Do universities still let students live off campus?

Started by bandit957, January 30, 2023, 09:47:37 PM

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jakeroot

Quote from: Rothman on January 31, 2023, 07:01:56 AM
Quote from: jakeroot on January 31, 2023, 02:06:43 AM
Quote from: bandit957 on January 31, 2023, 12:13:38 AM
Another thing universities do now is require students to buy a meal plan. I never had to do this. If I got hungry at school, I'd just go to the cafeteria when I needed it.

Universities have also begun forcing students to buy some sort of insurance. This wasn't required in my day.

Where exactly are you getting this information? Neither the dorm requirement, meal plan, or insurance rings any bells at all. And I only graduated a year and a half ago.

Well, your singular experience must be representative. :D

I just wanted to know where he had heard of these things, because (a) I had never heard of them, and (b) they don't make sense to me because, indeed, my experience doesn't jive with any of what he's talking about.


US 89

You mean you don't remember people with heads shaped like Speak N' Spells emitting bunker blasts?

SectorZ

Quote from: Rothman on January 31, 2023, 05:55:53 PM
Heh.  I lived in a college town that was so brilliant that it put a large senior assisted living complex almost right in the middle of its downtown.

Town wanted to build a new parking garage.  By the time the blue hairs were done, the Town spent an absurd amount of money for about 15 spaces (at most) in a one-level hole in the ground "garage."

In more recent years, the blue hairs have seen their power wane, from what I've heard.

It's funny that mocking the elderly here with the same term multiple times is A-OK...

oscar

When I was an undergraduate in the mid-1970s, freshmen (still called that back then) were generally required to live on-campus. Upper-classmen generally were required to live off-campus one year out of three, because there wasn't enough room in the dorms for everybody who wanted a dorm room. There was a lottery system for eligibility for on-campus housing, and by luck of the draw I had to live off-campus my junior year.

Members of fraternities (no sororities allowed back then) didn't have to go through the lottery. But most or all of the frats didn't have room for all members available on campus, so they had to set up off-campus annexes to house some of their members.
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Ketchup99

At my school, freshmen have to live on-campus and buy meal plans, but upperclassmen can move off and deal with food on their own. As far as I know, this is a more-or-less normal system for a college nowadays.

CtrlAltDel

#55
At the school I work for, first-year students can live either on or off campus, but the university reserves the right to require them to live on campus.

Also, not that anyone asked, tomorrow is a snow day. The first I've had here.
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Rothman

Quote from: SectorZ on January 31, 2023, 07:18:10 PM
Quote from: Rothman on January 31, 2023, 05:55:53 PM
Heh.  I lived in a college town that was so brilliant that it put a large senior assisted living complex almost right in the middle of its downtown.

Town wanted to build a new parking garage.  By the time the blue hairs were done, the Town spent an absurd amount of money for about 15 spaces (at most) in a one-level hole in the ground "garage."

In more recent years, the blue hairs have seen their power wane, from what I've heard.

It's funny that mocking the elderly here with the same term multiple times is A-OK...
Found the blue hair.
Please note: All comments here represent my own personal opinion and do not reflect the official position(s) of NYSDOT.

JoePCool14

UW-Platteville requires students to live on campus for their freshman and sophomore years. Having a meal plan was required those two years. You could get an exception if you lived within a certain radius of the school, and given Platteville's remote location, that radius was pretty generous. It might've been 20 miles, IIRC.

Given Platteville's size (around 10,000 population), this policy is probably a necessity. Doesn't mean I like it though. Old style dorms are just awful. If you get stuck with a bad roommate, you're screwed. If people in your wing are pigs, you're screwed. I think some sort of "quad" setup, which Platteville had a couple different arrangements of in newer dorm buildings, is much better. You just have to be willing to clean your own bathroom, which many college kids aren't. But hey, that's their problem.

WARNING: COVID-related opinions. The worst part during my one-year dorm stay was that coronavirus restrictions were in effect. So you had to wear a mask just to walk down to the bathroom or in any common areas. And most of the RAs were ruthless about enforcement. They could be downright cruel and get very power-hungry about it. At least we never had a full two-week quarantine period like Madison had. That was disgraceful. I don't care what you thought/think about coronavirus, but it's inhumane to force college kids to stay in their one-room dorms for two weeks.

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bandit957

Quote from: JoePCool14 on January 31, 2023, 09:46:49 PMWARNING: COVID-related opinions. The worst part during my one-year dorm stay was that coronavirus restrictions were in effect. So you had to wear a mask just to walk down to the bathroom or in any common areas. And most of the RAs were ruthless about enforcement. They could be downright cruel and get very power-hungry about it. At least we never had a full two-week quarantine period like Madison had. That was disgraceful. I don't care what you thought/think about coronavirus, but it's inhumane to force college kids to stay in their one-room dorms for two weeks.

I'm actually very surprised there haven't been major lawsuits about all this.
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CoreySamson

Here at ORU, freshman have to live on campus, I'm pretty sure, but upperclassmen can live off-campus if they please.

In other news, snow days aren't really a thing anymore. The past 2 days have had online class via Zoom instead of canceling class altogether due to the thundersleet in the Tulsa area this week. I'm personally glad since I'm getting over food poisoning this week, so I can stay in the dorm all day if I want.
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tchafe1978

Quote from: JoePCool14 on January 31, 2023, 09:46:49 PM
UW-Platteville requires students to live on campus for their freshman and sophomore years. Having a meal plan was required those two years. You could get an exception if you lived within a certain radius of the school, and given Platteville's remote location, that radius was pretty generous. It might've been 20 miles, IIRC.

Given Platteville's size (around 10,000 population), this policy is probably a necessity. Doesn't mean I like it though. Old style dorms are just awful. If you get stuck with a bad roommate, you're screwed. If people in your wing are pigs, you're screwed. I think some sort of "quad" setup, which Platteville had a couple different arrangements of in newer dorm buildings, is much better. You just have to be willing to clean your own bathroom, which many college kids aren't. But hey, that's their problem.

WARNING: COVID-related opinions. The worst part during my one-year dorm stay was that coronavirus restrictions were in effect. So you had to wear a mask just to walk down to the bathroom or in any common areas. And most of the RAs were ruthless about enforcement. They could be downright cruel and get very power-hungry about it. At least we never had a full two-week quarantine period like Madison had. That was disgraceful. I don't care what you thought/think about coronavirus, but it's inhumane to force college kids to stay in their one-room dorms for two weeks.

I went to UW-Platteville, graduated in 2001. I was wondering of it was still the case that freshmen and sophomores had to stay in the dorms.

Back in my day....

All there were for the dorms were the old style, with one bathroom and shower room for one floor/wing, depending on the building. At least we knew those were getting cleaned every day. We all dreamed of the day when the newer suite style dorms would exist. Those weren't even beginning to be planned yet when I graduated. I will say though, you get to know your roommate pretty well when you're stuck in a 10X15 room together.

US 89

I think all of the freshman housing where I went was conventional dorm style. I had 40 or so other guys on my floor. We all shared a bathroom with 5 stalls (no urinals, because our building used to be a girls' dorm) and 6 showers. Except it effectively only had two showers, because three of them had unusably low water pressure, and one of them had a knob that would stop turning before it could get to the hot water. And even if you could get to that point, that was the shower that someone would always shave their pubes in ... on Friday night, so that they wouldn't be cleaned until Monday of the next week.

Another dorm had what we called "honeycomb showers" where they had 6 showers and two entrances to the showers...on the long ends. So if you showered in one of the middle two, you would have to walk through someone else's shower. It was clear that at some point in the past there weren't any curtains at all. I think they've renovated this configuration away since then, but this is what that looked like:



Put it this way. I'm really glad I got to have the experience of dorm life. But I can't imagine doing it again.

kkt

stressed or drunk or god knows what students pulling the fire alarm in the middle of the night when there was no fire.

showers that didn't drain right, so walking into the shower there was 3/4 inch of yucky dirty standing water (mixed with shampoo and god knows what else) that you'd have to wade through.

living on the 11th floor, served by elevators that broke a couple of times a month.

come to think of it, they were broken during checkin too.  everyone had to haul all their posessions up 11 flights of stairs.

there were indeed some good things about dorm life.  but, Never Again.


michravera

Quote from: bandit957 on January 30, 2023, 09:47:37 PM
Is this still allowed? I'm sure small community colleges still allow it (since most don't have dorms), but what about big universities?

When I attended NKU in the 1990s, you were definitely allowed to live off campus, and it didn't matter what your living arrangements were. I think the only way it mattered was in regard to whether you'd pay in-state tuition. Being allowed to live off campus was useful because I already lived only about a mile from the university, so what would be the point in relocating? Since I already lived near the school, why would I want to move onto campus? The University of Cincinnati allowed you to live off campus too.

I don't know if these universities still allow it. Nowadays, it seems like even universities that are much smaller and not even very prestigious or well-known require students to live on campus, especially freshmen.

I went to a CSU 1978-83+Grad and NEVER lived on campus. My Stepkids also went or are going to a CSU and only lived in dorms their first years. My wife says it was required to live on campus first year unless they had permanent residence nearby.

andrepoiy

#64
At the university I currently attend (Queen's University), university residence is optional. In fact, the school does not have enough capacity to house 100% of incoming first-year students. Usually, 7% of first-year students do not get residence even if they wanted to, and I happened to be one of them.

It is pretty much expected that upper-year students live off-campus.

Regarding the theory that on-campus residences are meant to control students... I would beg to differ. In fact, students in university residences at my school are typically way rowdier than those living off-campus, since they do not really treat the place as "theirs". They party like crazy and treat residence facilities like it's nothing.


Another comment: I'm pretty sure that a large number of Canadian universities have more commuter students than living-on-campus students simply because a lot of them are located in large population centres. There's only a handful of "college town" universities (one of which I attend).

kalvado

Quote from: US 89 on February 01, 2023, 12:37:16 AM
Put it this way. I'm really glad I got to have the experience of dorm life. But I can't imagine doing it again.
Quote from: kkt on February 01, 2023, 12:46:33 AM.
there were indeed some good things about dorm life.  but, Never Again.
Same here

Rothman



Quote from: bandit957 on January 31, 2023, 10:16:29 PM
Quote from: JoePCool14 on January 31, 2023, 09:46:49 PMWARNING: COVID-related opinions. The worst part during my one-year dorm stay was that coronavirus restrictions were in effect. So you had to wear a mask just to walk down to the bathroom or in any common areas. And most of the RAs were ruthless about enforcement. They could be downright cruel and get very power-hungry about it. At least we never had a full two-week quarantine period like Madison had. That was disgraceful. I don't care what you thought/think about coronavirus, but it's inhumane to force college kids to stay in their one-room dorms for two weeks.

I'm actually very surprised there haven't been major lawsuits about all this.

Not sure why there would be given the trouble colleges had during the pandemic with COVID spreading through their student populations due to lack of diligence.

Both my son and daughter had to deal with restrictions of one sort or another -- most of my son's classes ended up being virtual.  Both had close calls with COVID -- my son had a foolish roommate, while my daughter had friends that headed off to a neighboring college to party, bringing the virus back with them (same college just had an issue with hand-foot-mouth this past year...I guess "lack of hygiene" was a requirement to be admitted to it).  Daughter in particular had to deal with quarantines and was stuck in her dorm due to exposures.

Anyway, lawsuits would be baseless given the measures were put in place to prevent outbreaks, of which there is ample evidence that when protocols weren't followed, occurred frequently.  Probably explains the lack of lawsuits altogether.
Please note: All comments here represent my own personal opinion and do not reflect the official position(s) of NYSDOT.

JoePCool14

Quote from: tchafe1978 on January 31, 2023, 11:56:26 PM
Quote from: JoePCool14 on January 31, 2023, 09:46:49 PM
...

I went to UW-Platteville, graduated in 2001. I was wondering of it was still the case that freshmen and sophomores had to stay in the dorms.

Back in my day....

All there were for the dorms were the old style, with one bathroom and shower room for one floor/wing, depending on the building. At least we knew those were getting cleaned every day. We all dreamed of the day when the newer suite style dorms would exist. Those weren't even beginning to be planned yet when I graduated. I will say though, you get to know your roommate pretty well when you're stuck in a 10X15 room together.

There are now 3 dorms with newer layouts. One is like a 4-person apartment, that one I think was built just a few years after you graduated. The other two are closer to traditional dorms, where two people share a room, but each quad has its own bathroom and shower.

If you still remember the names, I got to stay in one of the "circle" dorms (Brockert Hall) for one year.

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abefroman329

Quote from: kkt on February 01, 2023, 12:46:33 AM
stressed or drunk or god knows what students pulling the fire alarm in the middle of the night when there was no fire.

showers that didn't drain right, so walking into the shower there was 3/4 inch of yucky dirty standing water (mixed with shampoo and god knows what else) that you'd have to wade through.

living on the 11th floor, served by elevators that broke a couple of times a month.

come to think of it, they were broken during checkin too.  everyone had to haul all their posessions up 11 flights of stairs.

there were indeed some good things about dorm life.  but, Never Again.
Well, I'll add one more thing to your list of bad things: When someone would projectile-vomit all over a stall on Friday night and it would stay that way until Monday morning, when the cleaners came.

I lived in the dorms for two years and change, but I also lived in a dorm Hall of Residence during my semester abroad.  Every room was a single room, and there was one single-occupant toilet with a bathtub or toilet per ten or so residents.  The day after the spring formal dance, there wasn't a toilet to be found that hadn't been "christened."

CtrlAltDel

Quote from: CoreySamson on January 31, 2023, 11:16:01 PM
In other news, snow days aren't really a thing anymore. The past 2 days have had online class via Zoom instead of canceling class altogether due to the thundersleet in the Tulsa area this week.

That's part of why I thought it worth mentioning. For me, classes were not pushed online or anything like that but directly canceled:

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kalvado

Quote from: CtrlAltDel on February 01, 2023, 11:49:20 AM
Quote from: CoreySamson on January 31, 2023, 11:16:01 PM
In other news, snow days aren't really a thing anymore. The past 2 days have had online class via Zoom instead of canceling class altogether due to the thundersleet in the Tulsa area this week.

That's part of why I thought it worth mentioning. For me, classes were not pushed online or anything like that but directly canceled:


Honestly speaking, for lots of classes setting up one-off virtual one on short term notice is a pain.
Lecture is relatively easy, labs are a pain. And  then there is a patchwork of what is online, and what is not worth it.

bing101

When I was at California State University-Sacramento I was not required to live at a dorm. I commuted to school. But then again I was a transfer student from a community college at that time.  I was not required to live on campus.  If you went to a University as a freshman as an out of state student that could be likely. Since I was an in state student I was not required to live on Campus but have to verify that I lived in the state for some time.

triplemultiplex

Quote from: abefroman329 on January 31, 2023, 12:58:44 PM
Quote from: triplemultiplex on January 31, 2023, 12:07:05 PM
Student housing is always a low-key civil war between campus interests and townie interests.  The students want affordable options close to school; the townies don't like the 'kids' getting all rowdy on the weekends and are always, ALWAYS complaining about goddamn parking.  I swear you can't get anything done in a college down without a bunch of blue-hairs whining about stupid parking.  They don't like street parking; they don't like parking lots; parking garages are too expensive; it never ends with the townies and their precious parking.  All because one time they couldn't park directly in front of the place they were going.

If I had a dollar for every time I've read/heard the phrase, "Local residents are raising concerns about the parking situation related to the proposed....." I could take a really nice vacation.
Jesus, if that's your attitude, then why in the hell are you living in a college town?

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abefroman329

Quote from: triplemultiplex on February 01, 2023, 05:26:10 PM
Quote from: abefroman329 on January 31, 2023, 12:58:44 PM
Quote from: triplemultiplex on January 31, 2023, 12:07:05 PM
Student housing is always a low-key civil war between campus interests and townie interests.  The students want affordable options close to school; the townies don't like the 'kids' getting all rowdy on the weekends and are always, ALWAYS complaining about goddamn parking.  I swear you can't get anything done in a college down without a bunch of blue-hairs whining about stupid parking.  They don't like street parking; they don't like parking lots; parking garages are too expensive; it never ends with the townies and their precious parking.  All because one time they couldn't park directly in front of the place they were going.

If I had a dollar for every time I've read/heard the phrase, "Local residents are raising concerns about the parking situation related to the proposed....." I could take a really nice vacation.
Jesus, if that's your attitude, then why in the hell are you living in a college town?

It's fun hanging out with the hep-cats.
Sure, but the hep-cats gotta hep-cat.

Scott5114

#74
Quote from: ozarkman417 on January 31, 2023, 12:30:54 PM
Quote from: Scott5114 on January 30, 2023, 10:05:12 PM
When I went to Missouri State, the rule was that freshmen were required to stay in the dorms, but sophomores and up were allowed to live off-campus. I think you were able to get a waiver if your parents lived close enough and you wanted to remain living with them, however. They did have a bunch of BS reasons for it, claiming that students did better academically living in the dorms than off-campus.
When Missouri State called me about my application, I asked about this policy. They said to me that if I live within 45 minutes away from campus I'm allowed to live at home.

After looking at some of the dorms at MSU, I can say I am better off at home. I can get more studying and homework done when I don't have to take the time to walk down and wait to use the communal kitchen or restroom/showers that everyone on a floor has to share.

I was in Blair-Shannon, which meant that shared a room with another guy. Three such rooms shared a common living room and bathroom, which meant that there were basically 6 guys living together. I lucked out in that everyone in my suite was generally pretty chill (and one ended up not returning for the spring semester), but boy howdy I could see how that could go super badly if you ended up with the wrong set of people.

Freudenberger had a few dorms that were one-person room with a shared bathroom for the floor. At the time I thought that would have been the closest to an ideal setup, but I was a little freaked out about the thought of having to share a shower with dozens of people. Now I probably wouldn't care.

Regarding snow days: I don't remember having any while I was there, but there was one professor who had just had brain surgery and was under strict orders from his doctor not to risk anything that could result in him taking an impact to his head. He was worried enough about falling and hitting his head that any time we had any weather at all, even just drizzle, he'd cancel class.
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