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Printer-Friendly Mode2008-09 campus housing overflows by 170
March 17, 2008 —
SVSU on-campus housing hopefuls began flooding the housing office last Monday in order to complete the process by picking their rooms. The entire scheduling process was due to last throughout the week; however, according to Director of Auxiliary Operations Ron Portwine, the University ran out of room early, leaving approximately 170 students desiring to live on campus without a room assignment.
"What I don't understand is that as a Foundations Scholar I was put into preferred housing my freshman year with all the scholars, but then my second year I have nowhere to live," said freshman Megan Milbourne. "I feel like I was cared about so much as a freshman and now that they know they have my money, it no longer matters to them if I have a place to live."
"This is the largest waitlist we have experienced at the conclusion of the room selection lottery," Portwine said.
Portwine explained that hope is not yet lost for those wanting to live on campus.
"From a housing management perspective, having a waitlist is a good thing, as we will encounter approximately 100 returning student cancellations between the conclusion of the room selection lottery and the start of the fall semester," he said. "That said, 170 people on the waitlist is too large for comfort for both the students and the University."
Portwine recommends that students who want to stay on campus for the academic year, but are on the waitlist, to keep waiting, not panic, and not sign another housing contract rashly.
Portwine said that two factors contributed to the current issue: the percentage of upperclassmen choosing to remain on campus signifantly increased and the current freshmen also choosing to stay on campus has increased.
"Because we allow current upperclassmen to elect to stay in their same room the following year, current freshmen going into their second year are affected the most when we exhaust the bed space allocated for returning students," he said.
"Events like this will certainly cause us to once again examine our ability to satisfy housing demand," said Portwine. "At the present time, the administration is currently exploring its options in terms of creating additional bed space for the students on the wait list. We would like to be able to keep students on campus, as opposed to forcing them to move off campus."