2008 Woodie Awards
Demands strain on-campus housing
Catherine Bratic
Issue date: 4/11/08 Section: News
An increased demand for on-campus housing led to panic for many students at room draw this year. At some colleges, room draw coordinators were forced to change their plans to deal with the increased demand for an ever-smaller number of spaces.
At Jones College, students are normally bumped off-campus according to their seniority, with juniors and seniors at the highest risk of being bumped. Students get an exemption if they move off campus early.
"We have been doing many things differently [this year]," Stephen Goggin, who is in charge of room draw at Jones, said.
Goggin, a junior, said Jones had to bump off two rising sophomores this year. He said Jones was asked to reserve 93 beds for incoming freshmen next fall, which is an increase from 85 this year.
Enrollment for the class of 2012 will increase from 742 freshmen last fall to a projected 775 next fall. The number for next year is still uncertain because prospective freshmen will have until May 1 to inform Rice of their enrollment decision.
Overall, the freshman class has increased from 628 in fall 2000 to 775 in fall 2008, a 23 percent increase.
To meet the guidelines set out in President David Leebron's Vision for the Second Century, the Office of Enrollment plans to increase the freshman class by an additional 20 percent by 2011, reaching 930 freshmen. This is up from the 628 freshmen in fall 2000.
Some room draw coordinators feel that a larger freshman class is one reason for this year's increased demand for on-campus housing.
Last year, Martel College took in an extra 10 freshmen in addition to what it had been anticipating. Thresher Calendar Editor Sean McBeath, who is in charge of Martel's room draw, said the college will take in 81 freshmen this year, a smaller number of freshmen than it would have otherwise, if it had not taken in 10 extra freshmen last year.
McBeath, a sophomore and Thresher calendar editor, said Martel was concerned that it would have to kick off sophomores in addition to juniors, the latter of whom are normally kicked off. He said if Martel had been asked to take in a larger number of freshmen than anticipated, it would not have been able to accommodate all its sophomores.
At Jones College, students are normally bumped off-campus according to their seniority, with juniors and seniors at the highest risk of being bumped. Students get an exemption if they move off campus early.
"We have been doing many things differently [this year]," Stephen Goggin, who is in charge of room draw at Jones, said.
Goggin, a junior, said Jones had to bump off two rising sophomores this year. He said Jones was asked to reserve 93 beds for incoming freshmen next fall, which is an increase from 85 this year.
Enrollment for the class of 2012 will increase from 742 freshmen last fall to a projected 775 next fall. The number for next year is still uncertain because prospective freshmen will have until May 1 to inform Rice of their enrollment decision.
Overall, the freshman class has increased from 628 in fall 2000 to 775 in fall 2008, a 23 percent increase.
To meet the guidelines set out in President David Leebron's Vision for the Second Century, the Office of Enrollment plans to increase the freshman class by an additional 20 percent by 2011, reaching 930 freshmen. This is up from the 628 freshmen in fall 2000.
Some room draw coordinators feel that a larger freshman class is one reason for this year's increased demand for on-campus housing.
Last year, Martel College took in an extra 10 freshmen in addition to what it had been anticipating. Thresher Calendar Editor Sean McBeath, who is in charge of Martel's room draw, said the college will take in 81 freshmen this year, a smaller number of freshmen than it would have otherwise, if it had not taken in 10 extra freshmen last year.
McBeath, a sophomore and Thresher calendar editor, said Martel was concerned that it would have to kick off sophomores in addition to juniors, the latter of whom are normally kicked off. He said if Martel had been asked to take in a larger number of freshmen than anticipated, it would not have been able to accommodate all its sophomores.
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Dean Davis
Dean Davis
posted 4/11/08 @ 10:50 PM CST
Does Chris Munoz's quote in this article strike anyone else as blatantly and offensively disregarding the problem the article is discussing?
Barry
posted 6/17/08 @ 12:25 AM CST
I am an OOS parent of a prospective 2009 student who is considering Rice. If this housing situation (and attitude by Rice officials) hasn't improved by next April it WILL be the factor that will probably cause us to enroll elsewhere. (Continued…)
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