Regents discuss Housing changes

Members of the Board of Regents called for a more cohesive student housing policy at December's monthly meeting, in reaction to recent changes in University Housing's re-application process.

Regents said the new Housing policy, which restricts most juniors' and seniors' residence hall options to Baits, Fletcher, Cambridge and Oxford Housing, is a sufficient temporary solution, but not a good one for the future.

"We don't have a cohesive housing policy on this campus and we need one," said Regent Andrea Fischer Newman (R-Ann Arbor). "It's a travesty that we just sort of play the game, and we don't do that with anything else here."

University President Lee Bollinger said he plans to involve the regents in the long-term planning of Housing issues.

This issue "with respect to availability in the residence halls, is one where I think the administrators responsible for this have responded admirably," Bollinger said. "We will all keep thinking of how we can meet the needs of students."

Regent Philip Power (D-Ann Arbor) said that in the past, certain regents didn't want to discuss Housing policy, and when the topic arose, it was in the context of whether the University should be engaging in housing that would hurt the privatized housing market in Ann Arbor.

"As a result of that attitude on the (Board of Regents), the climate was chilled for any long-term discussion," Power said.

Regent Laurence Deitch (D-Bloomfield Hills) said the University is not a place where students come to have a four-year residential experience, adding that he supports recent decisions that change Housing options.

"I think that it's a rational solution for the future," said Regent Laurence Deitch (D-Bloomfield Hills). "Sometimes in a large institution, you have to make tough choices.

"The value that I think should get a primary emphasis is to expose the largest rational number of students that we can to a Michigan education," said Deitch.

Regents suggested surveying students to find out what they want from Housing before constructing a comprehensive policy.

"I think in order to develop a vision of where you want to be long term ... you first need to know what the customer wants," said S. Martin Taylor (D-Grosse Isle). "I just think it's dangerous to make assumptions."

But a survey wouldn't take into account student input for the changes that take effect immediately. These changes will displace an estimated 370 students from traditional residence halls - those that serve meals - next fall.

Even without a formal survey, students and parents have given regents and Housing officials feedback on the changes. LSA junior Jonathan Mezzandri presented regents and executive officers with hundreds of copies of e-mails in which members of the University community complained about limiting students options.

"My biggest concern is that the University did not officially communicate with parents and students," Mezzandri said. University Housing sent a letter to students in the residence halls on Dec. 8, nearly three weeks after news of the changes circulated around campus via newspaper reports and e-mails.

"People may begin to feel that U of M is a place that cannot accommodate students," Mezzandri said.

But Vice President for Student Affairs Maureen Hartford said the new policy does not kick students out of the residence halls, it just moves them into "non-traditional" halls - those that lack cafeterias.

"There is space on campus for any of our students who are currently enrolled in the system," Hartford said.

Newman suggested putting the Housing policy on application materials so parents and students would be informed of Housing options far enough in advance.

But since Housing's policies have varied during the past 20 years, it has been difficult for Housing officials to know what their policy will be in the future.

"We've got to be constantly balancing, and it's a dynamic model that changes every year," said Provost Nancy Cantor.

Cantor said the Housing crunch is not a result of poor communication between Housing and Admissions officials, but rather an inability to predict how many accepted students will enroll in the University. This year, the University had a five-percent increase in the acceptance yield rate of in-state students.

"Yield is something that is influenced by lots of events that really don't factor well into an enrollment model," Cantor said, citing Northwestern University's 20-percent yield increase after they earned a berth in the Rose Bowl.

Hartford attributed the need for the changes to the increased size of recent first-year classes, higher residence hall reapplication rates among returning students and a need to reduce overcrowding.

Housing responded to the 400-student increase in the first-year class during the past five years by adding 410 new spaces to the system by moving offices that were occupying residence hall space out of West Quad, moving residence staff from double to single rooms and converting a section of Baits to first-year housing.

But the changes still left nearly 1,000 students jammed into overflow triples and lounges in September.

The University is not alone in the housing crunch. Eight of the Big Ten's universities were forced to use temporary housing at the beginning of the year, including Pennsylvania State University, which jammed 986 students into temporary housing.

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