The Shorthorn - Home Sweet Where?

Home Sweet Where?

Written by The Shorthorn

Thursday, 28 August 2008 09:37 PM

Bad information, poor communication costs students time, money, stress Students who applied for on-campus housing ran into problems this semester — there wasn’t enough to go around. University Housing should be more organized and accountable for its mistakes.
More than 4,000 students live in campus residence halls or apartments. With enrollment increasing, housing will remain an issue.
The reported waiting list numbers weren’t concise — some students took apartments off-campus and didn’t inform housing so the list was incorrect, said Matthew Hendricks, Housing Operations assistant director.
He said the list now comprises fewer than 100 students, and housing is still available at Centennial Court and Johnson Creek apartments.
Hendricks said his department “will continue to monitor demand for housing and make decisions about building more housing based on the number of students interested in living on campus.”
Some students felt the department gave them the runaround. At orientation in July, one freshman, who asked not to be named, was told by a receptionist that no wait list existed at all.
She was given a letter that said to show up on the first day of classes to attempt to grab a dorm room from no-show students on a first-come first-serve basis. This seems like a chaotic situation — show up, wait around and get assigned to a room if someone doesn’t show up.
She settled for an off-campus apartment, living alone, which is more expensive. She said she feels less safe than she would on campus. But at least she found a definitive solution instead of just showing up the first day and hoping she got a spot.
Some students who decided to stay at home and commute are suffering from gas prices, and the inconvenience of a commute.
Confusion like this could have been avoided if housing communicated with students more efficiently.
The lack of communication creates a negative experience for incoming freshmen and other students living on campus. Accountability for mistakes made will give the University Housing more credibility when trying to diffuse the situation.
Better communication and more proactive measures in anticipation of such a scenario will make the back-to-school transition much easier.

— The Shorthorn editorial board
Views: 26 | E-mail

Be first to comment this article

Last Updated ( Tuesday, 01 September 2009 06:32 PM )

< Prev		Next >

[ Back ]