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Monday August 20, 2001 |
The University of Arizona is once again cramming its new freshmen into unacceptable accommodations. Freshmen are not only finding themselves shoved in study rooms and spare bunks in resident assistant rooms, but in hotels miles from campus. This is a recurring theme of the UA and a problem that has no end in sight as long as UA administration and the Department of Residence Life continue to treat this situation as a minor problem.
UA officials seem to escape scrutiny by acting surprised. They blame the housing crunch on a record number of freshman enrollments. But this is nothing new. The school has had record numbers of freshman students for the past four years running, which means we can easily assume that next year will be even worse.
What makes this situation worse is that these students were "guaranteed" housing as long as they turned their applications in by May 1. And now 200 of these students are in living situations wholly not conducive to a healthy educational experience. Jim Van Arsdel, director of housing for Residence Life said, "We didn't have enough space for them, bottom line." The real bottom line is: Incoming freshmen should not be guaranteed housing when we have nowhere to put them.
This fact puts the May 1 deadline policy in suspect. Why would the UA promise housing when it knows it can't accommodate all applicants? Probably to stimulate enrollment. If students knew they would be living under these circumstances, there is a good chance they would give schools like Arizona State University and Northern Arizona University more consideration.
But as previously stated, Fall 2001 has seen another record enrollment of incoming freshmen, and record tuition to boot. This means more money for superfluous construction projects that offer nothing in the way of a place to rest your head.
Van Arsdel is forming a committee to discuss ways to avoid this situation in the future. The committee must find a way to step up construction on new residence halls. One complex is in the beginning stages of construction that would eventually house 750 new students by 2003. If freshman enrollment rates continue to climb the way they have for the last four years, a new dorm in 2003 will not be soon enough and by that time there may still be overflow.
The committee should also consider limiting residence hall rooms to freshmen. Although UA dorms have successfully harbored students through their senior year, it should be a priority of this university to offer housing to all incoming freshmen, even if that involves angering upperclassmen.
The UA must learn from its mistakes. It cannot guarantee housing to all applicants. If there is enough room to house 5,500 students, then say so, and stop making promises the school can't keep. ResLife is counting on some students to drop out of their contracts to give students now in temporary housing a permanent room. But it's more likely that it is these very students who will break their contracts due to a bad transition into college life. It is these kinds of policies that lead to low freshman GPAs, which result in high freshman dropout rates.
And finally, our tuition dollars - the tuition dollars of the very students now sleeping in closets and commuting from hotels - must be used for significant housing projects that can be utilized as soon as possible.
The UA - and RHA, for that matter - need to start making promises they can keep.
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