journal_vol49no2 - 61

The Anatomy of Room Change
DISCUSSION
When the multiple factors that influence room change requests are combined into a
single analytical model, three new insights are gained: residence hall design is related
to mid-academic year room change, high academic performers are less likely to request
a room change, and roommate differences are related to room change requests
but only in certain residence halls and at differing levels of academic performance
(GPA). Residence hall design was the strongest predictor of room change requests.
Given the work of Brown and colleagues (2019) and Devlin and colleagues (2008),
we expected roommate change to be driven by design (i.e., suite-style) considerations.
While these results are consistent with those of previous work, we also found that for
one type of the double-corridor (DC: Centralized) residence hall, the number of roommate
change requests were consistent with the number for the suite-style residence
halls. This exception suggests that other factors play a role in student room change
requests in the centralized residence halls. It is possible that the unique location of
these buildings, away from the two major areas of student residences on campus, may
limit students from accessing a broader range of friends and peers. However, it does
appear that the room change requests are higher among those students with GPAs that
fell below the respective cutoffs.
That high academic performers are less likely to request room changes is evidence
that these students have found a way to adjust to college life that allows them to
succeed without a change in their living situation mid-academic year. At a minimum,
these students have a good working relationship with their roommates and have developed
a broader social experience that facilitates their academic success, which reveals
links between social belonging and academic performance (Ahn & Davis, 2020; Davis
et al., 2019; Rubin & Wright, 2015).
Students with roommates of a different race and AGI were more likely to request
room changes, which is in line with studies done by Shook and Fazio (2008b) and
Towles-Schwen and Fazio (2006), which found that different-race roommate relationships
dissolve at higher rates than do same-race pairings. However, these differences
were found in only certain students (race differences in non-high performers in the
Hybrid Luxury halls and AGI for high performers in Suite/DC: Centralized halls). At
first glance, the results seem consistent with the current research on roommate differences,
but the particular subgroups drive these broader trends. For example, while
decreased academic performance has been associated with isolating residence hall
That high academic performers are less likely to request room changes
is evidence that these students have found a way to adjust to
college life that allows them to succeed without a change in
their living situation mid-academic year.
58 The Journal of College and University Student Housing
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