Marisa GallelliAn increase in demand for on-campus student housing has prompted Residence Life to lease 40 beds from Harcum College in Bryn Mawr, Pa., leading upperclassmen to question their chances of living on campus next year.
Resident students have increased more than six percent in the last five years, according to the Cabrini College 2003 factbook. This is an increase of 289 students since 1999.
“Cabrini doesn’t guarantee housing for four years to anyone,” Angie Hodgeman, the assistant director of Residence Life, said. “We offer housing on a space -available basis.”
As of the Friday, Jan. 30 deadline, Residence Life had collected approximately 650 intent-to- return housing forms. This does not including the incoming freshman class, according to Hodgeman. This is 100 more prospective upperclassman residents than last year, and it does not include those students not currently living on campus who have requested housing. Approximately 100 people, currently living on campus, failed to turn in intent-to-return forms. There were 940 beds on campus at the beginning of the 2003-2004 academic school year. This number will not change for the 2004-2005 academic year, according to Hodgeman.
Juniors and seniors who do not receive on-campus housing will have the opportunity to live in one of the 20 rooms leased from Harcum College’s Pennswood Hall, a building shared by students of Harcum College, Villanova University, and Eastern University, as well as a children’s school. These rooms are on a first come first serve basis, and will be offered to juniors and seniors exclusively.
Students living at Harcum will be considered Cabrini residents, and they will pay housing tuition to Cabrini as if they were living on campus. They will, however, have the opportunity to eat in Cabrini’s and/or Harcum’s dining halls.
The question of transportation is still up in the air, according to Hodgeman. The Cabrini shuttle service, the R5 line from Bryn Mawr station on Harcum’s campus, and discounted rail passes are being discussed as options.
Villanova houses 36 transfer students and seniors in Pennswood Hall. Villanova has no designated senior on-campus housing, according to Karen Develin, a student representative for the Residence Life office at Villanova.
Eastern University currently houses 50 students at Pennswood Hall. This is their second year at Harcum, and they’re anticipating the need for a third, according to John Romanski, the housing coordinator at Eastern. Students housed there are considered “Eastern residents,” and they are given the option of having a car and commuting or rail passes provided by the university. Pennswood Hall residents have Harcum amenities, like Harcum College Library and the gym, but, “in practice, they’ll stay here for most of the day,” Romanski said.
The housing lottery process will mirror that of last year’s. Freshmen, sophomores and juniors who have submitted an intent-to-return form will pick a number out of class bins in the Residence Life office on Tuesday, Feb. 10, and Wednesday, Feb. 11. They will then fill out a preference sheet, listing their top seven housing choices. This is due back no later than Monday, Feb. 14.
To be eligible to live in the Cabrini Apartment Complex, one must be “in good academic and disciplinary standing with the college,” Hodgeman said.
Residence Life reserves the right to place students randomly if none of his or her preferences are available.
“[The housing lottery] affords students an equal opportunity to be placed in housing,” Hodgeman said.
A list of local landlords willing to rent apartments to Cabrini students is available in the Residence Life office to those students who do not receive on-campus housing and those looking to avoid the lottery process.
Looking to the future, a new residence hall, much like New Residence Hall, is planned, housing 120 beds.
“Residence Life has decided to be proactive in its approach to accommodating students,” Hodgeman said. “Some schools have chosen to do nothing.”
Posted to the web by Marisa Gallelli
