There will be more room options available in Du Bois College House this upcoming academic year.
According to an email sent out to all Du Bois residents last Friday from Residential Services, some of the current three-bedroom triples in the college house will be converted to three-bedroom quads, with two residents sharing a double and the other two occupying singles.
However, unlike three-bedroom quads in the high rises, the residents will pay different prices per year depending on their room type and will not switch mid-year.
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Current Du Bois residents who live in a triple pay $9,810 a year, according to 2013-14 housing rates, which may change in the next academic year. With the new room type, those who opt to live in the double will pay $8,330 a year and those who choose a single will continue to pay $9,810.
In contrast, residents of a three-bedroom quad in the high rises pay $8,330 a year but are expected to switch between semesters from the double to the singles and vice versa.
The new room types will be available to both freshmen and upperclassmen during housing selection, Du Bois House Dean Trish Williams said in an email.
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Director of Residential Services John Eckman said the decision to offer the new room type was primarily based on financial reasons. He said Residential Services has received feedback from students who have indicated interest in living in Du Bois, but who also said that they would have trouble affording it. “There was a desire to have a lower price point,” he said. The lower cost is also meant to more closely match some financial aid awards.
This pilot would create rooms “that will be convenient, desirable and cost effective,” College Houses and Academic Services said in an email.
This new room type is currently limited to Du Bois, with no plans to expand to the other low rises or the high rises. According to Eckman, the goal is to evaluate the success of the pilot before moving on from there.
College sophomore Brianna Sainte, who currently lives in a triple in Du Bois, thinks offering the new room type is a good idea.
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“I think it’s fair that those who get their own rooms pay more,” she said. “Right now, for a triple, Du Bois is first-come, first-serve even though you’re all paying the same amount of money,” she added, referring to the unequal room size distribution in the triple.
Echoing Residential Services’ intentions, Sainte thought the new room type would be a good option, “especially for people who can’t afford a higher price for a dorm.”
College freshman Werner Glass also lives in a triple and chose to live in Du Bois as a freshman because he would get his own room. According to Glass, retaining more singles in Du Bois would foster a greater freshman community. Because of that, he does not want to see the number of available singles reduced.
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“I’m not complaining [about the new room type], but I think this living space is very comfortable and it’s one of the things that made living in the low rises attractive,” he said about his single.
However, both Sainte and Glass said that if presented with the new room option, they would still opt for the single.
The success of the pilot will be evaluated next year. “[It’s a] test to see if this is a desirable option for students,” Eckman said.
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