“Living conditions are horrid especially because I live in Roth Quad. I
believe they have the smallest dorms,” said Brian Chin, a currently tripled freshman, “It's hard to keep a space like that clean when there's so much traffic going in and out of the room, we've had many instances of ant infestations.”Chin is part of the roughly 100 triples on campus and part of the 13 percent of students who voluntarily stayed tripled. He and his roommates had the option to de-triple within their first two months of school, but reluctant to move, they declined the offer, which was a mistake on their part, he said.
Stony Brook University peaked this year with 800 tripled freshmen in the beginning of the fall semester. This number will also be the same this coming fall. Triples have steadily been on the rise; in 2005 there were 300 and 500 in 2006.
Plans to curtail tripling and students on a wait list have been hampered by projects running behind schedule. And while future projects could alleviate the problem all together, they remain only in a discussion phase and are therefore not yet funded.
Currently, two facilities are in their construction phases and both are a few months behind schedule. Al DeVries, associate director of residential programs, said that outside contractors bid for these projects and tend to run behind schedule because of weather conditions or other instances, like slight changes in the design of a building.
There are penalties for late construction completion that are rarely enforced, he said. “There’s little bite for not meeting time restraints.”
Due to open this spring, a 173-bed facility is opening up this August in West Apartments. Also, a 600-bed dormitory is set to open in the beginning of the fall 2009 semester, but, according to DeVries, it won’t be ready until October.
The 600-bed facility will take the first bite out of relieving the tripling situation and those on the waiting list. There are also plans in discussion for 800 more beds to be added by 2011, which would ultimately eliminate tripling all together. “This would take us to saturation,” DeVries said, “We’ll have enough to accommodate everyone.”
The additional 800 beds would be the construction of a 400-bed facility in 2010 and another in 2011. Plans are “analyzed continuously,” said Joseph Loughren, financial services administrator of campus residences. The university expects a lull in the demand for housing in the upcoming years, because the most recent baby boom is coming to an end, and construction of these facilities would only be based on enrollment projections, Loughren said. If these buildings were to be funded, they’d cost about $47 million each.
This fall there will be about 7,900 undergrads living on campus, plus 800 triples. The university needs roughly 9,100 beds to take care of tripling and the wait list, DeVries said. The West Apartments do not factor into this because only juniors and seniors can live there.
Although incoming freshmen are projected to increase by 11 percent by 2011, the biggest housing crunch comes from continuing students renewing housing contracts. The university projects that about 60 more freshmen will apply for housing within the next three years, however, they anticipate continuing students that live on campus to grow by 400 within the same timeframe. Because retention rate is up, incoming freshmen that want to live on campus, transfer students and those on the wait list must take the brunt of the housing squeeze.
In the beginning of this school year there were about 600 people on the waiting list. It is hard to judge now how many people there are because students will live off campus, commute or graduate.
Also, up until this past fall, transfer students were guaranteed housing, but this has changed because of the current situation. There are no plans to reverse this policy in the near future, but “we’re not turning any [transfer students] away in the fall,” DeVries projected, adding, that this is just what is says on paper. “It’s there as a fail safe.”
The typical wait time for a freshman to be de-tripled is about a month. Their names are drawn through a lottery system and they are then given the opportunity to move. Through attrition of students, room for de-tripling is created - there are no-shows, people drop out, withdraw, move, graduate, transfer or go aboard.
Freshman Jing Lin was de-tripled after her first month at school. She remembered what it was like to share an 11’x 14’ room with two others.
“I was unable to do much of my homework or study in my room because I had to share a desk with one of my roommates, who occupied the desk frequently. But other than that, I think we got along pretty well,” Lin said.
Until the fall of 2009, many incoming freshmen will have the same experiences as Chin and Lin. “If we could avoid tripling, we would,” Loughren said.
Tripling would be avoided if the 800 beds are added by 2011, but because of the poor economy and waning baby boomers, these buildings are only being discussed.
Referring to accommodating everyone, DeVries said, “I guess until those projects are funded there is no guarantee.”
