By Zac Estrada, News Staff
Students say policy changes surrounding guests and storage need to be addressed before they will consider staying on campus past freshman year, according to a recent housing survey by the Student Government Association (SGA).
Northeastern officials announced in September the next incoming class would be the first to be required to live in school-sponsored housing for both freshman and sophomore years. Currently, only freshman are required to live in dorms. The change is another step by Northeastern to try and improve relations with residents in surrounding neighborhoods with the goal of substantially increasing the number of students living on campus in the coming years.
SGA Vice President of Student Services Will Pett presented the survey results at the student group’s weekly meeting Jan. 10.
More than a quarter of the 195 respondents in the survey said they would be much more likely to consider school housing if policies for signing guests into apartments and dorm rooms were changed. Currently only three visitors are allowed to be signed in per person by a building proctor.
“Some of that has to do with fire codes,” Pett said at the meeting. “But changes could be made for upper-class housing.”
SGA is sending that recommendation to Northeastern’s Housing Task Force, along with a suggestion to research storage solutions and modified payment structures. Pett said at least 70 percent of respondents cited the cost of on-campus housing as an issue.
Northeastern’s website for undergraduate applicants lists the approximate cost of freshman room and board at $12,310 per year.
Senior business major Alex DeLuca said some freshman dorms on campus aren’t worth that price.
“I can’t imagine paying for some of these dorms that are the size of a closet,” he said.
DeLuca said on-campus housing does have some advantages over trying to find apartments around Northeastern.
“It’s easier than trying to get a bunch of people to sign a lease for a year,” he said. “Most people aren’t here for a whole year.”
University Senior Vice President for External Affairs Michael Armini told The News in September that encouraging more students to live on-campus would build “a tremendous sense of community and spirit” and that residents in neighborhoods like Fenway and Mission Hill are favorable to more students in university housing.
Pett said Northeastern’s Housing Task Force, which includes Northeastern housing officials and a student senator, has reviewed the survey and is working to move on SGA’s recommendations. He said proposals like changes to the guest sign-in policies wouldn’t be enacted before the next freshman class arrives for the fall semester.
“I definitely wouldn’t want to commit to that timeline,” Pett said. “That change requires more investigation.”
Starting in time for the 2011-12 year is an expansion of gender-neutral housing to other floors of freshman dorms. Pett said he doesn’t anticipate a space crunch developing and said he does not think the university will have problems guaranteeing students housing for their first three years.
