By Kevin Rogers
Editor-In-Chief
Most freshman and sophomore students will be required to live on campus effective fall 2014 under a change to St. Bonaventure’s housing residency requirements.
Lifting its policy of permitting students of all years to live off campus, the university will require freshman and sophomore students to live in campus housing for the duration of those two years. The policy will also apply to incoming transfer students.
As has been the policy, students living in dormitory-style housing are required to purchase a meal plan
The previous housing policy, as described in the 2013-14 Student Code of Conduct, “strongly recommends on-campus housing for the first three years for the University experience.”
Notice of the policy shift came alongside Vice President for Student Life Rick Trietley’s announcement that Robinson, Falconio and Devereux halls would be undergoing $7.5 million in renovations ahead of the fall 2014 semester.
Trietley said the change came after officials studied housing policies at other colleges and universities in New York. According to Trietley, St. Bonaventure is one of the only schools in the area that doesn’t require students to live on campus.
For example, Canisius College, Alfred University and Buffalo State College all have policies in place requiring non-commuting students to live on campus through sophomore year.
Trietley said the decision was also inspired by research that suggested students living on campus tend to perform better academically and acclimate more quickly to collegiate life. He also noted requiring on-campus living will make it easier to oversee student safety.
Trietley added the change works alongside the planned upgrades to residence halls and will allow more students to take advantage of upgraded facilities.
The policy has a few exceptions, including those for commuters within 50 miles of campus, married students , students older than 21 years of age, students whose residence contract have been terminated and students barred from living on campus due to judicial proceedings.
Additionally, Trietley said he has final authority in accepting or rejecting any request for any additional exceptions to the policy.
Nichole Gonzalez, executive director of residential living and chief judicial officer, said the change wouldn’t affect many students.
“Over the past few years, the largest number of students with sophomore status that have lived off-campus, and did not have a home address within commuting distance, was 16. We don’t expect this would impact more than 12 to 13 students” Gonzalez said in an email. “Typically, approximately 98 percent of the freshmen class lives on-campus. We usually have no freshmen that live off-campus that are not commuters. It happens occasionally, but it’s a very small number.”
Gonzalez said she wasn’t sure how much additional housing revenue the change would bring to the university, as rates are still being calculated for the next academic year.
“The anticipated revenue depends on the approval of room rates for next semester, which have not yet been determined,” Gonzalez said. “The average room rate for our current fiscal year is $3,049 per semester.”
In announcing the change Tuesday, Trietley said the price of dormitory housing would likely rise by 2.9 percent next year, a standard increase.
Gonzalez added that a major reason for the change was the university’s effort to promote residential living as part of the college experience.
“We pride ourselves in being a residential university, and studies show students whom live on-campus tend to (do) better academically and are more connected to their school,” she said.
Additionally there are financial incentives to the rule change, according to Gonzalez.
“Students whom choose to move off-campus prior to their senior year lose a portion of their university aid,” she said.
Dakota Ward, a freshman, voiced opposition to the change in policy, arguing students should have more say in where they choose to live, especially given the cost of tuition.
“I really do not think that it should be an administrative decision,” he said. “If we pay an expensive tuition, which we do, we should be able to make our decisions and no policy should tell students where to live,”
However, Ward said the policy wouldn’t affect him, as he doesn’t plan to live off campus in the near future.
“I would not have considered living off campus,” Ward said. “That’s because I’m a broke college student, and I do not have the money to be paying rent and food for myself to live on. Living on campus is a good idea, but I do not like the administrative decision.”
