By Lindsay Haislip
News Editor
With the second semester well underway, Washington College is looking ahead to new housing options for students. The fall of 2011 will bring the Kent Crossing apartments into WC’s available housing options, according to Carl Crowe, associate dean of students and director of Residential Life.
Several things have happened requiring the College to come up with some other housing options.
“One, the college has seen an overall increase in the number of new first-year applicants. On top of that, our retention rate is getting better. Thirdly, we have more students that want to stay on campus, so quite literally we’ve been busting at the seams,” said Crowe.
The apartments will provide 70 new beds in which to house students, with four students to an apartment. Crowe also said that the plan for the next three to five years is to build a new 100 bed residence hall, “but we need the beds now,” he said.
WC has entered into an agreement with Kent Crossing that will provide housing for students, run and managed by WC until the construction of the new residence hall.
The selection process for students to live in the apartments is a bit different than that of other residence halls.
“We’re going to be treating Kent Crossing sort of like specialty housing, meaning it’s not going to be a part of the regular room draw. It’s something that we’re going to do in advance of the standard room selection process,” Crowe said.
“Rising seniors and rising juniors will be the ones eligible to go out, but there are a few caveats,” Crowe said. Students at the time of application must have at least a 2.5 GPA. The student can also not be on academic or social probation of any kind. The option is also only available to current residents on campus.
“What we are going to be doing is creating a point system for applicants to go out,” said Crowe. “Rising seniors on an application will each get four points. Rising juniors on an application will each get three points,” he said. “Then what we will do is pull a file and if a student on the application has been found responsible for a minor offense (like a judicial offense) within the past six months, they lose a point.”
At most, a group of rising seniors can have up to 16 points, and a group of rising juniors can have 12 points.
“So, this guarantees us that rising seniors in good academic status would have a better chance of getting an apartment versus a group of rising juniors or a mixture,” Crowe said.
There will be a few other differences in these apartments as well. Students living there will not be required to have a meal plan, as they are all equipped with a full kitchen. There are also washers and dryers, which are not coin operated.
“We will be furnishing the apartments,” said Crowe, “and we will also be paying the electric, the Internet, and all of the utility bills. So functionally for a student, it’s going to be similar to the residence life here.”
Students will pay one up front fee, which is the same cost as living in Chester or Sassafras, and will not have to worry about utility bills of any kind. WC will also have three RAs out there, and Public Safety will be doing rounds as well. The College will also light the path that goes from campus to the apartments around the back of Kirby field, past the graveyard, so that students will feel more comfortable travelling through there at night, Crowe said. The College also has plans for a shuttle service to and from the apartments.
“We are also going to put a temporary parking lot for students who are living over there,” Crowe said. “It will just be their parking lot, only for our students to use. Functionally, we’re going to operate it just like a residence hall, so it’s not a ‘12- month’ thing. So, when our dormitories are closed here, they will be closed in Kent Crossing.”
Crowe also said that he would be holding one or two information sessions, which will provide students an opportunity to learn more about the apartments and ask any questions that they may have about living there.
A few members of the Chestertown community have expressed concerns about the College’s managing of the apartments, however Crowe has said that he believes that “this arrangement is a perfect win-win opportunity for both the College and Chestertown. Students will have an opportunity to be in a community rich with history, culture, and a legacy of community involvement,” he said. “Community members will have an opportunity to interact with student leaders from campus, getting a sense of what the majority of our students are truly like: committed, responsible community members.”