Housing problem indicative of neglected graduate experience

By David Splinter     1/22/09 6:00pm

One of Rice's Vision for the Second Century goals is to improve graduate student programs by providing "attractive campus amenities that will contribute to a stronger sense of community among our graduate students." My recent ordeal with the new graduate apartments, in which contracts between students and the university were ignored, suggests that the university may need to put more energy into meeting this goal. For months, graduate students have been signing pre-leasing contracts for rooms in the Rice Graduate Apartments, which opened last weekend. These pre-leasing contracts state: "This agreement is between you, ____, the Resident, and Rice University . You agree to rent apartment number ____ that is assigned to you . If [you] cancel [my] reservation after June 1, 2008, [you] will forfeit [my] deposit of $350.00"

In November, five graduate students were told by the Rice Graduate Apartments manager Abeer Mustafa that their pre-leasing contracts would not be honored. Although these students signed pre-leasing contracts over nine months ago, their reserved rooms would instead be given to students signing up just two months ago. The affected students would be moved to less desirable rooms in the apartments.

The reason given to us for this decision was that there was excess demand for certain rooms and that most of the affected students were resident assistants who worked for the apartments part time. This reasoning directly conflicted with what I was told when I began to work as an resident associate: By committing to moving to the new apartments I could have first pick of apartments. Moreover, there was no RA contract, written explanation or precedent that we were told about saying that one gives up the right to have one's contracts respected when accepting this part time employment.

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When I brought up the concerns of the five affected students at a weekly graduate housing staff meeting the graduate housing manager said that the RAs were to blame for the demand for certain rooms, apparently because the RAs had previously agreed that the prices seemed to fit the demand. As an RA the graduate apartments is both the landlord and the employer, putting RAs in a potentially vulnerable position.

But the real surprise is that to get a contract (almost) respected I had to go up every rung of the ladder of the Office of Administration. I went through a grueling one-month process just to get the matter resolved. First, I talked to the graduate housing manager. Second, I talked to Housing and Dining Vice President Mark Ditman, but he expressed no interest in addressing the issue. Third, I attempted to meet with the Dean of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies Paula Sanders but was told this was not an academic matter and so she would not meet with me. Fourth, I met with Vice President for Administration Kevin Kirby, but instead of fixing or implementing new contracts, he asked us to ignore the original contracts. Sixth, I spoke to Kirby again, and students were given rooms similar to the ones they originally pre-leased (one-bedroom) but only guaranteed for one year, instead of until graduation as is the standard at the new apartments.

So how can Rice University begin to fulfill its Vision for the Second Century goal of strengthening the graduate student experience? First, as the size of graduate housing has just doubled, graduate students need an advocate for their interests outside of academics. Second, the university should question why a student had to speak to a vice president twice before a contract between them and the university was acknowledged. Third, the university is based on the Honor Code, so as students fulfill their responsibilities, the university should also consistently uphold its promises.

David Splinter is an economics graduate student.

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