July 2015
Proposition to Eliminate the Lack of On-Campus
Housing Spaces at Wayne State University
by
Chris Ozog
Wayne State University
Office of Housing and Residential Life
Detroit, MI 48202
Project Officer
Derek Risse
Wayne State University College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, English
Detroit, MI 48202
Wayne State University
Office of Housing and Residential Life
Detroit, MI 48202
Executive Summary
Ozog 2
Wayne State University needs a solution to its overflow of housing
applications the past three years. There are approximately 1600 beds for oncampus housing, and each of the past 3 years have seen over 1800 applicants
for housing. In order to appease the overflow applicants and to generate the
most income for Wayne State University, there needs to be a solution made to
eliminate the waiting list.
Wayne State University’s Office of Housing and Residential Life is
comprised of 3 dormitories (Atchison, Ghafari, and the Towers) and 2 apartment
complexes (DeRoy and University Towers) on campus. There is a cumulative
count of just about 1600 bed spaces amongst these 5 buildings. With the
overabundance of housing applications and a recent contract with the Brazilian
government to house just over 300 foreign exchange students each year, there
needs to be a change in the amount of housing that Wayne State University
provides. The three ways that I propose that can fix this problem are to construct
a new residential hall, adding on to existing buildings, or adding another
roommate to each room.
The best solution out of these three – and the most practical for that
matter – is the first proposal: building a new hall. This would create the least
problems out of the three while also creating the maximum customer happiness
After researching other universities’ solution(s) to their own dilemma of
insufficient housing spaces, it seems that the best solution to the problem is to
create new and improved facilities for students to enjoy. Universities such as
Bryn Mawr College in Pennsylvania, Case Western Reserve University in Ohio,
Ozog 3
and the University of Kansas have all seen success brought in by adding a new
residential hall to their campus. In an email to the student community, President
Kim Cassidy of Bryn Mawr College wrote:
“The high cost of the remediation, coupled with ongoing planning to
address the closing of Perry House and other housing issues,
presented an opportunity to address multiple concerns at once in a
financially responsible manner.” - New Residence Hall Will Add
Rooms and Incorporate Perry House Program, July 22, 2013
After analyzing costs between building a new residential hall versus adding on to
the existing Perry House, Bryn Mawr College officials came to the conclusion that
it was most cost-efficient for the construction of a new building. Case Western
Reserve has added 290 students to their on campus housing through the
addition of their residence hall in the North Residential Village. With this new
building, they have also installed more on-campus jobs with the need for a
residence hall staff, and they have also created a courtyard near the new
building. The University of Kansas has built two new facilities set to open in the
fall term of the upcoming school year. One of the Resident Advisors from Wayne
State, Brianna Elum, has recently accepted a job offer to become the
Scholarship Hall Director of one of these said buildings. After keeping
communications with her, she has reassured me that this building is one of the
more state-of-the-art residential halls in the nation. Wayne State Housing officials
are currently finalizing a building plan for the construction of a new residential
hall. We can hope and expect to see the same results that the other three college
campuses have seen since the construction of their new facilities.
Discussion
Ozog 4
The need for housing on Wayne State University’s campus is at an all time
high. We have been confirmed just recently that there is full capacity yet again for
this upcoming academic year. With 175+ students on the waiting list and more
applications coming in daily, we can expect a final number of about ~275
students that are left with no means of living on campus. This presents a problem
for the students to become commuters. If they wanted to commute, they would
not have submitted an application to live on campus. The number of applications
has risen each year since The Towers has been constructed (2005) and is
predicted to be on the rise. It will not be acceptable for students to be forced to
be commuters because the university won’t provide for them. This could lead to
many students transferring to another university, thus losing income for Wayne
State University. Wayne State has invested $30,000,000 into its improved
Student Center, so the funds are obviously available to somehow aid in
additional housing. As mentioned in the Executive Summary, the three most ideal
ways to solve the lack of housing units are to construct a new residential hall,
adding on to existing buildings, or adding another roommate to each room.
The Office of Housing and Residential Life is aiming to appease all of the
applicants by giving them a place to stay. The most efficient way to obtain this
goal is to construct a new residential hall. It would be too much work to add floors
to existing halls. There would have to be a shutdown period for safety protocol,
therefore reducing housing for however long of a period of time it takes to finish
the project. To build a new building, there is no need to close off current housing
units for safety. There are residents living on Wayne State’s campus throughout
Ozog 5
the year, including the summer, so there would be no optimal time to shut down
an entire wing of a building. The most efficient way to solve the need for housing
with regard to the status of current housing is to simply construct a new building.
The Towers is Wayne State’s youngest residential hall, having been built
in 2005. Technology is becoming much more advanced with each passing year.
There is a demand for new and improved facilities for the residents according to
the housing applications. New students and returning residents want to see a
change happen to Wayne State’s housing facilities. The Office of Housing and
Residential Life needs to meet the demands of the public in order to keep the
residents coming to on campus housing and to keep the income generated for
the University.
All three of the solutions have benefits, but one of the options does not
have any potential large-scale problems. This option is the new building. We will
now go a little deeper into just why this is the best option.
There are talks of this project in the housing office, but nothing is finalized
yet. This is the best option because nothing new would come to the current
housing facilities; just adding a new building to campus keeps the status quo of
campus life. With no space left on campus, there may have to be some sacrifices
of property space between different departments at Wayne State. For example,
there are talks in the Office of Housing and Residential Life that a new building
could be placed in parking lot 41 while new floors are added to a parking
structure to compensate for lost spaces.
Ozog 6
Other options may be better as time goes on, seeing that this would probably be
the most expensive of the options.
Adding on to existing buildings is not an easy job. There are residents
living in each building year round, and any construction would put that building
out of commission until the project is finished. I think the construction itself would
not present a large problem, seeing that the floor plans would all be the same.
This is the second best because the other two seem much less feasible.
Adding one resident to each room would be chaos, but would increase
housing spaces by 50%. The rooms are crammed enough as is; adding one
more set of furniture would leave absolute minimal space in the room. With more
people come more roommate conflicts as well. As this would create the most
available spaces, it is not in the best interest of any of the residents.
Ozog 7
The downside to constructing a new building is the fact that we are unsure
of the process at this point in time. The development of the new building is very
new in the Office of Housing and Residential Life. Officials in the Housing Office
are still in the process of finalizing a contract that will bring a new residential hall
to Wayne State University’s campus. There is no set method on how we are
going to complete the process of constructing a new building or how long the
process could take, which is one of the very few problems that are currently
surrounding this procedure.
There are far more benefits than these few disadvantages. First and the
most obvious is the creation of new housing units. The estimate for how many
units is just under 575, which will satisfy the overflow of housing applicants. The
next is the new jobs that will come with the building. There will be a need for
about 15 new Resident Advisors along with a Community Director. These
positions will be responsible for management of the building. The cost of the
building will hopefully not be overbearing for the University, but again this is not a
finalized deal and we will know more information on this project when there is a
contract made. The Student Center had a budget of $30,000,000 and is state-of-
Ozog 8
the-art, and the new building is in talks of being as technologically advanced as
the Student Center, resources and aesthetically.
The Office of Housing and Residential Life has a great plan to solve the
overflow of housing applications. They have chosen the plan of making a new
building rather than adding floors to existing buildings and/or adding roommates
to each room. This decision will solve the lack of housing units and will help to
modernize the campus. There will no longer be a waiting list for housing and all
the new/returning applicants will be able to receive on campus housing. The
Office of Housing and Residential Life has made the right choice in deciding to
construct this new building, and this is the best decision moving forward in our
eradication of the lack of housing units.
Ozog 9
Ozog 10
References
KU to build two new residence halls. (n.d.). Retrieved from
http://housing.ku.edu/new-halls
New Residence Hall Will Add Rooms and Incorporate Perry House Program - See
more at: http://news.brynmawr.edu/2013/07/22/haffner-hall-renovations-will-addrooms-and-incorporate-perry-house-program/#sthash.L6ENvFf6.dpuf. (n.d.).
Retrieved July 11, 2015, from http://news.brynmawr.edu/2013/07/22/haffner-hallrenovations-will-add-rooms-and-incorporate-perry-house-program/
New Residence Hall. (n.d.). Retrieved July 11, 2015, from
https://students.case.edu/living/facilities/newhall/