On-campus housing for new transfers proposed

By Madeleine Tibaldi     10/28/13 7:00pm

The Rice University Student Association plans to vote on a resolution advocating guaranteed housing for all first-year transfer students on Nov. 4, according to Transfer Student Association President Ryan Kim.

The resolution, introduced by Kim and Brown College Senator Larisa LaMere at the Oct. 21 Student  Senate meeting, states that it is important to ensure on-campus housing is available for all first-year students, including transfer students.

During the summer, the Office of the Dean of Undergraduates assigns transfer students to colleges when a space for on-campus housing becomes available, according to Dean of Undergraduates John Hutchinson. 

---

---

"In general, we cannot predict in advance how many spaces will be available, as there are many factors that we cannot plan for," Hutchinson said. "These factors include continuing students who, for any number of reasons, determine that they are not returning in the fall, as well as freshmen who, having agreed to come to Rice, decide not to come during the summer."

Hutchinson said while his office tries to accommodate as many transfer students as possible, limited space on campus requires some students, either transfer or returning, to move off campus.

"For every additional person who is assigned a space on campus, there is another student who will therefore not get that space," Hutchinson said. "The real challenge is determining the priority system for who gets the spaces we have."

Currently, each individual college decides how to handle the process of allocating rooms on campus and determines whether to prioritize availability of on-campus housing for new transfer students or for returning students.

"If the colleges' wish were to assign the top priority to guaranteeing housing for new transfer students, I would be happy to help them implement such a system," Hutchinson said.

According to the resolution, which used results of a survey of Rice transfer students conducted by Kim, approximately 50 percent of new transfer students end up living on campus. But of those offered housing, 78 percent were notified less than three weeks before the start of Orientation Week, according to the survey.

Transfer Student Association Vice President Cristal Tan said on-campus living is essential for fully integrating first-year students into the Rice culture. 

"It is already challenging enough for transfers to integrate into the community because they have to put in the extra effort to get to know their graduating class as well as their matriculating class," Tan, a Duncan College senior who matriculated in 2011 as a transfer student from Malaysia, said. "If transfers don't get on-campus housing, they pretty much become 'deep OC' immediately after O-Week, which is a terrible way to start a new experience in a new university." 

Tan, who is a campus tour guide, said the residential college system is one of the main qualities of Rice she highlights to prospective students.

Kim, a Duncan senior, said he agreed with Tan about how living off campus can lead to isolation and loneliness for first-year students.  

"It is very widely accepted that living on campus is a key component of really enjoying your time at Rice because Rice strongly promotes the residential college system to foster interactions within the college you belong to," Kim said. "If you are not on campus, especially as a transfer student, you can feel ostracized."

LaMere, a Brown College Sophomore, said all first-year transfers should be guaranteed housing.

"Giving all new students a chance to get settled and experience a community is, in my opinion, the responsibility of the University," LaMere said. "Rice's residential college system is about integration and inclusion, and living on-campus is an important part of being exposed to the full benefit of the academic, social, and personal resources that each college strives to provide." 

Hutchinson said he understands the importance of the residential colleges for students.

"The residential college experience is clearly the core of the Rice undergraduate experience," Hutchinson said. "Although we believe that students can gain all or nearly all of the benefits of the residential college experience while living off campus, we would of course prefer to accommodate on campus every student who would like to be on campus."

Kim said many transfer students who are forced to live off campus during their first year feel emotionally rejected and seldom make the move on campus.

"If we could provide housing to first-year transfers, they could immediately get plugged into their own college," Kim said.

Kim also said he was lucky enough to receive on-campus housing his first year at Rice, and this helped him to fully integrate socially at Rice.  

According to the resolution, 92 percent of all first-year transfer students living off campus were dissatisfied or highly dissatisfied with the housing process.  

Will Rice College Sophomore James Henriksen, who matriculated this year, said the process was unnecessarily confusing and caused undue stress.

"I was originally told I wouldn't be able to receive on-campus housing, so I found an apartment and signed a one-year lease," Henriksen said. "I was quite surprised when, only a few weeks before O-Week, I got a phone call from Housing and Dining asking if I wanted a spot on campus. Since I had already signed the lease, I wasn't able to accept. It was quite frustrating." 

According to the resolution, 30 percent of transfer students were in the same situation as Henriksen and were unable to accept offers of on-campus housing due to binding lease contracts.

Kim said transfer students go through a similar matriculation process as freshmen, participating in O-Week and other orientation activities, but are excluded from on-campus housing privileges.

"When it comes to housing, suddenly [transfer students] are very discriminated against, whereas it is guaranteed 100 percent to all incoming freshman."

Hanszen college Junior Laura Krannich, who transferred from University College London this fall, said she received on-campus housing shortly before the start of O-Week and found the transfer housing experience difficult and frustrating.  

"I assumed I would find out in [early or mid-summer] whether or not I would have a spot on campus and have time to go to Houston and find an apartment if necessary, but this was not the case," Krannich said. "All of my inquiries with Rice led to only vague answer. This was an incredibly confusing and stressful experience, and I realize I'm one of the lucky ones who did eventually get a room."

---