MSU promotes dorm living as 'unique opportunity'

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When no-preference freshman Maggie DePentu returns to MSU next fall, she likely will live in the dorms, because for her, it’s a matter of convenience.

“It’s easy (and) everything’s at a good location,” said DePentu, who currently lives in Campbell Hall. “It’s a safe environment.”

If the university has its way, more students like DePentu will make the decision to either continue living in the dorms or return to them after living off campus.

Officials from various university departments, including the Department of Residence Life and Campus Living Services, or CLS, will be examining ways to make living on campus more appealing to students who might relocate off campus at the first available opportunity.

To accomplish their goals, the departments have reached out to officials from the Residence Halls Association, or RHA, for help in communicating the benefits of on-campus living to students.

RHA is an on-campus student government group that represents all students living in residence halls.

“Living on campus provides a unique opportunity for students,” said Emma Perot, RHA’s president. “It’s a very positive experience when you have the ability to use the resources that come with living on campus.”

Perot sits on the Retention Task Force, a committee made up of representatives from the aforementioned departments who will examine reasons why students choose to live off campus and brainstorm ideas to keep them living on campus.

Mary Lou Heberlein, CLS’s assistant director of guest services, who also sits on the task force, said some of the driving forces behind MSU trying to keep students living on campus include accessibility to campus services and resources, the all-inclusive nature of housing costs and statistics that show increased academic performance in students who live on campus.

“(MSU) studies have shown that students do better academically living on campus,” Heberlein said in an e-mail. “Professors, Residence Life, classes, the library, IM facilities and entertainment are all nearby.”

Heberlein has met with RHA’s Committee on Residence Hall Issues, or CRHI, whose task is to address student issues and concerns regarding life on campus and communicate them to university officials, said Katie Sprow, CRHI’s chairperson.

Sprow said the importance of encouraging students to live on campus is backed by the feeling of solidarity that comes along with it.

“Keeping students living on campus is a key facet of creating the welcoming MSU atmosphere as well as building a sense of community on campus,” Sprow said.

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