On the fifth floor of South Hall, University of Northern Colorado student Sarai Sanchez lives in silence with her one suitemate. The silence doesn’t bother Sanchez, and she has enjoyed living in an empty hall since her first weeks in the UNC dorms.
Like other Colorado universities, UNC requires most freshmen to live in the dorms and purchase a meal plan. With a rise in transfer students from community colleges and high school seniors receiving an associate’s degree along with their diplomas, many students are opting to live at home or off campus. The reasons, according to both Sanchez and UNC first-year student Rachelle Morgan, are financial.
“I feel like it adds having that requirement, if you are a freshman and you don’t live close, you have to live on campus your first year,” Morgan said. “Because otherwise I probably wouldn’t have, because it is so much cheaper to live off campus.”
Just like Morgan, Sanchez was required to live in the dorms her first year. Her living situation would have been different without the requirement.
“I think I would have either gotten an apartment or I would have commuted,” Sanchez said. “I mean, I only live, like, 40 minutes away, so it wouldn’t be a horrible drive, but I don’t think I would have lived in the dorms.”
Sanchez did some financial digging of her own and discovered that after paying rent on an apartment and buying groceries, she would still pay less than she did for her housing and food plans at UNC. So, what is the draw of dorm life?
Jed Cummins, executive director of Housing and Auxiliary Services at UNC, advocates for the benefits of dorm life.
“So, thinking about some reasons that folks might want to live off campus, some of that is for the independence,” Cummins said. “But those things also come with some risk.”
Some of these risks that students face are more costly than others, whether it is a landlord who has unrealistic leasing dates that do not align with a student’s schedule or hidden fees that cause students more financial hardship. Cummins notes security can be found by living in campus housing.
Jed Cummins, executive director of housing and auxiliary services at UNC, advocates for the benefits of dorm life.
“We do have some 12-month leases in our apartments in Arlington Park,” Cummins said. “We also have some policies that are also really well designed for student’s schedules and needs.”
Cummins also emphasizes student’s needs for community and how UNC housing provides students with a natural social outlet through campus activities and smaller events put on by the resident assistants within every dorm.
“We want our dorms to not only be a place for folks to sleep, but we also want it to be a place where folks can live, get to meet other folks and have some community,” Cummins said. “That’s a really important part of the collegiate experience.”
Cummins acknowledges that dorm life can be expensive, but UNC offers a range of housing options, from communal living in South Hall to the Arlington Apartments where students can experience a little bit more independence. In many cases, the price of housing is dependent on amenities like pet-friendly facilities and in-dorm kitchens that cost the university more money to provide to students.
“We are really excited to continue to add one more pet-friendly community at North Hall next year,” Cummins said. “Those are the types of things that could drive up some of those costs for students, as well, but as I budget for each future year, those are things that we’re really conscious around, and I want to work to make sure that we are keeping costs as affordable as possible for folks.”
Cummins and his team are not only catering to student preferences, but they are also responding to big changes in the university. Last month, the news that Andy Feinstein, the president of UNC, had decided to step down invaded the emails of students and faculty. This change received mixed responses from students with some expressing concern and others feeling apathetic.
“I am definitely worried to see how my major will be impacted, especially with the cuts being made for teachers in my department,” Sanchez said. “I feel like it can have a lot of impact on enrollment.”
Budget cuts that were made by President Feinstein earlier last year have also come as a blow to many departments within the university, but funding for housing is mostly external so enrollment is more of a concern for Cummins and his team.
“Enrollment at UNC is always something I’m thinking about,” Cummins said. “The number of folks here at UNC directly impacts lots of areas, basically every area at the university.”
Compared to when Cummins was a student, UNC has about 4,000 less students. According to Cummins this decrease has caused dormitories to rest at about 60-70% capacity which is why students like Sanchez and Morgan have experienced the dorm life with less roommates. In response to these decreased enrollment numbers, Cummins and his team are offering up many of the older dorms as temporary office spaces for different UNC programs including the new Osteopathic School of Medicine.
“Changes in leadership happen for a university, but I also want to note that I think we are going to continue to do the same thing we’ve done for over 100 years in housing,” Cummins said. “The core of the mission will be that students first piece and that community piece, which I think are really, as I think about the work that we do in housing and residential education, that is the important work that we do.”
Change is a part of life. UNC will find a new president and the school will continue to adapt for the sake of students, faculty and the community of Greeley. Sanchez and Morgan have decided to leave dorm life behind them, but a new wave of students is coming. UNC housing staff and PR team have an opportunity to encourage students to get involved, become RAs and live in dorms until they graduate. As Jed Cummins and his team innovate, empty dorm halls will eventually become nothing but a glimmering memory in the mind of Sanchez as UNC marches into a new era of student housing.
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