by Victoria Jaques Has the new academic calendar made it impossible to find off-campus housing? If you are an off-campus student attending BYU–Hawaii, you will have undoubtedly at some point asked yourself the question (and probably with some exasperation), “Where am I going to live?”. One only has to read the constant stream of pleas from students via Facebook pages to realize that the off-campus housing situation leaves a lot to be desired. As a senior, I can attest to having observed this issue for...well...the whole duration of my time here. However, in the last few years, there have been several developments that have exacerbated these difficulties. |
In order for the University to become sustainable, the University would make changes to programs and enrollment, which we have indeed seen over the subsequent years. Regarding the enrollment and the growth plans, Envision Laie’s article continued by providing the following statement from the draft of the Ko’olau Loa Sustainable Communities plan which explains,
The University plans to eventually double its enrollment size to approximately 5,000 students. This growth will be coordinated with the construction of adequate student housing on campus and staff and faculty housing in Malaekahana to minimize the potential effects that the proposed enrollment increase could have on the demand for housing units available to the surrounding community.
With our retrospective view of the changes from 2011 to 2015, we can acknowledge the University has made efforts to accommodate more students on campus, however the prominent issue of limited off-campus (and on-campus) housing still remains, and in fact has even become worse...but how has this become the case?
If we move from statements of 2011, to Tanner Greer’s article in The Student Voice in 2014 we can understand some of the increasing difficulties with housing. Greer educated us with the facts and figures of the increased enrollment, and specifically the record number for female enrollment in Fall of 2014. Greer discussed what measures the school was taking to deal with the on-campus housing issues as a result of the enrollment increase, and set out to understand what was being done to minimize those “potential effects” of the enrollment that were projected in 2011. However, Greer’s interview with the director of Admissions, James Faustino, ultimately revealed the school was still “housing 200-300 less [students] than we should be able to”. The correlation between the increasing student body has not been met by enough housing.
Moving from 2011 to 2014, it seems concerning that the projections of adequate on-campus housing has not correlated with the increased enrollment. It is concerning for two reasons, the first of which being that the provision for off-campus housing should not be at the detriment of the surrounding community which we need to and do respect, yet now there is a higher demand for units in the community than there ever has been (after all, those 200-300 students have to live somewhere). Secondly, it was already difficult to find off-campus housing before enrollment growth, now with the increasing student body it is even more difficult
...and then there was the semester change.
BYU–Hawaii newsroom reported the implementation of a new academic calendar as of 2015, which explains,
In an academic year, there will now be three equal 14-week semesters: Fall, Winter, and Spring. Fall semester will begin in August and go through October. Winter will start in November and finish in February with a two-week break for Christmas. Spring semester will begin in March and continue through the first week of June. There will then be a seven-week summer break between Spring and Fall semesters*.
*and therein lies the problem. I have heard from many friends recently, and witnessed on Facebook threads, the worries students have for finding off-campus housing, because rental companies are concerned about the impact the seven week break will have on them, and some are no longer providing student housing. More concrete evidence of the impact of this seven week break, and the true extent of this impact can be realized through reading the following statement from Hawaii Reserves Inc, a company that is hugely prominent in the community, and that has been providing rental units to students for 17 years, housing around 32 female students.
To Our Valued Student Tenants:
...We appreciate your continued tenancy through this current 2015 Winter Semester and interest in our rental homes. As you know, the University’s academic schedule has effected all of us in various ways. Recently, we have been struggling to come up with a way to balance the two months break during the upcoming summer while trying to figure out the costs during the down time. The difficult decision is we will no longer provide single female student off-campus housing.
We hope that this notice gives you sufficient time to consider and to begin finding an alternative place to stay after this semester terminates on Monday, April 20, 2015. We also suggest working with the BYU–Hawaii Housing Department – Nepote Hing at ph. 675-3268 OR to review the BYU–Hawaii Off-campus website.”
It is clarified here that the prominent housing provider, HRI, has made the decision to no longer provide off-campus housing as a direct consequence of the new academic calendar.
So, to answer the original question of this article, “Has the new academic calendar made it impossible to find off-campus housing?” Well, we couldn’t blame you for thinking so. Realistically, the aforementioned factors between 2011 and 2015 have all culminated, producing the snowball effect that has become a very real issue for those searching for housing...but is the new academic calendar the tipping point?
Well, there is some hope at least. I can verify, having been in touch with HRI, that they are working with BYU–Hawaii to help with off-campus housing. This is as much information as we can release at this time, but HRI is putting plans in place to help the students, as they have done for years. After speaking directly with HRI, I felt reassured on behalf of future students - go HRI!
BYU–Hawaii admissions homepage also reveals that “For the 2014-2015 academic year only, BYU–Hawaii will not be accepting new students for the Summer 2015 semester due to the recent change in the academic calendar.” This change should help give the school time to be able to relieve the housing situation and prepare for more increases, although it’s a shame for those prospective students that would otherwise have been admitted.
What happens nextʔ For those searching for off-campus housing, their fate is really yet to be seen. As HRI’s statement suggests, students can contact the BYU–Hawaii Housing Department or review the BYU–Hawaii Off-Campus website - their website currently states that “many apartments and bedrooms are available for eligible students”, and invites students to submit a survey so that they can be helped in their endeavor to find housing.
Stay tuned for more developments!
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