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Page 2 NEWS Sept. 1, 2006 www.guilfordian.com Greensboro. N.C. Campus Life copes with housing conundrum Continued from page I Eighteen returning students are housed in six triples, converted from doubles, on the first floor of English Hall, and an additional four upperclassmen live in a quad converted from the first-floor lounge. Three first-years are living in a triple converted from the second- floor lounge in Milner Hall, and 12 first-years are in converted quads in Binford Hall. 'Triples are as old as college," said Aaron Fetrow, dean for Cam pus Life, emphasizing that the housing problem is not unique to Guilford. President Kent Chabotar faced similar circumstances when he ar rived for his freshman year of col lege in 1964. "I moved in to find two roommates already waiting for me," he said. According to Fetrow, the triple and quad rooms are "growing pains" for the college. The last three first-year class es have been the largest three in Guilford's history, with this year's 431 first-years as the second larg est. The large first-year class, com bined with returning traditional students and a record 50 transfers, caused the total enrollment of full time traditional students to reach a record-high of 1341 at the start of this fall semester. The retention rate for first-year traditional students has increased last year, rising from 72 percent during the 2004-2005 academic year to 78 percent last year. "It's a great problem for the college to have," Fetrow said. "The bad news is that we have three students in a room, but the good news is that it means we're returning students. Students don't always understand that our main goal is to get students to gradu ate, and that means keeping them here." For the students who live in the triple or quad rooms, a good prob lem is still a problem. "I've only stayed there once," said sopho more Kyle Madden-Cox, who lives in a triple in English. "It's as much for my roommates' benefits as it is for mine. We have different life styles, and bouncing around three very different schedules is almost impossible." Students living in quads or triples received a $500 discount on housing, or roughly 33 percent, even if they move into a double. "It's awesome that they gave us a discount, especially since we can move out and still keep it," Mad- den-Cox said. "My roommates in tended to live together ever since last year, so hopefully I'll be leav ing soon." Campus Life hopes that stu dents learn from the housing crisis. "The folks that got placed in three- person rooms are, for the most part, folks that didn't do some thing according to our process," Fetrow said. "If you don't do what you're supposed to do, you risk being in this type of situation," said Randy Doss, vice president for Enrollment and Campus Life. "It points out to students that we have deadlines." According to the Strategic Long Range Plan, traditional enroll ment should reach 1505 by 2009, meaning that a solution will have to be found. Two open forums will be held in September to discuss on-cam- pus housing, both to be held in the Founders Hall second-floor Gal lery. "We're on top of it," Doss said. "We're just waiting to talk to peo ple about our options." Until the situation can be solved, the students in triples still have to find a way to cope. "We only have two desks," Madden-Cox said. "My roommate Heydn has to use my bed as a desk for his laptop. And since his ether- net cable couldn't reach from the wall, I let him have my fancy eth- emet extension cord." "Everybody on this floor's been really understanding and mature about the problem," said junior Rohit Ghandi, the R.A. for the first floor of English Hall. Ghandi said that his floor hasn't experienced any more problems than any other dorm, and commended facilities and IT&S for quickly solving furniture and^ Internet problems. "We all go to Guilford," Madden-Cox said, "so it's not in our nature to be unpleasant." Renovations leave first impression on students • 'It's a big step up from last year.' - Alex Parker Continued from page I ally lose is students who come and don't realize how academically challenging Guil ford is," said senior Matthew Steere, one of the CHAOS team leaders. "What we tried to do this year was make sure they knew what tools they had academically." CHAOS itself underwent a few changes this year. Avanti was required for the first time. Because of this, all first-years checked in on the same day and had a full week of orientation. "It was nice to be here for that long to adjust, but it would have been nice to have more time that wasn't structured," said first- year Jewel Anderson. Instead of CHAOS Continues events, first-years now go to a First-Year Experi ence lab once per week. This lab continues to orient first-years to the college experience, teaching academic skills such as time man agement, studying and test-taking.' "I think it's a good class for first-years, but you're kind of sitting there like 'Well, shouldn't this be obvious?'" said first-year Laura Feltman. The first-year class brings more changes with them than just academics and orienta tion. Applications last year went up by more than 900. Guilford is growing, and with this growth comes many challenges, such as housing. There aro currently about 20 people living in dorm lounges. Campus Life expects the lounges to empty out by Oct. 1, but there are still plans in the works for a new dorm or relaxing the off-campus policy. "The decision to build a dorm isn't just about the dorm and money and location, it's about what kind of college we want to be," said President Kent Chabotar. Guilford's community is also growing thanks to a new service called the HEAT bus. This free service, funded in part by federal grant money and in part by the col leges in the Greensboro area, runs daily to and from popular spots in Greensboro, such as UNCG's campus, downtown and the Friendly Center. "Essentially now you're on a campus of 30,000, not 2,500," Chabotar said. The HEAT bus provides both a conve nience for students without cars who need to get around town, and a way to extend so cial circles beyond the campus. "I feel like a lot of Guilford students stay in the Guilford bubble," said sopho more Saron Hardin-Smith. "It's a good op portunity to get out in the Greensboro com munity." Getting out into the community is also more feasible thanks to the Quaker Card, a system set up this year that allows students to use their college ID card as a credit card at several stores near Guilford. "It's nice right now, but it's going to get nicer," said Aaron Fetrow, dean for Campus Life. "Tm glad that you can use the card off campus, but I wish you could use it at more places," said junior Garrett Fitzgerald. Growth isn't the administration's only fo cus this year. They're also working to keep current students from leaving. "We're trying to improve retention rate," Chabotar said. "We'd like it at 80 percent or more, frankly." Last year, retention was at 77 percent. Studies show that student-teacher relation ships are what keep students at school, so the administration is trying to emphasize those relationships. In order to reach out to CCE students more effectively, Joylynn Henning was hired as a retention coordinator for the program. "Essentially, retention is about relation ships," Henning said. "My goal is to reach every new incoming student so they don't feel they have to navigate Guilford them selves." The biggest focus Guilford has this year, be it for traditional students, CCE, Early College, or otherwise, is keeping the classes unified and the campus community strong. "If we make students feel like they fit here and that Guilford cares, they'll stay," Fetrow said. Tristan Wilson recruits for Fancy Feet & Fingers at the annual club fair. By Landry Haarmann.
The Guilfordian (Greensboro, N.C.)
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