Page 12 - College Planning & Management, April/May 2019

12 CAMPUS HOUSING
LOOKING FORWARD,
WHAT ARE THE CONCERNS?
As in previous surveys, the focus of housing directors remains firmly on the struggle to pro- vide adequate safe, functional, up-to-date facili- ties for their residential students while working with limited budgets and resources.
When asked to rate the impact of a number of issues on housing at their institutions in the next three to five years, the five issues ranked
as having the most profound impact were, in percentage order of concern: lack of adequate funds, aging facilities, deferred maintenance, need for upgraded/modernized facilities, and student/parent expectations, which tied this year with mental/emotional health issues. These are the same top five as 2016, 2017, and 2018. And again, as in previous years (except perhaps for student/parent expectations and mental/ emotional health issues), the top four are di- rectly related to financial considerations.
From the same question, the five items most often cited as not having any noticeable impact for the next three to five years are overcrowding, staffing issues, staying competitive with off-campus housing, keeping beds filled, and security concerns.
IT COMES DOWN TO THE STUDENTS
Because providing and maintaining campus housing involves more than creating adequate facilities, we asked our survey respondents what is the one issue that concerns them most right now, and why.
“I am most concerned about the cost to stu- dents,” was one response. “Students on financial aid can no longer afford to live on campus...since many of our students come from low-income families with poor credit, they end up having to get private loans to cover part of their costs.”
“Outside competition of private housing entities with all of their amenities and being able to compete to keep students on campus,” ob- serves another. “Students who stay on campus have a better persistence rate to graduation.”
Budgets, costs, funding, and condition of facilities top the list of concerns again this year. Competition with off-campus facilities concerns some. Keeping upperclassmen on campus was mentioned more often this year, as older—and nontraditional students—are lost to off-campus housing.
An issue mentioned by a surprising number
of respondents in this year’s survey is emotional support/comfort animals (ESAs), which are not protected by the Americans With Disabilities
Act (ADA). Emotional support animals, comfort animals, and therapy dogs are not service animals under Title II and Title III of the ADA. The Fair Housing Act, however, does require colleges and universities, both public and private, to allow service animals and assistance animals, includ- ing ESAs, in campus housing. Students request- ing the authorization of an ESA must have been diagnosed with an emotional or mental disorder, and their ESA must be recommended by a doctor. Colleges and universities, therefore, are establish- ing their own policies on allowing ESAs both
on campus and in residential facilities. Even if allowed, animals can bring a new set of problems to living quarters, including damage, cleaning, noise, allergy, and safety concerns. “Some institu- tions have now designated specific [residence] halls for those with ESAs,” Gatewood says.
A marked increase in marijuana use is also an issue mentioned by a significant number of survey respondents.
And then there are the students themselves.
“Mental health and wellness issues are a significant factor in how we are thinking about
programming residential space,” observes one respondent, and this person is not alone. Another respondent adds, “This is a point of concern as to how we can effectively allocate staff, timing, and resources to assist these stu- dents while also supporting the community as a whole.” Mental health, emotional health, civility issues, bullying, and even assault and other criminal acts within residential facilities are realistic concerns for a fair number of our
Table 3
Percentage of survey respondents who rated these issues as having the most profound impact on housing at their institutions in the next three to five years:
Lack of adequate funds
38%
Aging facilities 36%
Deferred maintenance
30%
Need for upgraded/ 24% modernized facilities
Mental health issues
24%
Student/parent expectations 21%
Cost to students
21%
Keeping beds filled 20%
Staying competitive with off-campus housing
15%
Security concerns 7%
Civility/entitlement issues
6%
Staffing issues 6%
Overcrowding
6%
Drug and alcohol abuse 5%
WEBCPM.COM / APRIL/MAY 2019