Study Abroad / Housing Changes – some clarification

So its pretty clear that disallowing merit scholarships for study abroad is all-around a pretty bad, unfair idea. Hopefully, the Student Union will have this resolved in the coming few days. As for the issue of Vilage-only housing for study abroad-ers (both Fall and Spring), here’s some low-down on what is developing to be the low-down:

The University generally renovates a dorm during the fall, finishing it before Spring semester. Then, the midyears move into that dorm. Next year, cause we all broke and shit, no dorms will be renovated. So the incoming fall class will be extra big, to fill all the dorms to capacity.

Then there is this nagging problem to the University – study abroad students live in dorms for half a semester, then leave. This represents lost revenue to the University in room and board, and leaves those students’ friends with a pimpin’ Ridgewood suite-cum-single party house. 

So next year, the University will make all the Spring study abroad kids live in singles and doubles in the Village. Then, when they leave for their various worldly adventures, they shall be replaced by a midyear class. Students returning from fall study abroad will also live in the Village, most likely sequestered away in their own section. 

To the University, this makes sense – they maximize their capital during a time of budgetary shrinkage. More rooms are filled, more tuition-paying students are admitted. To the rest of us, it sort of sucks – study-abroaders will be isolated from the rest of campus even when they are here, and the midyears will be stuck in the faraway Village. 

I’m split on this one – as someone who will be affected, I don’t like it. But I have to admit it makes at least a little sense.

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One thought on “Study Abroad / Housing Changes – some clarification”

  1. Yeah, the whole scholarship thing doesn’t sound fair.

    I guess the Village policy makes the most sense. As someone who wants to study abroad next year, I can also use it as an excuse to avoid some of the room selection drama hehe.

    Hey…some schools send their freshman to london/greece when they can’t fit them on campus!

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