Brandeis room selection will be conducted online for the first time this March. Students will select rooms for the 2014 to 2015 academic year using MyHousing, online software run by Adirondack Solutions, a college software provider.

The overall process for room selection will remain similar to that of years past, but without the trip to Sherman Function Hall, said DCL Assistant Director for Operations Sarah Hogan-Crowley in an interview with the Justice.

Students will have to opt into room selection, as in previous years, by submitting an online application, or "checking the box," on the Department of Community Living website. DCL will distribute lottery numbers over February break with room selection at its usual time in March.

The new online system will require students who want to room together to create friend groups in the system. Students will be able to request one another, and accepting a request will create a matched group. The number of people in a friend group will determine what housing options that group can select. A group of two, for example, would only be able to see doubles available and not housing options with a different number of rooms. Anyone in a friend group can select housing for that group and toggle which student is in which room in suites.

Hogan-Crowley said DCL will update its website and social media during room selection with the number and types of rooms remaining. That way, students can alter the size of their groups in the system to select the most desirable housing options.

The online system will also allow students to create profiles and then search for other students. Profiles can also be set to private, said Hogan-Crowley. Following room selection, the system will send instantaneous emails to students with confirmation.

Hogan-Crowley said DCL started the process of moving the system online a couple years ago, and the process of implementing the Adirondack Solutions software began last spring, with much work being done over the summer. The system went live for DCL in November 2013.

DCL ran a test of the system last week in which "everything went great," according to Hogan-Crowley. DCL plans for a "larger test" of the system in the next few weeks. In response to concerns about the system crashing, Hogan-Crowley said Adirondack Solutions, which provides housing software to several other universities, has backups to its system.

During the initial rollout of the selection process, DCL will always be open while room selection is running, said Hogan-Crowley. Adirondack Solutions will also be available 24/7 for technological support.