Students looking for potential roommates will have the opportunity to meet when Off-Campus Student Services holds its winter roommate fair today from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. in room 342 at the Ohio Union.

The fair gives students a chance to meet potential roommates face-to-face. The fair is among the many Off-Campus Student Services holds throughout the year.

“We’ve been holding these roommate fairs for several years and they’re usually very successful,” said Dilnavaz Cama, office staff coordinator for Student Affairs who is in charge of the roommate fair. “We’re able to get students together so that they can learn a little bit about each other and hopefully help them find what they’re looking for.”

Students were able to come to the Off-Campus Student Services office in the Ohio Union to fill out a survey that featured a compatibility profile. These surveys are then arranged in special binders to be used by the people running the fair to help match potential roommates. Questions on the survey include whether or not a person smokes and the amount of studying that person typically does in a given week.

“These surveys have been very helpful aids,” Cama said. “They seem to be very simple questions, but many times the students forget to ask them when they’re meeting potential roommates.”

When Off-Campus Student Services gets enough surveys, they host another roommate fair. Today’s fair is the only one scheduled this winter, but there will be several more in the spring and summer.

“Winter is typically our slowest season, but we fully expect to get enough people to find matches for at least a few people,” Cama said. “For the students that do not find a match (Tuesday), we tell them to fill out a survey and we can do whatever we can to help them find someone.”

Students who have not filled out a survey prior to the fair are still encouraged to come and mingle with the other students. Cama said there will be three or four counselors on hand to help match students and answer any questions they might have.

“The meeting is very informal so we just have a few people on hand who can help the students and give them advice on what to look for,” Cama said.

Many students have found roommates through these fairs and said it was a great way to meet a potential roommate.

“I met a couple of people there last year who I never would have met anywhere else,” said Timothy Hider, a senior in electrical engineering. “I’d recommend it to any person who needs someone to live with next year. I tried a few different ways to find a roommate and this was definitely the most helpful.”

Students who will be attending the fair for the first time are hoping to have the same success.

“I’m not sure what to expect, but I really need a roommate for next year,” said Tyler Bonar, an undecided freshman. “It’s been a lot harder than I expected to meet someone who I could tolerate living with for another year.”