Residence Life and Housing has decided to close two floors in Gillette and one additional floor in Roth for the 2014-2015 school year. The floors to be closed are fourth main and old in Gillette and fourth west in Roth, which is cut in addition to the first floor in Roth closed at the beginning of this year.
The decision to close three floors was made “in response to a low enrollment figure for the current year,” said Marc Smithers, Director of Residence Life and Housing, and the closures are not an indicator of lower enrollment for the upcoming year.
Another reason for the decision was on the basis of the fact that there was “so much empty space in the residence halls,” said Smithers, leading to concerns about proper stewardship of the buildings. The closures should cut maintenance and custodial upkeep costs for the residence halls and will save heating and insulation expenses. In addition, three RA positions will no longer be required for the closed floors.
Smithers noted the positives, “Instead of cutting things, we’re pushing things together… It’s a way to save money, but we’re not getting rid of anything.” In addition, Smithers stated that too many empty rooms in a hall could be demoralizing to residents, in which case a more compact dorm could have its advantages.
The move could potentially affect current residents on the floors who would be hoping to “squat” their rooms for the next year. Smithers said that Residence Life and Housing is aware of this potential issue and thinking of appropriate solutions, though they have not arrived at an answer yet.
The floors will not be closed indefinitely and, according to Smithers, are expected to be reopened for the 2015-2016 school year.
Early in the spring of 2012, Houghton College made the decision to close the flats for student housing. This was disappointing news to much of the student body for multiple reasons.
“The main reason for the uproar was because of the misconceptions surrounding the decision to close the flats” said Jim Vitale, junior.
College Flats. Courtesy of www.hagerengineering.com
The bulk of students’ arguments seem to revolve around financial issues and a lack of understanding thereof, especially given that the flats appear to have remained open and functional.
The decision to close the flats was sparked by a need to decrease spending across campus. Each department was asked to account for their spending and to make some cuts. In a campus-wide email sent out this last week, Dr. Robert Pool, who recently became VP for Student Life, said that, “We have also had to make some sacrifices.” He continued to say that “Necessary cuts were made with a wise eye toward optimizing learning and trimming excess.”
The decision to cut the flats boils down to occupancy management practices.
“We made the decision based on the information we had at the time” said Gabe Jacobsen, director of Residence Life.
During last spring—when the cuts were decided—there were roughly 90 rooms that were left empty in the resident halls.
“When we were making the decision to close the flats, we realized we could have done it the year before and still been able to house everybody; it just wasn’t on the radar” stated Jacobsen, “even if the incoming freshmen class surpassed 400,” a number larger than any of the current classes, “we would still be okay”
There are currently some possibilities being considered for ways in which the institution could change the structure of the flats to accommodate for future use. One suggestion proposed would be to change the requirements for living in the flats. Currently students must be in their second year at Houghton with a minimum of 60 credits and not be on disciplinary probation.
Nevertheless these changes exist only as possibilities for the future. According to Jacobsen, “at least as of this year the capacity of housing will outmatch the current projection for the incoming class.” However, the school will remain flexible. If the need for extra housing arises, the prospect of reopening the flats is not completely out of the question.
Currently the former student residence has been re-purposed for short-term housing for various groups and organizations that Houghton hosts such as youth groups and sports camps. Having the flats available for this purpose makes accommodating guests during these events more feasible for the Residence Life department. Previously the unused parts of the Gillette basement were utilized for this purpose.
Furthermore, being in such a remote location severely limits housing options for new faculty members, and so the flats have recently been utilized for long-term housing for transitioning faculty members.
“Having the flats available has made the transition to Houghton easier for several new faculty and administrators since I was essentially able to tell them ‘we have a place that you can rent for a while,’” said Dale Write, Executive Director of Human Resources and Administration.
Not only has closing the flats benefitted the institution by enabling Houghton to house faculty long term and providing room for groups and organizations to stay while on campus, but also, according to Mr. Wright, “The combination of additional revenue and expense reductions have surpassed our expectations.”
The decision to close three floors was made “in response to a low enrollment figure for the current year,” said Marc Smithers, Director of Residence Life and Housing, and the closures are not an indicator of lower enrollment for the upcoming year.