This year came with many differences around campus. One big change was in the office of Residence Life. Last year, the University decided to close Harshman Hall, after many complications with the building that would leave a health risk to future occupiers.
This closure caused less room on campus for the ever-growing incoming classes. Over 100 first-year students are housed in Falcon Heights and Offenhauer Towers, which are usually all upperclassmen dorms.
In some halls, including Falcon Heights, three students are in a room that was previously for fit two. This does not stop with first-year students.
According to the University’s rules, second-year students are required to live on campus. With new students taking rooms in upperclassmen dorms, sophomore students are living in extra houses in the Greek Village, Kreischer, MacDonald, Conklin and the usual Falcon Heights and Offenhauer Towers.
Another big change was that rooms were self-picked, but the students were given times randomly. According to Interim Director of Residence Life, Joshua Lawrie, the self selection process started three years ago, and has increased the satisfaction students have with their rooms.
In the past, these times were given out by class standing and credit hours. Seniors choosing to live on campus were allowed to choose first, followed by juniors and then sophomores.
Lawrie explained that housing next year will be similar if not the same as this year. Residence Life is not looking to change anything big, to keep logistics smooth and to increase overall on-campus students’ satisfaction.
To see what current students felt about the changes this year, a survey was given to their respected class Facebook pages, in which 125 responses were collected.
Ninety-one of these students said that they live on campus. Thirty-four percent of those who responded said that they are concerned with the current on-campus housing situation.
When students were asked about their biggest pet peeve of living on-campus, the most common responses were price, parking and overall cleanliness of the residence halls.
Living at an apartment complex such as Falcon’s Pointe for a full school year is cheaper or comparable to a dorm with meal plan. Some students were concerned with the cleanliness of their communal bathrooms and the laundry facilities in their hall.
Almost all students who responded to the survey believe the best fix for housing is to build a new residence hall, but this comes with many other decisions. For the University, this takes a few years of deliberation and is a big expenditure.
“There are some preliminary conversations (about a new hall). People are always talking about what the future of our campus will look like, but no shovels are being put in the ground or anything at this point,” Lawrie said.
Overall, student do not seem to have any positive comments about residence life currently. Some students are worried about affording or finding an apartment and are upset that they will be “forced” off-campus. Lawrie reassured that they do still approve upperclassmen to live on campus by filling out a form. Residence Life accepted over 300 juniors and seniors for this year.
His advice to student that are having problems with their living arrangements? Seek help from Residence Life.
“I think what the biggest thing is people will have a road block or something they are not sure of, and they don’t know where to go. If someone has a question about housing, their roommate or where they are going to live next year they should always email us, call us or stop up. We will work individually with folks to try to find a solution,” Lawrie said.
