Maggie Hannon |
The University is suffering growing pains as Residence Life struggles to provide on-campus housing to students who want it. Approximately 159 current students are on a waiting list for housing next year.
But Residence Life insists it will make room for those students.
In the first round of housing selection late last month, dozens of students, mostly current freshmen, became worried about their housing status when they did not get assigned housing for next year.
“I was honestly pretty scared and freaked out,” freshman Courtney Otani said. “I thought I was going to have fairly an okay chance at a good standing because I’m a sophomore by credit, so just a little bit scared mostly. I really want to stay in Kenna (Hall) because I love the community and its general location as well.”
Freshman Brent Knutzen also did not get a housing assignment in the first round and thinks the resulting stress affected his academics.
“It was really bad timing with all this, because it was the week before spring break, so we’re taking midterms and they dropped this bomb on us,” Knutzen said. “I would say it definitely had an affect on my ability to completely focus on school because I had to focus on this other issue.”
Over spring break, Residence Life came up with a new plan that would provide housing for all students on the housing waitlist: While on-campus housing will still be guaranteed for incoming freshmen, some of them will be required to live three in a room. Residence Life may also convert some study rooms to living spaces for as many as six students.
But current students will not be in triples or converted study rooms unless they request them.
From Friday, March 25 to March 31, hall directors will run a second round of room selection for students on the waitlist.
“We definitely want people who want to be here, to be here,” Associate Director of Housing Sarah Meiser said. “We want them to be a part of our community. They’re important to us.”
The space problem came to a head this year because this year’s freshmen class of 1,090 students is the largest in UP history. In contrast, Residence Life reserved 851 beds for the incoming freshman class this fall.
“We haven’t had (a wait list) before” Meiser said. “Logistically, it’s complicated because we have to find a way to make room for everybody.”
Students on the waitlist have not only been concerned about potentially being shut out of on-campus housing, but also fear their living options are limited off campus this late in the process.
Bob Kessi, who owns 50 houses off campus and is a landlord to many students, says most students reserve housing in September for the following year.
Sophomore Cristiana Matteucci applied to live in Tyson Hall, Haggerty Hall, or a University-owned house off campus. But because she did not get a lottery number and was denied these options, she is now planning to live in a Bob Kessi-owned house.
Because Matteucci and her roommates had such a difficult time getting University housing and from what she heard from other students in Mehling Hall, she believes the housing process needs to be more organized.
“I think they could’ve planned better with knowing that there were so many freshmen this year,” Matteucci said. “I kind of feel like they should just build another dorm because if we’re going to have so many more freshmen coming each year… then they should find something to do that can help.”
Associate Director of Community Standards Alex Hermanny said it is inevitable in the long term that the University will build more on-campus housing.
“There have definitely been discussions about a new residence hall, and I think it’s more of a matter of when, not if,” Hermanny said.
In the more immediate future, however, Meiser hopes that Residence Life and upper administration can better predict how many students will want to stay on campus in order to avoid a similar situation.
“Looking back on this process, we would’ve had less worried students in our returner population if we had been able to open up all the bed spaces that we’re able to open up now, before the first selection,” Meiser said. ”It’s always a balancing act of meeting the needs of the returning students and the incoming class.”
Maggie Hannon is a reporter for The Beacon. She can be reached at hannon15@up.edu.
