Residence halls overflow with first-years
The boxes are packed, the car is loaded and the residence halls are open. Move-in time has arrived, but some students may have to wait.
For the second time in the past six years, SMU residence halls are at an extended capacity, causing a shortage of necessary rooms. The growth in the number of incoming first-year students and a rise in the number of upperclassmen choosing to live on-campus has led to a shortage of needed rooms.
“Anytime we put students into spaces that are not in our programmed capacity, we define it as extended capacity,” said Eddie Hull, director of Residence Life and Student Housing. “We planned for about 1,340 first-year students, but instead have about 1,380 to 1,390 incoming first-years.”
Some students will have to live in an alternate location until a room becomes available.
“There are a combination of three options for temporary housing,” said Hull. “It will either be with a resident assistant, in a guest room or in one of the apartments on campus. This will last at least until the first day of class. We can’t say how long temporary may be.”
Rooms may become open after the check-in deadline at 5 p.m. Wednesday. At that time, anyone who has not made previous arrangements for a late arrival will lose their housing assignment.
“We will first try to contact anyone who has not checked-in to see if they just failed to notify us of arriving late and after that we will try to relocate those living in temporary housing to the rooms now vacant,” said Hull.
Between 570 and 600 upperclassmen will live on campus this year and the majority of those having to live in temporary housing will be older students. Only four first-year students are scheduled to live with an RA until other arrangements are made.
“I was told that I will probably have to live in temporary housing,” said Shalin Agarwal, a junior theater major. “Possibly in the efficiency apartments or with an RA. They said it was just a crazy year for housing.”
For incoming first years, as well as returning students, feeling a part of the campus community at SMU is considered critical by the Department of Residence Life and Student Housing.
Hall directors and RA’s have met to discuss what needs to be done for those students having to deal with the inconvenient housing conditions.
Resident assistants will also have to make a living adjustment. Customarily, RA’s are given a room to themselves. Now, some will have to share their space with an incoming student.
“For both the incoming [students] and the RA’s it is an unfortunate situation, but they will make the most of it,” said Lisa Hall, a sophomore resident assistant at Cockrell-McIntosh.
Despite the unexpected arrangements most students do agree on the responsibility of the residence halls to provide an atmosphere where students can interact with each other.
In addition to service activities and social events, RLSH is working with other campus departments on creating an ideal first-year experience and increasing the community connections at SMU. T-shirts will also be made for each hall and students are encouraged to wear red and blue on Fridays to increase residence hall and university pride.
“Moving those students into a permanent location will be our top priority in the coming week,” said Hull. “We will find a place for them. We just ask that they have an open mind and stick with it. We look forward to a great year.”
