The Undergraduate Residential Life Committee (URLC) will make a final recommendation next week about the proposal to furnish senior woodframe houses.
This past Tuesday the URLC began working on a plan where the University will provide common room furniture, kitchen furniture, desks, desk chairs, and dressers. The URLC is still undecided on whether to support furnishing beds.
Three different possibilities have been proposed regarding beds. In one option, the University would supply beds to all students. Another has students providing their own beds. A third option gives students the alternative of having their University-provided beds taken away and stored for a fee, allowing them to buy their own beds.
“If the University doesn’t provide a bed, we want the option to store a bed in the house over the summer,” said Rafael Medrano ’06, chair of the URLC.
Financing for the proposed plan was made possible last weekend, when the Board of Trustees authorized a $200 increase in woodframe housing fees to help pay for the furniture in addition to a general increase in housing fees for all classes. The URLC, however, does not want seniors to be responsible for the entire additional cost.
“Our goal is to target [a] one-hundred dollar [increase] for next year’s seniors,” said Gabe Tabak ’06, a member of the URLC and Chair of the Finances and Facilities Committee.
According to Madrano, the URLC wants the rest of the costs to be included as part of the small increase in the basic housing for everyone over the next several years. It is possible that some of the additional furniture costs will be covered for students on Financial Aid.
The URLC surveyed both seniors and underclassmen about the new policy. The average senior, according to the survey, spent approximately $580 furnishing their house, $380 more than the maximum fee that would be instituted under this proposed plan.
In addition to the survey data, the URLC has been considering the needs of students who are not from the New England area and the additional difficulties they face in furnishing a house from scratch. According to Associate Director for Facilities Management Jeff Miller, many students and their parents have called to complain about having to provide their own furniture.
According to Miller, furnishing woodframe houses would not only respond to student concerns, but also make maintenance and cleaning easier for Physical Plant staff. He noted that all of the student furniture stored in senior houses during summer months makes it harder for workers to clean and make repairs. Theft is another concern.
“The houses are hard to secure and sometimes things get stolen,” Miller said.
Underclassmen, who will move into senior housing in the next few years, responded favorably to the idea of moving into furnished houses.
“We got the survey results back for underclassmen, and they want furniture,” Medrano said.
“I think it’s really important because sometimes people can’t afford furniture,” said Haley Moss ’07. “If they’re going to give us a house they should give us furniture.”
Moss echoed the URLC’s concerns that not all students would want to use the beds provided by the University.
“They should provide beds but they should give us the option and provide storage for the beds,” she said.
The change would not save any time or money for this year’s senior class, and some are disappointed that they will not be able to recoup any of the furniture expenditures they made at the beginning of the year.
“I wanted to sell my furniture to a junior,” said Tracy Honhart ’06, “and [if this policy is instituted] I can’t.”
The URLC is currently awaiting final cost estimates from furniture vendors in addition to cost estimates for picking up and storing unwanted beds. The issue will be opened for discussion at this Sunday’s WSA meeting, and the URLC will make its final recommendation to the Student Life Committee after its meeting on Tuesday.
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