Students feel squeeze; high enrollment forces Res. Life to consolidate

By Olivia Tattory

Senior Nick Barbati began planning for his last year here at Rider in August. Excited to move into his “double single” room, he was surprised to receive a letter from Residence Life. Because of the large number of students moving onto campus this year, he was told, he would be unable to keep his single.

Residence Life gave Barbati two options, either move into a double room with a roommate or find off-campus housing, for which Rider provided a list of suggestions.

“Hearing that what you asked for and requested months ago was no longer available really felt like an insult,” said Barbati, who is vice president of the Student Government Association.

“I was given a list of off-campus housing suggestions and after reviewing them I decided White Pine Apartments was my best option because of the location,” said Barbati. Located just beyond the south entrance to campus, White Pine Apartments are an ideal option for students looking for off-campus housing.

A total of 70 additional students are living on campus this year, associate
director of Residence Life Stephanie Polak said. These are students whom Residence Life was not anticipating.

This has meant the elimination of most singles, the creation of 33 triple rooms and incentives that led some students off campus.

Students who were interested in the White Pine Apartments were offered a
pricing package “with a few different options,” said Polak.

“Rider gave me $1,500 total for the first semester, $500 to cover some of the rent and $1,000 for furniture and then an additional $500 for the second semester,” Barbati said. “I was lucky enough to have gotten furniture from family, so I can use the extra money for rent. It’s a good deal, not a great deal.”

He added that it is difficult to stay involved and make enough money to cover the rent of $485 per person each month, plus extra charges for electricity, cable TV and Internet.
A standard double room on campus costs $2,610 each semester plus an additional $2,030 each semester for a meal plan. Dorm fees total $9,280 for an entire academic year.
University administrators realized in May the number of students planning to live on campus was on the rise.

“We actually accepted fewer students this year, but more of the fewer students decided to live on campus,” said Polak.

Because of this increased number, Rider reached an agreement with White Pine Apartments in order to give graduate and select undergraduate students the option of living independently, but in close proximity to the Lawrenceville campus.

“Many graduate students turned down the offer because they love it on campus so much,” said Polak. “That’s when we approached some of the undergrads who requested the single rooms.”
White Pine is currently housing about six Rider students, both graduate and undergraduate. The White Pine agreement also includes an age requirement of at least 21 and permission from Rider on a list provided by Polak.

On opening day, Rider was expecting 90 more residents, which included new and returning students. As of Monday, Rider is housing an additional 70 students, after 20 students either decided to commute or did not show up at all.

“On opening day we had 33 triples, but are now down to 27,” said Polak. “Even though we’re crowded, we still have a couple vacant spaces, so in those cases we contact the triples and move them out as quickly as possible.”

Students living in triples receive “a 15 percent weekly credit to their accounts,” said Polak. If students are offered a standard double room when one becomes available and they do not accept, they are still charged the standard double room rate because there is no longer a need to live in a triple.

Freshmen Sal Brucculeri, Jeff Huber and Sal Marchesano are living in one of the 27 triples on campus.

“We love it,” said Brucculeri. “It’s been working out great.”

The students were approached by their Resident Advisor and told that as soon as an opening becomes available they will be contacted.

“If they approached us now for one of us to leave, we wouldn’t,” said Marchesano. “We like this.”

The additional students on campus have also had an effect on Daly’s. Long lines during the peak hours of the day have caused frustration amongstudents.

“It’s really annoying when you only have a half-hour break between classes to grab lunch, and you’re standing in line for at least half of it,” said senior Megan Harry. “I won’t even go some days because I don’t want to be late for my 1:10 class.”

The Daly’s staff has taken action to help prevent crowding by opening the boardroom and providing extra staff on a regular basis.

“We also purchased extra equipment including plates and silverware, so we wouldn’t run out during busy periods,” said Smith.

An additional salad bar has been added in order to accommodate students looking for healthy options.

Rider has provided a newsletter to students with the peak dining times and ways to avoid them, in hopes of reducing the congestion. Although the letter provided multiple suggestions, most students have the same lunch break and there is no way to avoid that.

In order to prepare better for the future, monthly meetings have been arranged between Residence Life and the Office of Admissions.

“We’ve decided to meet in order to get an idea and learn about the numbers for the coming year,” said Polak.

Additional residence halls are set for construction between 2008 and 2010 in order to accommodate for a higher demand of on-campus housing.

“We have definite plans to start building additional housing, similar to townhouses,” said Polak.