Like Ohio University, Miami University implemented a sophomore on-campus living requirement this year and Ohio State University (OSU) may be soon to follow.
At the university senate meeting March 29, the Pathways Committee made a recommendation the university remove the two-year on-campus sophomore living requirement.
Andrew Beckett, associate dean of students, said Miami was a cutting edge leader in the sophomore residency requirement.
"A number of institutions, I believe even Ohio State University, is following suit," Beckett said.
According to Beckett, when Miami was discussing the residency requirement change he remembers OSU President E. Gordon Gee having some conversations about OSU changing their residency requirements as well.
Currently, OSU only has a one-year on-campus requirement.
However, according to Fred Fotis, assistant vice president for student life at OSU, OSU is currently discussing whether or not they will be establishing a sophomore requirement similar to Miami's.
"Its just in the discussion stage right now and nothing really has been determined, but we are in the process of kind of looking at our housing plan long term to see how we might accomplish that," Fotis said.
Fotis said OSU is looking at a long-term housing plan to see how they could accomplish the sophomore on-campus living requirement. With this suggestion of a new residency requirement, OSU is looking to build new residence halls for the supplementary students that would have to live on campus.
"How we fill them and who we give those spaces, that's going to be a part of the discussion of whether or not we do move on to sophomore residential commitment," Fotis said.
According to Fortis, Miami did not influence OSU, even though their plans are similar. Fortis said the plan was actually the idea of President Gee.
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"This is something President Gee feels strongly about," Fotis said. "There are a lot of us in student life who are supportive on that. I think in our perfect world what we would like to do though is not to have to disenfranchise any particular class in order to provide housing for another class."
A decision has yet to be made but what OSU is hoping to do is to be able to offer as much inventory and housing not only to sophomores but also juniors and seniors who wish to remain on campus.
With OSU looking to up their residency standards, it looks as though Miami will be keeping the second-year living requirement as well, according to Provost Jeffery Herbst.
"That's not true," Herbst said. "There is no discussion of a sophomore living requirement change."
Surrounding the recommendation for the sophomore residency requirement stemmed the belief that admission to Miami would increase or decrease with applicants, according to the university senate proposal.
According to Ann Bader, senior admission counselor in the Office of Admission, the second year residency requirement has never been an issue with the applicant pool at Miami.
"We've never had someone say it is a pro or con that that's something that has effected their decision to come to Miami," Bader said.
Beckett said Miami was a cutting edge leader in the sophomore residency requirement idea and it is actually an attractive policy to students as well as their parents when applying to colleges.
"Overwhelmingly this is seen, particularly by parents, as an incentive to go to Miami," Beckett said. "The requirement is seen as a positive way to engage students on campus in activities far more than students who do not live on campus."
Beckett concluded the reason Miami decided upon the policy in the first place, as well as why Miami is keeping the policy, is that it's the university's wish to help students transition and engage in their college campus experience to ultimately receive their degree.
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