Committee Submits New Housing Proposal

University of Cincinnati graduate students, families and international students were abruptly moved out of on-campus housing and aren’t wasting time recommending
new arrangements.

In March 2008, residents of Morgens and Scioto Halls, the only on-campus graduate housing facilities available at UC, received notice that their homes would need to be cleared out by Aug. 31, 2008 for renovation.

When the halls reopen in fall 2009, both graduate and undergraduate student populations will be presented with a 900-bed housing unit that meets fire safety standards.

The halls are set to undergo physical renovations in addition to fire suppression system upgrades.

These units will not be the apartment-style housing that the residents of Morgens and Scioto halls were used to; rather, they will take on the function as a bed-by-bed model because it is the most cost-efficient option for the university, according to Mitchel Livingston, vice president of student affairs and services.

A bed-by-bed model is the predominately-used housing method within all of the university’s residence halls.

In response to the closure of the housing units, and with no promise of a hall dedicated to graduate students, families and international students, the Graduate Student Governance Association (GSGA) conducted a survey with more than 1,000 anonymous respondents.

The questionnaire served as an opportunity for graduate students to voice their concerns about their living situation, according to Livingston.

Some of these concerns were that dorm-style living wouldn’t suit the needs of graduate students, families, and international students.

The study found that 95.6 percent of 1,032 graduate student respondents preferred apartment-style abodes in comparison to the bed-by-bed model.

As a result of students’ opposition to their new off-campus living arrangements, which some reported to have an affect on their research, action was taken.

The opinions and recommendations expressed by the survey respondents served as a model for the Graduate Student and Family Housing (GFH) Task Force Committee, which produced housing proposals sent to President Nancy Zimpher on Dec. 1, 2008.

“[The proposal] identified a location to accommodate graduate students, international students, students with families in a concentrate facility and had the budgetary costs associated with that,” Livington said.

Livingston is also the chairman for the GFH Task Force Committee.

Displaced students are still waiting for a reaction from Zimpher and her colleagues.

“Right now the university is looking at its budget for this year and for the next biennium as well,” Livingston said. “Budgetary implications will have to be taken into account with the larger budget challenges we have for the university.”

One option would be to build a new housing complex dedicated toward graduate students, families and international students.

Livingston, with the support of the 10 student and faculty members on the Task Force Committee, knew that this idea would not be financially sufficient for UC or its students.

“If [UC] build[s] now, the cost of building is prohibited and in order to pay it off, i.e. it’s an auxiliary and has to pay for itself, the cost would be way beyond the capacity for students to afford it,” Livingston said. “If we built a facility to meet the specifications for graduate [students] and families it would be considerably beyond [affordability].”