As Xavier continues to adapt to the size of recent incoming classes, first-year students are being given the option to move off campus as sophomores
Newswire photo by Ellen Siefke | Fenwick Place remains a popular destination for rising sophomores planning to live on campus. About 60 have decided to move off campus.
Residence Life is anticipating noticeable changes to the living situations both on and off campus next year, including offering current first-years the opportunity to move off campus.
In last week’s Student Government Association notes, the Newswire reported that Residence Life was allowing some rising sophomores to move off campus and was trying to limit the number of upperclassmen on campus to 200 students.
Lori Lambert, the senior director for Student Affairs in the Office of Residence Life, confirmed that interested rising sophomores will have the option to move off campus, provided that they meet a series of provisions. According to Lambert, these provisions including maintaining a GPA of 2.5 or higher, not having conduct issues and presenting an email from a parent or legal guardian explaining the reason to live off campus. In addition, students must attend an off-campus session with a landlord, a Norwood police officer, a student who currently lives off campus and Matt Zalman, the assistant director of Residence Life.
So far, roughly 60 rising sophomores have decided to live off campus next year. Residence Life projects that number will be closer to 75 before the March 22 deadline.
Even though interested sophomores are being given the option to move off campus, Xavier will still maintain its two-year residency requirement, per the Residence Life website. However, the sizes of the last two incoming classes have created extenuating circumstances that are allowing Residence Life to make exceptions to these rules, Lambert explained.
“Each of the last two classes have been the largest we have ever had,” she said. “This is the first time in years that we are allowing rising sophomores to move off campus.”
For the rest of the rising sophomore class, the random lottery system remains. This system generates selection windows based on the numbers students draw and sends this information directly to students via their Xavier emails, according to the Residence Life website. As students form roommate groups, the best lottery number in a group provides the window for the entire group.
Residence Life is encouraging rising sophomores to enter this lottery system for housing on campus in case their off-campus housing plans change.
First-year students seemed to be aware of the upcoming changes as they prepare to begin the housing process.
“I am choosing to live on campus next year, but I was aware that I had an option to live off campus as a sophomore,” first-year nursing major Liann Dawson said.
Declan Deasy, also a first-year nursing major, said that he is hoping to live in Fenwick next year.
“I knew students could live off campus, but only a select few,” Deasy said. “I didn’t really know how the selection process worked.”
Similarly, Luke Farnum, a first-year marketing major, hopes to live in Fenwick.
“I was aware I could have a chance to move off campus, but I opted to stay on campus another year,” Farnum said.
In terms of decreasing the number of upperclassmen on campus, Lambert stated that 200 was not a hard and fast limit.
“It is not ideal to limit upperclassmen housing on campus,” Lambert said. “Some rising sophomores will still be housed in the fourth floor of Buenger Hall as well as the fifth and sixth floor of Kuhlman Hall.”
Lambert also confirmed that the targeted goal for next year’s freshman class is 1,250 students, compared to 1,448 in the current class. She projected that 90 percent of the Class of 2023 will be living on campus, with the remainder as commuter students.
Finally, Lambert said that there are plans for a new residence a hall to open in August of 2021. Father Michael Graham, president, shared these plans at a convocation for faculty and staff, she added. Residence Life is not certain where exactly the new dormitory will be located or the number of students it will hold.
By: Michael Rauber | Staff Writer