Booted out: Policy sends upperclassmen packing

A New Student Residency Policy implemented Fall Semester 2004 may prevent approximately 100 students from returning to on-campus housing.

“We’re trying to offer returning students as many options as we can,” Jahr said. “We knew when the university created the policy that we were going to end up with men and women on campus that we were not going to be able to accommodate and that’s why we created a lottery.”

The policy states that all incoming freshmen must spend their first year in on-campus housing. The projected 950 incoming freshmen this fall will fill more than three-fourths of the beds on-campus, leaving little room for returning students.

All residents who wish to return to on-campus housing were placed into a randomized electronic lottery created by Associate Director of Housing Bill Frowine.

Junior Brandon Murphy, who transferred to Georgia College & State University this semester, currently lives in Napier Hall. Murphy said he wants to remain in the residence halls next year, but was not selected in the lottery and is currently on the waiting list.

“I applied because I really don’t want to live at Bobcat or anywhere else because it’s easier to meet people in the dorms and easier to get things together,” Murphy said.

According to Frowine, many similar lotteries are based on a point system that awards students by seniority and other varying merits.

However, he said he decided not to design the lottery to include a point system or to consider roommate considerations.

Frowine said he felt this was the best way to implement a fair system.

“I really wanted to ensure that everyone had the same likelihood of receiving a space,” Frowine said. “We wanted to give everyone a fair shot.”

Students who wished to remain in the University Housing System were encouraged to apply for residency at Bobcat Village, but were instructed not to apply at both Bobcat and on-campus residence halls. Contracts at Bobcat were honored for those who did not comply.

“There were about 20 students who applied to both places that were taken out of the lottery,” Jahr said. “There were then between 95 and 100 students who participated in the lottery and did not get a bed. We are encouraging them to consider Bobcat, and we’re also encouraging them to apply for the waiting list. Not every one of the students who were successful in getting a space in the lottery are going to sign up. We also know there will be some cancellations.”

Another contribution to space imitations will be Bell Hall’s closing for renovations at the end of the semester.

Bell will be taken off-line until Fall 2006, and the completion of its renovations will signify the end of residence hall editions in the near future, Jahr said.

Although space in residence halls is limited, Jahr said he does not expect these limitations to become a determining factor for the number of freshmen accepted by the university.

“It is unlikely that the limitations of on-campus life will limit the number of freshmen,” Jahr said. “As we increase the number of freshmen, we decrease the number of returning students that can stay in the residence halls.

I don’t think the residence halls will ever be a reason to impact the freshman class.”

With freshmen taking priority in residence halls, Jahr said he strongly encourages residents who wish to remain in the university housing system to consider Bobcat Village. The completion of Phase II of Bobcat will provide 833 additional beds for Fall Semester 2005.

The current rate for apartments at Bobcat Village is $464 a month, and does not include a meal plan. Residents who choose to live in residence halls must purchase a meal plan, and the cost for these rooms is $1,791 for a 4-person suite and $2,269 per semester for a 2-person suite. The minimum cost of meal plans for on-campus residents ranges from $1,140 to $1,450.

According to Jahr, students are often intimidated by the rate for Bobcat apartments, but what many do not consider is that the price includes unlimited utilities and fully-furnished apartments.

Once all factors are taken into consideration, students will realize the value of Bobcat apartments are not over-priced, Jahr said.

“This [policy] is going to be the wave of the future for the university. It’s why we enlarged Bobcat Village,” Jahr said. “We have enough space now in Bobcat to accommodate all of those who want to return to the university housing program.”

Posted by Colonnade Archives on Apr 1 2005. Filed under News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry