On-campus housing will improve significantly within the next four years, according to a presentation for Ohio State's Board of Trustees Thursday.
| | Hope Moore/The Lantern | | Morrill and Lincoln towers are the most recognizable and popular student residence halls. Lincoln Tower will go under conversion to add 1,300 beds and eliminate quads - an investment that will cost the university more than $38 million. |
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Provost Joseph Alutto and Vice President of Student Affairs Richard Hollingsworth said OSU will invest $196 million in the next four years to improve existing dorms, eliminate quad-style housing and add up to 1,500 new beds. They also discussed a proposed plan to require sophomores to live on campus.
"Right now, we don't have enough room, especially if we want to talk about students staying a second year," Alutto said.
Hollingsworth said the improvements to student housing are necessary, as most of the facilities were built in the 1950s and 1960s and are starting to show age.
"The first thing we're going to do is get more beds, right now," he said.
These beds will allow the university to move people out of dorms undergoing renovation, thus shortening construction time, and will also allow for the elimination of the quads - four person rooms or suites.
"While we're making these improvements, we don't want to put people on the street," Hollingsworth said.
Each dorm undergoing renovation would be taken off-line for about one year and many would receive upgraded bathrooms and improvements in appearance.
Alutto and Hollingsworth also discussed the benefits of requiring sophomores to remain on-campus. They cited several statistics indicating students who live on-campus have higher grade point averages, are more satisfied with their college experience and graduate within four years more often than their counterparts east of High Street.
The biggest hurdle to the plan seems to be financial.
"The president (of the university) has set a goal, and we need to take a look to see if this is possible, or if this is an aspiration that is not feasible," said John D. Ong, Board of Trustees member.
Various ways of creating new housing were discussed, from on-campus buildings constricted by the university to off-campus buildings on private land managed by developers.
Student board member Debra Van Camp said she has concerns about the affordability of any new housing.
"As housing costs increase, (affordability) needs to be part of our development plan," she said.
Rachel Lichtenfeld can be reached at lichtenfeld.6@osu.edu.
Viewing Comments 1 - 7 of 8
Brutus
posted 2/01/08 @ 11:54 AM EST
Dorms already cost way too much for what they are. I imagine this is just going to increase that cost. And then to require sophomores to stay in the dorms when its a lot cheaper to find an apartment makes this idea seem like its not the best thought out plan. (Continued…)
Amanda
posted 2/01/08 @ 2:38 PM EST
For the amount of money being ripped out of my pocket for the crappy little quad I live in, it's about time they do something about the dorms here. Next year, as a sophomore, I'm moving off campus just because dorms are not only too loud, too smelly, and too crowded, but because they're way too freaking expensive. (Continued…)
Dan M
posted 2/02/08 @ 1:44 AM EST
What do they mean by "eliminate quad-style"? Is that any room with 4 or more people in it? Or do they mean the room setups in Lincoln/Morrill towers? It would be interesting to see what they would attempt to do with those due to the odd shape of them. (Continued…)
Constrained
posted 2/02/08 @ 8:47 AM EST
I returned from the Gulf War in 1991 with GI Bill and College fund ready to enroll at OSU. I attended a session in one of the towers that year and was told that unless I became a resident of the towers I could not attend OSU. (Continued…)
Mark
posted 2/02/08 @ 3:08 PM EST
I agree with just implementing some kind of incentive to stay on campus sophomore year, preferably a financial one. Off-campus housing is just cheaper, and they have kitchens and you get your own room and there are no RAs; basically, if OSU wants sophomores to stay on campus, they better price the dorms comparatively, because as things are now they are too expensive. (Continued…)
Plucky
posted 2/02/08 @ 11:20 PM EST
I agree that some of the dorms slated to undergo improvements do need them and I dodoub there would be many that would disagree with that.
However, I can't say I agree with the proposal that would require sophomores to stay on campus. (Continued…)
Amamda
posted 2/05/08 @ 10:28 PM EST
This is the best news I have heard in a long time. I graduated from Ohio State in the 70's and was shocked when my kids were in the dorms that they were in such poor condition. (Continued…)
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