Ohio U. will provide a forum for incoming students to meet, communicate and ultimately select their roommates through a school-sponsored Facebook group prior to the 2011-12 school year, according to Residential Housing.

Upon admittance to OU, students will indicate whether they would like to join the group on their housing application. Participating students can begin contacting each other once invited to the group and enter their rooming preferences on the Residential Housing website if they successfully find a roommate.

Jneanne Hacker, assistant director for contract management, said she proposed creating the group because she saw the need for an official way for students to make connections before arriving on campus.

“We know that (students) are going online … meeting one another … so we would like to be part of that process and just provide a safe avenue for them to … interact … in hopes of deciding to live with one another,” Hacker said.

By getting to know potential roommates early, students may avoid conflict-based room changes later in the year. The main reason roommates request to live with other people is because they “aren’t communicating effectively,” said Matthew Peterson, the residential coordinator for Bush and Lincoln halls.

Students can discuss study habits, sleeping routines, social practices and other lifestyle topics on the group’s page before deciding to live together.

“I think it’s a really good idea because I had to switch rooms three times because I couldn’t even find my roommates, so I couldn’t decide if I got along with them or not,” said Ina Grozeva, a freshman who has not chosen a major.

Several OU students said they would have taken advantage of the Facebook group had it been an option for them.

“If I had had a hand in choosing my roommate … it would have been beneficial,” said Rebecca Robison, a junior studying English.

Residential Housing is still developing criteria to judge the effectiveness of the page.

Peterson said he anticipates that room assignments will be “more streamlined internally” and easier to manage.

Although Residential Housing staff members are pushing for student autonomy, they will edit the page for professionalism or safety. OU will monitor the content on the Facebook group and remove any student exhibiting inappropriate or disruptive behavior, Hacker said.

The Facebook group is expected to go live on Jan. 1, she said.