'Extended doubles' cause overextended resources

By Sarah Hansell Staff Writer hansell14@up.edu

When freshman Jasmine Wooton moved into her dorm room in Fields Hall last Thursday, she found herself in a converted study room with five beds, no sink and four new roommates.

"I thought it would be terrible," Wooton said.

The girls living in the fourth floor Fields study lounge are five out of about 180 students living with more than one roommate this year, up from about 160 last year.

"We just had to move everything around," one of Wooton's roommates freshman Tate Johnson added.

"We got a really good view," freshman Samantha Martin, one of the five roommates in Fields, said.

Most of the "extended doubles" are regular dorm rooms in Fields, Schoenfeldt, Villa Maria, Christie and Shipstad halls. The study lounge in Fields housing five female students and a study lounge in Villa Maria housing four male students are the only rooms with more than three roommates.

"If a Shipstad-sized hall fell out of the sky tomorrow, we could fill it," Director of Residence Life Mike Walsh said.

This year UP received over 300 more applications than last year, and the Department of Admissions lowered its acceptance rate to 44 percent, one percent less than last year's rate. Despite that decrease, this year's freshman class is still the second largest in UP history. Last year's freshman class is the largest.

"The university is just in a growing stage right now," Dean of Admissions Jason McDonald said.

The increasing retention rate and a large number of returning students opting to live on campus also contributed to the high number of extended doubles, according to Walsh.

"Despite a couple of annoying rules, I think a lot of people realize it's a lot better to live on campus in a lot of ways," Walsh said.

Walsh estimates no more than 10 to 20 students will leave this semester. This means few living situations are likely to open up before spring.

"The reality is people are going to be in rooms like this until December," Walsh said.

Sharing a dorm room with two other roommates was not a part of the freshmens' idea of life at UP.

"It's obviously not what we wanted," freshman Sarah Hatfield, who lives in Shipstad Hall with two other roommates, said. "When I first found out over the summer that I had two roommates, I was like, ‘What?'"

Despite initial anxiety, many freshmen seem unfazed, if not happy, about the situation.

"It's not that bad because the rooms are pretty big in Christie, and we're pretty much always outside them," freshman Max Bruett, who lives in Christie Hall with two other roommates, said.

Another benefit to living in an extended double is the $750 discount on room and board each semester.

"It's really not as bad as it sounded," freshman Elise Nyland, who lives in Shipstad Hall with two other roommates, said.

Many students do not want to change their living arrangements. The female students in the Fields Hall study lounge said they love the extra space.

"It's great," Wooton said. "I don't want to move out."

Fifth-year senior and third-year RA Nick Etzel had freshmen in extended doubles in his hall in Schoenfeldt last year. He enjoyed having a larger community on his floor.

"It was really cool because when second semester came they didn't want to be in (regular) doubles," Etzel said.

Although UP is growing, there are no immediate plans to build a new dorm in order to make more space.

"We're likely going to have to put a limit on the number of returning students for the first time," Walsh said.

Although the size of the freshman class means less space, it does reflect UP's growing popularity.

"We like to call (it) a happy problem," Walsh said.