When: March 13, 2003

What: Barker House meeting with John Shertzer and Randy Alexander (Dept. of Residence employees)

Where: Barker House Parlor, 6 p.m.

Below is a transcript of the conversation.  The tape quality was poor, but comments have been transcribed as accurately as possible.  If there was a doubt on translation, the comment has been omitted.

Alexander:  So how do you all want to do this?  Do you want to ask questions, or....

Resident:  Probably the easiest way would be to explain the 75-25 policy as it currently stands now and we can go from there as far as questions.

Alexander: Okay.  What has now become known as the 75-25 policy is part of a decision that was made about four years ago....  In the study, we learned a lot, some of which we already knew, some of it we didn't, but the reason for the study was that our occupancy rate was falling...  During the ten year period of 1987-1997, enrollment had went down about 3% and that wasn't unusual....  But during that same period, residence hall occupancy went down 20%, and went down every year.  So, part of the reason for the Master Plan was to find out what students want, why are they leaving, and we did; we learned a lot.  One of the things we learned was that students don't all want assigned to the same kind of living unit.  More and more students today don't want a double dorm room; they want a suite, they want apartment-style living.  We also learned that students didn't all want the same thing.  The typical freshmen response liked the staff contact....  The programs, the structure provided them some benefits.  As the students got older, they didn't need that assistance anymore - they didn't seem to benefit.  So, one of the things we talked about as a result of this study was....  You know, we're kind of a one-size-fits all organization.  All of our residence halls have the same policies, same programs, same staffing level, same kind of living unit [with the exception of Westgate which at that time was just graduate students], and all students are not the same.  We need to provide different things for different students.  So the idea came up to have a neighborhood.  If we looked from the results from the students, they kind of fell into three groups.  You had your younger students which included all the freshmen and some other students who were interested in a certain kind of living unit.  You had your older students, and your older students with families who have completely different needs.  So we decided to develop specific neighborhoods for each of those groups.  Richardson Court and Union Drive were marketed to the younger students because one of the answers, loud and clear and not a surprise to us, was that they wanted to be right on campus, right in the middle of things.  They viewed the distance to Towers as a real negative, they're too far away.  Now, I'm getting to the 75-25, but you have to know the history to understand how we got to that; we didn't just wake up one morning and decide.  So once we came to the decision that we would make neighborhoods for younger students, and in those neighborhoods, we would have the structure and the programs and more staff would be provided, which is what they need and want.  The older student neighborhoods would have a lot less staff, a lot fewer rules, practically no formal programs, because that's what they want.  So, we decided RCA and UDA, those two neighborhoods were big enough to accommodate all of the incoming freshmen class and still have a significant number of spaces left over.  That was important because we did NOT want to create like some campuses have - freshmen dorms, where everyone who lives there is a freshman except for staff.  And I'm not saying that is bad, but that's not how we wanted to approach it because we feel like the upperclassmen add a lot to the freshmen.  They learn a lot from them.  They will ask upperclassmen questions that maybe they're too embarrassed to ask a staff member.  We think there's a big benefit to having upperclassmen.  So as we began to move in that direction, we said, okay, how big is the freshmen class?  How many beds are there in RCA and UDA combined?  We were not looking just at what we have now, we were looking ahead to when we were actually going to implement this, and during that time we've had part of Helser taken down, other places went up.  We felt comfortable that we could accommodate the freshmen class in 75% of the space, so that was our starting point. When we opened Maple as kind of a pilot study for this freshmen program, we picked 75-25 because we felt that was about what it was going to be in the future.  Now, as we've gotten closer to this, what I've been telling groups that I've met with is returning students will have AT LEAST 25% of the space, and I've been telling them this since we first started this.  Incidentally, we also told IRHA beginning three years ago that this was going to happen and it's going to happen Fall of 2003, so this is not some big surprise.  Student leaders have been aware of this for years.  They didn't care, because they figured they weren't going to be here, but it is something.  The implementation happening in 2003 has been known for some time.  The reason 2003 was picked was, according to the Master plan, by that time we will have built Fredericksen Court.  We were supposed to have renovated Buchanan, but we're a year behind on that.  And we've created some single room opportunities out at Wallace-Wilson.  We wanted to create the kind of housing that upperclassmen told us in their survey they wanted so that we would draw them out, not have to push them out, so we would have enough people say, "Oh gee, I want to live in an apartment," and leave RCA to make room for the freshmen.  Now we can see since Fredericksen Court opened, we're seeing more students leave RCA and UDA to move into an apartment.  So that's why we picked next fall.  We thought we would have about 2000 beds in Fredericksen Court, 400 in Buchanan, and 580 singles in Wallace-Wilson. 

So, fast forward.  Now we are going to implement this, and it's pretty clear that we are going to accommodate more than 25%.  25% will accomodate everybody that wants to come back on a lot of floors.  A LOT OF FLOORS.  But, we have some that it won't.  We've got a few floors over here that have the highest return rates that we probably have.  So what I've also told people is that whatever that number ends up being - 25%, 30%, 35% - we still within the buildings will try to take into consider the historical return rate.  So let's say it's at 30% and you've got a house in this hall that they usually have 40% coming back.  Well, you've got another house in the hall that has a return rate of 20%.  We will take spaces from them that they're not going to use and give them to the places that will use them.  And the last thing that happened in respect to this was about a month ago, Admissions lowered the projected incoming freshmen class, or the number of freshmen they think they are going to get this fall, by about 200.  That changed our numbers as well.

At this point, Randy Alexander handed out a sheet at this point, containing a draft of the e-mail to be sent to students the next day and explained it. That e-mail can be accessed here.

We think, based on the projections we have, that every student will be able to come back to their house that wants to, with one exception, and that is Anthony House in Friley.  The reason it doesn't quite work there is because there is a learning community on that floor that as a whole has X number of spaces for new learning community members.  We have given them every other space on the floor, so that is fewer than their return rate.  But based on our projections, that is the only house in our system of 144 houses that we think we won't be able to accommodate everyone.  

So what's projection based on? It's based on one of two numbers.  We started out looking at our historical return rate, how many people came back to this house last year.  We also had our staff, the RAs, ask people how many are coming back.  We used whatever rate was higher.  If the number of people coming back last year was 10 but at the floor meeting, 12 people said they were coming back, we used 12.  Using those numbers, and again those can change from year to year, we have accommodated either the historical return rate or the projected number of people coming back, whichever was higher. 

We have never controlled housing for honors floors.  The only way to get on an honors floor is to go through the Honors program.

So, again, based on our data, we think this will accomodate everyone.  One more thing I'd like to say and then I'll answer any questions you have, I think one confusion people are having, they are saying, "Well, we have a 55% return rate."  We dont' have a 55% return rate anywhere.  When we say percent, we are talking capacity, not the number of people who are there.   I don't know that we have any houses in the spring that are at 100% capacity.  Our percent is more spaces than I think what the students talk about. 

I've rattled on long enough; that's where we're at. I'll be happy to answer any questions.

Resident:  I haven't heard anything on how we are supposed to sign back up for our rooms.  We usually get a sheet before spring break that we sign and turn back in to reserve our current room for us.

Alexander: That's different this year.

Resident:  So after spring break, is that when Access Plus opens up [Step Inside]?

Alexander:  April 8th is when that will happen.

Resident: Are we going to be guaranteed a spot to get a certain room or a certain roommate or will we just say "I want to have that particular floor"?

Alexander:  You will actually go into Step Inside and pick out a room, just as you did before.  The only difference is we are not doing what we did last year.  There is not a space held for you.  Last year, you didn't have to do anything, and you could get the room you had.  This year, you have to do something.  You have to go in and claim your room.  You'll be getting information like this after Spring Break, before this starts, and they'll be different time windows for people to go in.  So April 8, you can go in and claim only our room, you can't move into another room.  There are priority windows for learning community students, but they can only pick the room they're in, they can't take your room.  The second day, you can go in and move within the house, so the only people who can move around in your house are people who are already in your house.  And then the third day, there is a special category for displaced students, which are Westgate and Storms Hall students.  Westgate and Storms Hall are not going to house students next year so they don't have the option of claiming their same room, so they're second in line.  The next group is for people who want to move within their neighborhood, who want to go somewhere else in RCA, and the last period is you can move wherever there is space.  So that's how it's set up, so you have to go in and pick your room.  Even if you know you're gunning for that bigger room down the hall, because Sally's moving out, you should still go in the first day and reserve your room, because then you're in the system, and you've got a space.  And the next day you can go and move yourself.  As far as accommodating freshmen, we don't care what rooms that space is in, we just want that space, so the fact that you're going to pick one and move out of another isn't going to make a difference.

Resident:  So after the set number of girls move onto the floor, is the computer system going to shut down so others can't move onto the floor, or....

Alexander: Yes, but based on our records, we don't think that is going to happen.  However, we have also built a day into this process, which is April 10, nobody does anything.  That day, we will look and see, "Did this work? Do we have a higher return than we projected?"  So we can fix it that day before anyone else moves in.

Resident: How will you know if someone wants to move in?

Alexander: I'm confident they will let us know.  The staff will know, we'll be checking around.  So before we get past the moving around the hall part of the system, we will have a day where nobody moves and we can cut spaces and what we're anticipating, we're going to have more upperclass female spaces than we will ever need.  When this process is done, we will probably have 100 spaces left over that are not for freshmen left on the system.

The system will stay open until May 9th.  So even if you get a space and you think you're happy, but then you decide something else, you can move in there until May 9th.  Within that, we did build in different priorities this year when we weren't sure whether we were going to be able to allow everyone to come back, so we needed a priority system to decide who would get the first chance.  We looked at GPA and conduct.  So if you are on the verge of suspension or being removed from school, which is less than 40 students, but for those folks, they are at the end of the line.  The first two days are going by GPA.  If you're a first year student, if this is your freshman year, you need a 2.0 GPA.  If you got below, you have to wait.  Now based on our projections, even if you have to wait, you should still be able to get in your house.  You may not get that end room, but you should be able to get a room.  If you're a second year student or above, you need a 2.5 or above to go first.  So, the way we're figuring this, it shouldn't impact your ability to come back to your house; the only impact it will have is if there is some prize room on your house and you don't have the GPA, you may not be able to get in that room. 

Resident: In past years, we were able to preference in our roommates.  Is that still going to be an issue, or are we just stuck with whoever lands in our room?

Alexander: You can still do that.

Resident: What if our roommate does not have a 2.5 and we're able to sign up before them, are we still able to preference them in even though they aren't....

Alexander: You can preference them, but they can't get the room until their date opens and they sign up.  My advice is to go ahead and get the room.  Chances are, you know the people on your floor and they are not going to try to take your spot.

Resident:  What if I know an incoming freshmen next year and I want them to live in my room, can I preference them in?

Alexander: Yes, you can do that. 

Resident:  This is going back a little bit, but if someone cannot get onto the floor they want, you had said they need to contact you on that down day.  Who would be the best person to contact to say there are more people who want to get on. 

Alexander:  I'd say the hall director or the R.A.  That information will be given to you after Spring Break.  I'll double check that preferencing freshmen thing, I'm not sure, but we didn't change anything with it, so if you could do it last year, you can do it this year. 

Resident:  Is this policy strictly for this year, so if I get on, am I guaranteed to be able to stay on Barker for my remaining four years?

Alexander:  No, you are not guaranteed.  Things change, this is the first year we're doing this.  We may do it and say, "This is stupid, we're not doing this again." But I think we'll probably continue something like this.  The part I don't think we'll change that could affect you in future years is we want to guarantee every freshmen who wants to live in RCA or Union Drive can do that.  Now, two years from now, if we got 1000 more freshmen, it could have an impact.  But initial enrollment projections are expecting enrollment to stay level.  They want to regain the 200 they lost this year but then from that point, they're projecting a flat enrollment.  We will make the ratio whatever it needs to be, and it will still be different from floor to floor. 

When we originally did this, we said we didn't want to go over 50%.  But in the case of Fairchild House, which is at 59%, the difference between 50% and 59% is four people, and it's a single-gender building, which is the least requested thing in the freshmen class.  Most of them ask for co-ed. 

Resident: When you say historical return rate, how many years are you talking?

Alexander:  The last year.

Resident: So whatever number we have returning this next year will be the number used to figure the new percentage...?

Alexander:  Yes.  We talked about using a three year average, but what I heard from teh staff is that the majority of the houses would be covered by 25% every year.  We have some that it would not cover it any year.  But then with others, one year it will be high, and one year it will be low.  But with talking to the people who have done the assignments for years, they felt that last year's return rate was nothing unusual.  And like I said, we did go around to the houses, and they said they had more people coming back, we adjusted for that.

Resident:  Isn't Maple-Willow-Larch supposed to become a Fresh Start Community?

Alexander:  Maple Hall is the only Fresh Start community in RCA, and it will stay that way.  All of UDA will become Fresh Start.  People have asked me, "Next year, are you going to make the whole campus Fresh Start?"  No, I think the next step if we go beyond this, and we probably will, because we're getting a higher perecentage of students asking to be in UDA than RCA, whether that is due to the Fresh Start program, I think that has some impact.  It  may be because we get a lot of engineering majors, and that's close to their main buildings.  Our next step would probably be to make Willow and Larch part of the Fresh Start program, but I don't see it going past that. 

Resident:  How do incoming freshmen choose their room assignment?

Alexander:  We don't give them building information. We give them information like, do you want a suite or a dorm room? Do you want air conditioning?  Do you want to have a specific roommate?  Do you want to live in a learning community.....

Resident: So if we knew somebody who wanted to move into our house as an incoming freshman, would they be able to indicate that, or could they just say they want to live in RCA, they want to live in co-ed....

Alexander:  That exactly it.  The only way you could do that is if you said you wanted to room with them and they wanted to room with you.  The only way they can guarantee where they live is by signing up for a learning community, because if you sign up for one of those, you know exactly where you are going to live. 

Resident:  I have a brother who would really like to get on this floor next year.  Past setting something up with a male already on this floor, is there a way to preference him in, even if I'm a female and he's a male?

Alexander:  Currently there is not a way.  We could look at something like that. 

I've been doing this for 25 years and every campus I've ever worked on, I've asked new students why they want to live on a floor and they say because so-and-so said that this is the best place on campus to live, and then you talk to another student and so-and-so said THIS was the best place to live.  Obviously, every year, there are people who can't get into that hall by the time we get their application.  I have seen this over and over, we stick them in Towers, and they whine and complain.  Two weeks later, you call and say, "Okay, we've had a vacancy open, we can move you now" and they NEVER MOVE because they've got there, they've made friends.  Towers is the perfect example.  We for YEARS, have gotten calls from parents saying, "If my kid has to live in Towers, then he's going to a different school."  We did all kinds of things to promote Towers.  Back before bus service was provided for everybody, we gave them free bus service.  We had learning communities out there.  We featured it on Experience Iowa State days, and still 89% of incoming freshmen asked to live in RCA or UDA, THEY DO NOT WANT TO GO TO TOWERS.  But hundreds of them have to because RCA and UDA is filled up.  Then at the end of the year, the return rate to Towers is just as high as RCA and UDA.  The point is, once they get there, they like it just fine.  It's what you're used to.

Having said that, within the system if there is a way we can do that, I don't have any objections to doing it.  One of the reasons we're trying to simplify this and we have to do it by computer, and the more variables we throw into this, the more complicated it gets.  So, we're trying to get it in a way that you can use it and what we know from our experience here, the biggest concern with incoming freshmen here is that they don't want to be stuck out at Towers.  If they know they're going to be in RCA or UDA, yeah they might prefer this building, but their big concern is don't put them in towers.

Resident:  If that's the case, that once they adjust to it then they're just fine with it, why change everything to meet this incomign freshmen's needs because then they are just going to adjust to living here and they will have to move farther out and eventually potentially lose their spot on the floor?

Alexander:  Seniors typically don't care about the distance like freshmen do as long as you give them the kind of living they want.  Now, they don't want to go live out in Towers, but we had a nice apartment complex out there like we do at Fredericksen, they'd be beating down the doors to get out there.  The reason we don't do that is, remember, students don't want to be out there.  One of the programs Iowa State has been putting learning communities out there.  Learning communities actually started at Towers.  But people didn't want to move to Towers, even for the learning communities, so they didn't do well.  But then when we moved the two learning communities to RCA and UDA, their numbers doubled in three years.  Freshmen DON'T WANT TO GO OUT THERE, and nothing you put out there seems to make any difference.

Resident: So who's to say upper-classmen want to go out there?  I mean, I'm going to be an upper-classman and I don't want to live out there EVER.

Alexander:  And I'm sure that some don't.  But some do.  The biggest problem we have is marketing Towers is people who haven't been there.  When we first renovated Wilson as all singles, the first year it filled up in about three days.  The second year when we renovated Wallace, they're both about half full.  The first year, Wilson filled up with other Towers people.  If we build something totally different out there, like apartment-style, they'd sell out like that. 

...Lots of garbled conversation...

When we originally designed Fredericksen Court, it was all single-bedroom.  However, the budget projections came back and said you're over by this much, you need to cut this much, and the way you can do it is making them double bedroom. 2/3 of the apartments are single bedroom and 1/3 of the apartments are double bedroom.  Which, we ended up being $1 million under budget, and I wish we'd done it, because the single bedrooms go like that.  The double bedrooms, some people request them, some people settle for them, and some people just decide to live somewhere else. 

At this point, John Shertzer politely excused himself to go advise the IRHA meeting.

There was also discussion concerning the new dining plans and how to improve the communication chain between the D.O.R. and the students and also their computer room reservation system.  If you're really that interested, I'll transcribe it as well, but it's not relevant to the 75-25 policy, so it's not a priority at the moment!