TCU Daily Skiff Friday, April 16, 2004
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Assigning roommates to RAs sometimes vital
Many resident assistants are assigned roommates to help ease the residence hall overflow problem.

By Kristy Cubstead

With an overwhelming demand for on-campus housing and not enough beds, TCU will assign roommates to resident assistants in the fall to help ease the problem.

Several RAs say having a roommate limits their ability to do their job. It’s sometimes harder to advise residents confidentially and privately, they say. But university officials, faced with swelling enrollment and an increasing demand for housing, say they have no choice but to room RAs with residents until other options open up.

“I think it’s inconvenient for us to have roommates because there’s confidentiality issues,” said Mary Power, an RA in Colby Hall.

Power was assigned a roommate for the fall semester, but does not currently have one.The only solution to reduce the number of RAs who have roommates would be to build another residence hall or have a smaller demand for rooms, said Roger Fisher, director of Residential Services.

“If, and when, we ever build another residence hall, we would probably be sure to build private rooms especially for the staff members,” Fisher said.

Fisher said there are about 3,150 beds in the residence halls, but this coming fall, TCU will need about 250 more than that. TCU also cannot house transfer students, even though manyof them request on-campus housing.

“I think the demand has increased because the number of beds available have not kept pace with the growth of the student body,” Fisher said.

TCU has also put overflow students in hotels in the past until there is room for them.
“Before we use hotels, we use RA rooms, lounges and any area we can find because we believe that having the student on campus is still better than in a hotel,” Fisher said.

Fisher said hotel rooms and transportation to and from the hotels are expensive, and this is used as a last resort.

Heather Reeves, an RA in Colby Hall, was assigned a roommate fall semester.
“I didn’t mind having a roommate, but it made my job a lot more difficult,” she said.Reeves said there were confidentiality issues that were made more complicated by having a roommate.

Everybody is told of the possibility of having a roommate before they apply to be an RA, said Barbara Hawkins, associate director of Residence Life. All RAs are given an opportunity to choose their own roommate knowing they could be assigned one.

Rebecka Guzman, hall director of Sherley Hall, said most RAs with roommates are understanding of the situation.

“The RAs are very flexible and understand the housing’s need to use the space,” Guzman said.

For each week an RA has a roommate, $20 is credited to their student account, Hawkins said.

Fisher said he has worked at TCU for seven years, and every year RAs have been assigned roommates. He said it is usually a bigger problem during fall semesters.

“With our annual housing shortage, we cannot leave about 70 beds unused at the beginning of the school year,” Fisher said.

Fisher said RAs usually have roommates temporarily until their roommates can be reassigned elsewhere.

“Until we have other places to put students, we have to use every available bed,” Hawkins said.

The cost of on-campus housing increases every year for two reasons, Fisher said. Operating costs, including utilities, maintenance, staff salaries, insurance, furniture and mattress replacements and supplies, increase every year, he said. Also, TCU must pay back the millions of dollars it borrowed to build the Tom Brown-Pete Wright Residential Community.

Since the fall semester of 1997, housing rates have gone up about 50 percent, or an average of about 7 percent a year, Fisher said.
Dorms too crowded.
Photo Illustration by Sarah Chacko
Milton Daniel Hall resident assistant Kelly Achilles, a junior philosophy major, converses with resident Stephen McPaul, a freshman English major, while Achilles roommate, sophomore political science major Brett Grayson, lounges in their room.
 
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