On Nov. 17, a student housing consulting firm launched a survey at MU to learn about students’ housing needs and preferences.
With approximately 33,000 students enrolled in MU this year, only 800 of them submitted their survey.
However, 800 responses could be sufficient enough to show student housing trends. Residential Life spokeswoman Harriett Green-Sappington said the survey would provide valuable information for updating the project, the Residential Life Master Plan.
The survey will be analyzed by Anderson Strickler, LLC., the student housing consulting firm which has been working on the master plan with MU since 2000. Teamed with Mackey Mitchell Architects, the master plan aims to renovate and replace all 19 existing residence halls, most of which have more than 40 years’ history, according to the company’s website.
In 2001, the UM System Board of Curators approved the implementation of the comprehensive Residential Life Master Plan.
“The market has changed so much,” Residential Life Director Frankie Minor said. “But the advice that Greg Strickler has given us over time has allowed us to make our system financially viable.”
Strickler is one of the key personnel of Anderson Strickler. Minor said students’ expectations of housing amenities continue to rise.
“Students preferred to live in facilities designed to promote the formation of communities, a preference in line with the university’s living-learning system,” Minor said.
Freshman Dalton Boggs, who lives in Lathrop Hall, said he is very satisfied with the living environment.
“The condition is very nice and decent,” Boggs said. “The room is functional. It’s convenient, and you can actually bike to school.”
Mikhail Zolotarev, a graduate student studying Russian literature, said his expectations for housing are basic.
“Electricity, gas and air conditioning is enough for me,” Zolotarev said. “Wireless is not necessary, since the Internet on campus is really great. I have come to MU for four months, and I don’t have Internet in my house.”
Green-Sappington said money is also the biggest challenge. Since the enrollment of MU students is increasing and the construction materials are more and more expensive, the challenges are financial and strategic in that the team needs to maximize the number of beds MU has on hand at any one time in order to afford the projects.
“Our budgets were established last in 2005 for the residence hall projects,” Green-Sappington said. “Since then, the economic challenges have impacted everyday life and costs of goods sold. These have a direct impact on the cost of construction materials, which in turn impacts our project.”
Green-Sappington said the latest estimation of the plan’s cost is $360 million.
In order to create financially feasible development solutions, the project team will evaluate campus growth projections, enrollment projections and current class makeup of residents in residence halls as they complete the market analyses, Green-Sappington said.
Green-Sappington said this is the second time Anderson Strickler, LLC., has conducted a student housing survey at MU. The first one was completed in 2004, in conjunction with the 2005 update.
Senior Tami Robertson, a transfer student, said she almost could not attend MU because of the room shortage. She is now living in a house off campus within a 25-minute walking distance.
“It would be great to have more dorms here,” Robertson said.
