Due to the increasing number of students at the university, there will be more options for student housing beginning in the 2017 spring semester. An email was addressed to the student body on Dec. 22, 2016 regarding the changes.
There are precisely 1,904 freshmen and 1,797 sophomore students as of Jan. 23, 2017, according to the university registrar. Both classes have greatly outnumbered the junior class that currently consists of 1,356 students.
The incoming freshmen students will have a choice to reside in Irma, Dana, Commons, Ledges, Larson and Mountainview residence halls on the Mount Carmel campus.
This year incoming freshmen will have an additional residence hall they can request, the current sophomore building, Judge Phillip Troup Hall.
Rising sophomores will be able to live in the Hill, Perlroth, Village, Sahlin, Founders, Bakke and Crescent residence halls.
It was not until last year that sophomores were allowed to live in the Crescent residence hall. Director of Residential Life, Mark DeVilbiss, said sophomores can continue to live there alongside junior students, believing there will be a greater sense of community among the sophomores since their presence will be further recognized.
Rising juniors will not only be able to live in York Hill’s Crescent and Westview residence halls, but now they can also register to live in the Townhouses and Whitney Village.
Lastly, rising seniors will be able to apply to live in off-campus houses owned by the university, Eastview and a newly established apartment complex in North Haven called The Flats at 520.
DeVilbiss said new housing options were planned by himself along with the collaborative efforts of the Residential Life Staff, student affairs staff and the senior leadership of the university.
“We are always interested in offering a student-oriented experience, making the experience of living on campus better for students, and we made these changes because we believe they will bring about improvements,” DeVilbiss said.
DeVilbiss said he also has a developmental approach to student housing whereas students progress in their college career, they will be able to earn more opportunity for independence.
“We really value that we can offer more independence for students as they mature in their college experience,” DeVilbiss said.
Sophomore Layomi Akinnifesi thinks there hasn’t been proper planning in terms of accommodating all of the students on campus.
“When applying to Quinnipiac, students were promised a small environment. I think sophomores should be on main campus because they are still new to the school,” she said. “As for seniors having buildings in North Haven, it seems like a hassle.”
On the other hand, sophomore John Welsh is satisfied with the idea of opening new options for students as long as Residential Life staff is positive that there will still be enough room for students currently living on campus.
“I figure if they have the room for it, letting some rooms go to different aged students isn’t a bad idea,” he said. “If there’s a willingness, I see nothing wrong with it. The school needs students attending, and they need to accommodate those kids somehow.”
DeVilbiss said these adjustments to help with the students’ growing independence and also help them adjust to the rising population comfortably.
“We wanted to make sure that in the years going forward we have enough beds to really minimize the use of what we call non-traditional spaces on campus,” DeVilbiss said. “We really want to eliminate or at least reduce the use of lounges for student housing and triples when we can and these adjustments make it possible to achieve that.”
