Before the end of the Spring 2019 semester, the Incheon Global Campus Housing Office changed its check-in guidelines regarding its application deadline. Previously, students had three different application deadlines to apply for housing. Now, students could only apply for housing from July 1st to July 16th. Only new and returning students could apply during the second deadline, which was from July 29th to August 11th. After numerous complaints, IGC Housing opened a third and final application period for all continuing, new, and returning students from August 16th to 18th.
Continuing students argued that they did not know that IGC Housing changed its check-in guidelines and that they did not receive emails regarding the change, and others were not aware they needed an X-Ray for the TB test. Students who applied but had an invalid TB test, or did not submit their receipt for their dorm room, had their applications cancelled. Other students who missed the deadline assumed that IGC Housing would allow applications after the first deadline, as it did in the past semesters.
Hannah Park, Mason Korea’s Campus & Office Coordinator, states that the sudden change in IGC Housing’s check-in guidelines is due to a campus-wide shortage of rooms for both new and continuing students. Park stated that IGC Housing wanted to gauge how many rooms were available for new, international, and study abroad students, so IGC Housing changed its guidelines to only one deadline for continuing students. As of now, IGC has yet to share any further explanation or potential solutions in regards to the housing shortage issues.
While Mason Korea does not have a shortage in dorms for its students for the Fall 2019 semester, Mason Korea may encounter a shortage in the future because more students apply for housing in the Spring semester compared to the Fall semester due to higher levels of enrollment. For instance, Park said that Mason Korea has reserved a set amount of rooms for new, international, and study abroad students, so even if continuing students apply for a room with the necessary paperwork, they may not be guaranteed a dorm room. Instead, continuing students who apply for a dorm may be placed on a waitlist if the reserved rooms for the new, continuing, and study abroad students are filled. If there are extra rooms left, then continuing students will be taken off the waitlist and approved for a dorm.
For international students, applying for IGC Housing has been consistently difficult due to IGC Housing requiring an X-Ray for the TB test. Nicole Haigwood (Cybersecurity Engineering, 2020), an international student from Fairfax, did not know she needed an X-Ray for her TB test until IGC Housing contacted her in late July. Since X-Rays for a TB test are not common in the U.S., most U.S. hospitals require a doctor’s note approving an X-Ray. Haigwood contacted her family doctor and was refused a doctor’s note for an X-Ray, so she went to the Student Health Center in Fairfax and got an X-Ray there instead. Haigwood said that the most difficult part in applying for IGC Housing was getting the doctor’s note approving an X-Ray, and that almost prevented her from finding housing for the Fall 2019 semester.
To prevent problems for students in the future, IGC Housing will open the Spring 2020 application during the Fall 2019 semester for continuing students, so they can apply before they go on vacation for winter break. IGC Housing encourages continuing students to take advantage of the shuttle buses that allow them to get their X-Ray done on campus. Students are advised to apply as soon as the application for IGC Housing opens.
Written by Alexa Bituin | Staff Writer
Comments