feb. 1, 2022.
This year, the application for East Lake Apartments and on-campus residence halls will be the same as it was last year. This way, if students are not able to get their first choice for a room, they are still able to have a living space for the next year.
“Time slots are based on the total number of earned credits as of Fall 2022. Credits being attempted in Fall 2022 are not counted. For roommate groups, time slots are based on the number of earned credits for the entire group,” Winona State’s eServices states.
Beginning Fall 2021, Winona State closed their West Campus housing, which included two residence halls: Maria and Lourdes Halls. This was due to admissions being low with only one-third of the normal amount of students signed up to live in the two halls.
The students who were planning on living in the two West Campus halls this year were relocated to the other residence halls on Main Campus, which include: Haake, Kirkland, Sheehan, Prentiss, Lucas, Morey-Shepard, Conway, and Richards Halls.
The Director of Housing and Residence Life at Winona State, Paula Scheevel, said even if admissions go up next year, the university will still have enough housing space on Main Campus.
“We will have enough housing, in large part because we will not be offering as many single rooms. Two-thirds of students this year are in singles and one-third are in doubles,” Scheevel said.
Scheevel also said if students are planning on getting a single room for next year, it will be difficult due to the small number of single rooms Winona State will be offering.
Scheevel also clarified that super single-style rooms are not gone for good and will be back for next year, especially warranting the possibility of another variant of COVID-19.
Allison Kleman, a third-year student at Winona State with a major in Spanish education and a minor in middle level math education, is a Resident Assistant at Richards Hall. Kleman spoke about why she believes admissions were so low this year.
“I think overall, last year was a hard year for students. Students are looking at all higher education options and might take a different route than a four-year college experience. I think with COVID-19 cooling down, we might see a spike in admissions next year,” Kleman said.
Kleman also talked about why she became a Resident Assistant, including its community aspect.
“I had a really good experience in the residence halls my first year and my Resident Assistant was definitely a reason for that experience. I am also going into a career that helps people, which is something that I am interested in. I really enjoy giving back to my community,” Kleman said.
Kleman spoke about having to make the best of a not-so-perfect situation as an RA, due to COVID.
“I love being an RA, and I have only known being an RA during a pandemic. I feel like we’re doing the best we can, and I think that students who are returning are having good experiences on-campus,” Kleman said.