Jessica Turner loved living in her on-campus apartment on DanielStreet because of the friendships she made with her neighbors. Asfriends and neighbors, the group of students had gone go-carting,watched movies and had barbecues almost every Sunday.
“It’s like living in a dorm, but cooler,” shesaid.
But at the end of May, the residents of the 3130 Danielapartments will be forced to move to make way for a new residencecommunity for transfer students.
Turner, a sophomore corporate communications major, said she issad her community is scattering. “I’m moving to theUniversity Gardens apartments, which is an upgrade,” shesaid, “but I’ll still miss everyone here.”
SMU gave the students two move-out dates. The residents couldeither move out by May 9 and have their rent money for the rest ofMay refunded, or they could stay until the end of their lease,which ends May 31.
Jennifer Post, the leasing manager for the SMU apartments, saidshe and her staff have tried to make the move easier by informingthe residents early in January.
Turner said Post had been very helpful.
“They made sure to let us know in January so we would haveenough time to find another place to live,” she said.
If the students chose to live in an on-campus apartment again,they were given priority in the lottery for apartments, but not allof the residents chose to remain on-campus.
“A lot of them are going abroad or moving to some randomoff-campus apartment,” Turner said.
An advisory group began looking at the typical first-yearexperience of students and decided transfer students, like studentsdirectly out of high school, needed ways to connect to SMU.
Irma Herrera, the senior associate director of admission and thetransfer admission director, said data presented in the firstmeeting of her advisory group indicated some surprising trends.
“Some transfer students who have transitioned verysuccessfully in academic areas of SMU, sometimes still leave theuniversity. It has been suggested that students who did not getconnected to an SMU organization or one of its‘communities’ were more apt to leave.”
After the meeting, Post pulled together a group from ResidenceLife, New Student Programs and Transfer Admission to discuss thepossibility of a Transfer Residence Community.
According to Herrera, for the last several years, the staff inResidence Life had set aside less than 50 places in the traditionaldormitories for transfer students.
“In many cases, [the students] were previously admittedfirst-year students but chose to attend another university. Theyquickly realize that they should have chosen SMU, and plan totransfer here as soon as possible.”
Post agrees with Herrera and stresses that the community willprovide many different opportunities for transfer students toconnect with the university.
“Thirty-nine students will have a home there,” Postsaid. “Two apartment community assistants — who areclose to RAs — will also live there to help them.
They will also be surrounded by other buildings full ofstudents, and they will be able to have events and socials alldesigned to make them feel like a part of theuniversity.”
After Turner and her neighbors vacate the premises, theapartment building will not have any dramatic changes made toit.
“It will be very much an apartment building,” Postsaid.
Three students will share an apartment, but instead of leasingthe residence together, SMU will furnish the apartments and assignstudents by the bed, similar to residence hall assignments.
“We don’t want them to worry about roommates orrents before or when they get here,” Post said.
Basic utilities — water, trash, gas and electricity— will be included, however phone, cable and Internet servicewill be decided on by the future transfer residents.
While the 3130 Daniel building may prove to be a good home tofuture residents, Turner said she would miss the time she and herneighbors spent together.
“After we all go out to a party, we won’t be able tojust go down the way and talk about the previous night’sevents. I’ll miss all our little traditions,” shesaid.
