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Sophomore living requirement focus of upcoming public forum

Meg Weiland, Senior Staff Writer

In light of research completed by Miami University's Second Year Residency Committee that found sophomores who live on campus have improved grades and better connections to their school, the university may soon be instituting an on-campus living requirement for all second-year students.

The committee - formed early this year by Richard Nault, vice president of student affairs - has been researching ways to enrich the sophomore year and will be holding an open forum for students from 4-5:50 p.m. Nov. 27, in the Shriver Multipurpose Room to address concerns and questions about the proposed living requirement.

The committee's research of Miami's history and of schools across the country shows that 40 percent of college students nationwide will leave school within the first two years without getting a degree. At Miami, 14 to 17 percent of students will leave degree-less in the second year.

"Research has shown sophomore year to be the 'lost' year," Nault said. "There is a special concentration for the other three

years and the lowest retention rate comes between sophomore and junior years."

Nault feels there are specific programs to help first-year students orient themselves to college, while the university offers career advice and internship forums for juniors and seniors - leaving second-year students lost in the shuffle.

The committee's findings also show that when compared to students living off campus, university residents have higher rates of involvement, satisfaction and persistence.

Susan Mosely-Howard, associate vice president of student affairs and one of the committee members, said the group's main goal was to search for ways to enhance student life at Miami.

"We noticed that if there were student retention problems, a slump in grades, or higher dropout rates, it was usually in that second year," Mosely-Howard said.

This was the impetus for the formulation of the committee and for the second-year residency recommendation.

The committee has held 10 meetings since June to discuss the regulations and debate the various issues involved. The 11 members are deans and directors from various departments including Housing Contracts, Cliff Alexander Office of Fraternity and Sorority Life and Leadership, the vice provost and Oxford City Council. Andrew Spahr, is also a student and fraternity representative.

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Second-year programs and exemptions

Half of the Mid-American Conference (MAC) schools already have a second-year live-in requirement, and other universities such as Stanford are initiating more second-year programs.

"Things like sophomore living arrangements, more learning communities and more lectures are what we are looking at to address the issue of sophomore engagement," Mosley-Howard said. "Our university is about enhancing scholarly relationships between the faculty and students. As a faculty member myself, this is one of the aspects I really appreciate."

Additional suggestions for the sophomore residence halls, including Heritage Commons, are to incorporate programs that include after-speaker seminars, career-orientated sessions and activities with information on internships and studying abroad.

The committee is also considering the issue of fraternity housing and possible exemptions that would allow sophomore males to live in their fraternity houses.

The committee's report shows that fraternal organizations would suffer if they were not allowed exemption to the second-year live-in rule.

"If we go to this model, we will just be adding another exemption to the list already established," Mosley-Howard said, referencing that the Office Housing, Dining and Guest Services already offers exemptions to the first-year live-in requirement to students who are married or have medical needs. Joining a fraternity would simply be another exemption for sophomores.

Yet Mosely-Howard said that the fraternities would have to meet strict guidelines in order to qualify for the sophomore living requirement. It would not simply be a way for students to avoid the requirement to live on campus their second year; rather it is intended to get students more involved with Miami organizations, including fraternities.

"When joining a fraternity, the student must apply to be exempt and the fraternity must qualify to house sophomores for the exemption to apply," Mosley-Howard said. "It's not unfair to the other students though. The fraternities will be held to certain standards such as having live-in house directors and being alcohol-free."

According to the study, fraternities who refuse to abide by these guidelines will not be included in the exemption.

On average, Miami has about 1,700 fraternity members per year and can house about 1,100 of them.

Preparing students to live off-campus

"Yet another part of this requirement is getting the chance to hold programming that would educate students about off-campus housing," Mosley-Howard explained. "The landlords would appreciate students who are well versed in how to be good tenants."

Miami University's Parent Council, which includes 80 parents, said this was one of their biggest concerns for students.

The council was unanimously in favor of a sophomore live-in requirement.

"With this requirement, most of the tenants will then be older and probably more mature residents," said Ken Bogard, Oxford City Council member who is also on the committee. "Enrollment is a big factor. If enrollment is low, I'm sure landlords will have some concerns. If it's a wash, there should be no problem."

The committee's research has shown that with 1,990 rental permits located within Oxford's Mile Square, targeting this area for affordable housing for the 1,500 graduate students and about 100 new faculty and staff each year will increase the scholarly city-university climate.

"I think freshman signing leases in the fall is crazy," Bogard said. "The university and city landlords need to work together to reach a balance as to when you can sign up for leases and on-campus housing to eliminate the pressure. Right now, there are two sides vying for numbers of students looking for places to live."

Bogard doesn't believe the city will get involved in whether or not the actual requirement passes.

"I don't think they will jump in and say 'yes' or 'no,'" Bogard said. "Speaking as a community member, I think it's a great idea and I want to see what happens."

An oversupply of Oxford city housing, especially with the construction of Stewart Square and College Suites, is also being considered at the committee meetings.

Goal: Higher retention rates

Committee members Lucinda Coveney, director for housing contracts and meal plan administration, and Jerry Olson, director of the Office of Residence Life, held a forum Monday for the Residence Hall Association (RHA) to answer any questions.

"If you look at the retention rates of Miami students from year to year, we are above the national rate with 90 percent of students returning after the first year and 81 percent returning after the second," Olson said. "But there is a need for attention to sophomore students to make the retention rates the same as the first year."

Olson said from their research of schools with a second-year live-in requirement, they found grades were higher, satisfaction of collegiate experience was greater and there were better retention rates.

"We are not being driven by money or occupancy in the residence halls but by the betterment of student life on campus," Olson said. "And the last thing we want is for juniors and seniors to not feel welcome on campus or to create a situation that eliminates those students on financial scholarships."

Existing living arrangements

This year, 3,594 first-years and 3,440 upperclassmen are living on campus. Coveney said they have plans for plenty of space for sophomores even if all of the f raternities did not receive exemptions and there would be about 850 extra beds for juniors and seniors on campus.

"There are many variables to these plans though," Olson said. "It will depend on the number of students and viability of the fraternity system, our long-range housing plans, the number of transfer students and the number of students studying overseas."

There is also a committee researching with a group of architects to create a master housing plan for the university 15-20 years down the road.

"This affects you not because it will change your living patterns but because it will affect those students who follow you," Olson said. "Incoming freshmen will know about this policy before enrolling. The earliest it would be enforced would be the (entering) class of 2008."

Several Western College students at the RHA forum voiced their appreciation of the live-in requirement already installed in their major, saying they are more involved in university programs and have many friends. RHA students in other majors had concerns about finances, fraternities and the possibility of having random roommates again.

"We don't see a need for more staff members since there are currently 211 (living in the residence halls)," Olson said. "And we are definitely encouraging friendship corridors so everyone can live with their friends."

The report; which includes the recommendations, reasoning, and pros and cons of the sophomore living requirement; is available on the Student Affairs Office Web site.

"I think it's a great idea," said Brendan Buholzer, president of RHA. "Many people look at it as another way to work with the alcohol task force, but as we talked in the forum, I began to think it's more about making the college experience better for everyone."

Buholzer is also part of the committee working to develop a long-range plan for housing on campus that includes which buildings to renovate and which to tear down and rebuild.

"My concern is requiring students to live on campus when they don't want to while pushing others out that do want to live there," Buholzer said. "But I do think this is an intermediate problem that will heal itself over time. The first few years will be the hard ones as everyone adjusts."

He felt that overall there was a positive feel in the RHA forum but there were also legitimate concerns expressed, as with any issue of this magnitude.

"A lot of people are hesitant because they feel that any change the university makes is a way to take away their rights," Buholzer said. "Such as, at last week's (ASG meeting), we had an update on the alcohol task force and people looked at several things as a punishment from the university. Really, like this, it's just a change and we're at that point where change could be good."

Nault, who was also at the RHA forum and plans to be at the open session Nov. 27, agreed with Buholzer.

"It's a very major change that could be very positive, but I don't want to go into the scheduled forums with my mind made up," Nault said. "People deserve to be heard on this issue and I want to be very open to suggestions and other recommendations."


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