Earlier this school year, Keene State College President Anne Huot said improving academic and residential buildings on campus sat at the top of her to-do-list—a challenge she said she plans to address this academic year.
We also have decided to address it.
We have seen no changes or plans to the residential buildings on campus as of yet.
It is now mid-point into the fall semester and we have heard many complaints of overcrowding in the residential halls.
We believe living on campus is a large part of the college experience, but at what price?
The quality of the residential halls range drastically at KSC, and with it, the cost of living per residential building ranges as well.
Brittany Murphy / Opinions Editor: A door to a freshman room in Carle Hall. Carle Hall is a residential building facing overcrowding.
Whether it’s a forced triple in Randall Hall or a suite in Holloway Hall, students should have the ability to live comfortably in their room, especially incoming freshmen.
Students should also feel at ease and should not have to worry about spacing issues—when they essentially pay the rent for their space.
We all know how important personal space is, so we ask, why should students be overcrowded in an environment where they should be feeling at home?
Associate Dean of Student Life and Director of Residential Life, Kent Drake-Deese, was quoted in The Equinox saying overcrowding in residential halls is a situation not out of the norm for KSC and other colleges.
As of now, we have 300 rooms that have at least one more person than the rooms should have.
Drake-Deese said 61 percent of first-year students are in triples this year.
Drake-Deese said these students that are in those forced rooms deserve to get the best experience we can offer them. Remember that, students.
The issue of the two-week-rule needs to be addressed as well.
Freshmen students are made aware and reassured that if problems arise with their roommates, they have the option of moving out.
However, those students looking to switch rooms due to roommate problems are now put on a wait list.
A wait list that could keep students waiting for a while.
Senior Associate Director of Admissions, Bert Poirier, told The Equinox that 1,355 housing deposits were made at the start of this year, increasing from last year’s deposit of 1,259.
However in the year 2011, 1,348 deposits were received nearing the same number for 2013, providing the data the housing deposits decreased in 2012.
It shows a comparable number for 2013 to previous deposits.
If so, we wonder why this issue has not been addressed before. With the college changing 300 students room assignments a year, we see a problem with number of students affected in these switches.
We are waiting too to see how the president will plan to add more housing on campus.
Perhaps this could potentially influence whether a new student chooses to transfer from Keene State after his or her first fall semester or year.
We wonder if this is could be another reason why students decide to transfer after only one year.
Space is important. If we want to continue to expand KSC’s regional and national reputation, then we have to start first by expanding the living arrangements available to students. The renovation of a few residential halls on campus have been long awaited, even for previous freshmen tenants.
We understand it takes time to fix, repair and renovate the college, however this overcrowded dilemma with students needs to be solved soon. KSC requires freshmen and sophomores to live on campus.
Perhaps if the incoming freshmen keep increasing, the residence hall options for those students should increase as well.
Going into the 2013 fall semester, the president is aware of how many students have been accepted.
With the increasing number of students living on campus, we can only hope that there is a follow through with making the residential halls nicer and equal throughout the campus.
The school needs to make a decision as to where and how KSC wants to grow with residential halls on this campus.
We ultimately believe that college experience can be hindered by the wrong living arrangements.
