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Living Space Tightens at Universities

Posted on: Wednesday, 28 September 2005, 21:00 CDT

By Erica Pippins, Montgomery Advertiser, Ala.

Sep. 28--Ashley McGhee is comfortable in her home away from home.

But she questions whether she always will feel that way.

"When you look around campus, it seems like the freshmen class gets bigger every year," said McGhee, a junior biology major at Alabama State University. "If we keep growing, I wonder if we are going to have enough space to accommodate everybody in the dorms."

The women's dorms at ASU are nearly full, while the men's residence halls are maxed out.

"It seems like we barely have enough room for everybody who wants to live in the dorms this year. But people are not stacked up on each other, and I think the university has done its best to make sure we are all comfortable," McGhee said. "I just don't want it to get to the point where we do become overcrowded."

Housing is an issue on the minds of college administrators as enrollment at Alabama's public and private universities continues to climb. This fall, several schools of higher education experienced enrollment gains ranging between 3 and 6 percent, with most reporting record numbers of first-year students at their institutions. That means there is very little or no room in the dorms.

Officials say strong academic, athletic and extracurricular programs and housing options that include residence halls with apartment-style amenities are bringing more learners to their campuses.

While the colleges welcome the growth, many are looking at building new dorms or expanding existing ones to accommodate the influx of students.

This semester, Alabama State University has 5,500 students, of whom 1,223 are freshmen.

The housing department worked to make sure no rooms exceeded the maximum occupancy, but the dorms practically are filled up, said university spokeswoman Janel Bell. Housing is something ASU hopes to address through its long-term facilities upgrade plan.

"ASU is definitely doing more as far as the band and the football program and it has really good academic programs. So naturally, you are going to have more people living on campus," McGhee said. "It's definitely more convenient, and it's a nice place to stay during the school year. But the university is either going to have to expand or build new dorms so that our living situation remains comfy."

Increased enrollment at Troy University has brought growing pains with growing plans to the main campus, said John Schmidt, senior vice chancellor for student affairs.

Though none of the dorms are exceeding the maximum number of students that can live comfortably in one room, housing is at capacity at all of the university's residence halls for the third consecutive year.

"I think more students are seeing the benefits of living on campus. Here, (Troy) you have the one-stop-shop concept, which allows students to meet most of their needs on campus," Schmidt said.

While the final numbers are not in, the new freshman class gets most of the credit for the spike in Troy's fall enrollment, Schmidt said.

First-year students are required to stay on campus, but the university was lenient with the policy this semester because of its current housing situation.

"But we found out there was no room at the inn outside the campus community either. Apartment complexes and rental homes filled up pretty quickly," Schmidt said.

Troy's existing residence halls can accommodate 1,602 students. The university is in the development stage of a plan to build a new dorm and Schmidt suspects developers in Troy soon may follow suit by building new apartment communities.

"We are growing, but I think it's a good problem to have," he said.

Richard L. Jones, dean of students at Huntingdon College, shared similar thoughts. Enrollment at the college rose by nearly 4 percent over last fall and its 790-member student body is the largest Huntingdon has had in 15 years.

As a result, on-campus housing is roughly 93 percent full.

"We're near capacity, but I think that's a positive trend. It means the space is being used for its intended purpose," Jones said. "Also, having more people gives our students a better chance of interacting and sharing new experiences with a wide variety of people."

Huntingdon has experienced record enrollment increases over the last three years, which has prompted the administration to look at its future housing needs. The administration attributes part of the growth to its revamped and new academic programs.

"We will look at all options, including the possibility of building a new residence hall or finding ways to utilize our existing buildings," Jones said. "We are growing in a positive direction. We'll work to make adjustments accordingly."

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Source: Montgomery Advertiser

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