With the introduction of student-run online subletting lists and the promise of easy-to-search Web sites on the horizon, off-campus living seems to be entering a new phase of accessibility.
But these new outlets for finding subletters leave the Office of Off-Campus Living -- the center which has historically been seen as the primary resource in this field -- carrying out a largely similar role.
"We're not here to compete for business -- we're here to help the students," Office of Off-Campus Living Director Miki Farcas said.
In addition to providing other services, the Office of Off-Campus Living gives students the chance to advertise for subletting on both the supply and demand side. Last week, Sophomore Class President Jack Cohen circulated an e-mail aimed at fulfilling an identical purpose to the subletting section of the Office of Off-Campus Living's Web site -- minus the $5 fee that the office charges.
"We have this absolutely nominal fee to keep us in business, to allow us to keep the door open," Farcas said. "We have to cover all our expenses -- we don't have funding to do this project."
Farcas said that the fees collected from the subletting Web site go toward funding the computer database that the office relies on to keep the Web site up and running.
"We just needed to recover some funds," she said, adding that the office is "not for profit" and is simply focusing on "trying to provide a service."
She emphasized that the office's primary goal is simply to assist students.
"We are trying to see how we can amplify or magnify or better serve the student needs."
Although Farcas said that the new subletting e-mails probably will affect the number of posts that her Web site sees, she also said that the office just wants to see students successfully and responsibly subletting, regardless of which medium they utilize.
"If the students find a better way to hook up with each other, it's fine with us," she said. "We want to work with the students, not against the students."
However, some students feel that, perhaps unknowingly, the office's system is more of a hindrance than a help.
"I think it's kind of stupid the way they do it," said Cohen, a College sophomore and Daily Pennsylvanian photographer. "The Office of Off-Campus Living is pretty unhelpful in my opinion, especially with the issue of people going abroad second semester."
He said that the new Web site he is working on will be easier to navigate.
"I think the Web site will run itself in the sense that you post that you're a buyer or a seller and you can do a search under price and semester," he said.
"People should be able to do it themselves," Cohen said, adding that he will not charge posters since "there is no reason for it not to be free."
Despite Cohen's plans for an improved Web site, he still stressed that there was no competition between himself and the Office of Off-Campus Living.
"There is no rivalry," he said.
The reactions of his classmates seem to echo his sentiments.
Wharton sophomore Leslie Emmons said that she did not feel that the class Web site would compete with the office's services.
"I would use both" in conjunction, she said.
Nursing senior Heather Buchanan said that she still sees the Office of Off-Campus Living's role as beneficial.
She described her interactions with the office as " a positive experience.
"That's how we found our fifth roommate," she said.
