A few lucky seniors will enjoy the benefits of living in the communities surrounding St. Michael’s in the coming semester in order to accommodate the substantial size of the class of 2009.
“A privilege for students”
The decision to allow students to live off-campus came when Residential Life began evaluating housing for rising seniors. Various options were weighed, but as it has in the past, the department decided to allow a small number of off-campus residents.
“Through the history of the school it has been an option to live off-campus when we have a large class,” housing coordinator Sheryl Fleury says. “The class [of 2009] is the biggest in history and you’ve got another which is also a large class right after it
 |
The notorious yellow book; this package contains everything students need to know in order to apply for housing next fall. |
The school will allow 20 students to become off-campus residents by a lottery process, Fleury says. The lottery will be a random draw, based on applications that seniors must return by Friday, Feb. 1. Lists of these students will be posted on Monday, Feb. 4 and students must accept or decline the offer by Tuesday, Feb. 5.
Another possible solution to the current housing crunch is constructing another building. Space and blueprints had been set aside when Cashman, Pontigny and Canterbury Halls were constructed for a fourth suite, but Fleury is not aware of any current plans to complete that project.
“It’s difficult to predict raises and declines in enrollment, and we don’t want to create more beds than we have students,” she says.
Fleury insists that this is a temporary solution that occurs every few years, and will most certainly happen again when another large class enrolls. However, underclassmen should not count on the availability of off-campus housing when they become seniors.
A dead-end street
Seniors living off-campus means that towns in proximity to the school will experience a small number of students joining their ranks.
Winooski Chief of Police Steve McQueen has been working with the department since 1984. He remembers dealing with St. Michael’s students in the city when they were not required to live on-campus.
 |
Cashman, as well as Pontigny and Canterbury, were built to create more space for students, but growing class size has caused seniors to look beyond suites and townhouses. |
“We used to have them living down the road across the street from the liquor store,” McQueen says. “Back then it was a dead-end road with apartments for students in addition to other residents.”
“On a Friday night, there would be hundreds of students in the street,” he says. “Of course, we would have to deal with that.”
The largest problem the department faced when dealing with St. Michael’s students was a lack of respect for neighbors, some of whom had children. It was counterproductive to a healthy community relationship when students treated their apartments as their own personal dorms, he says.
McQueen hopes that Residential Life’s evaluation of applications for off-campus positions will produce a crowd less likely to overindulge and disturb the neighbors.
“The application process will encourage responsible students with more of a sense of community than students had before, to live off-campus,” he says.
The city also hosts students from Champlain College and the University of Vermont. There are approximately 311 beds located in a number of new buildings in downtown Winooski, and all but 75 are reserved by Champlain College specifically for off-campus housing.
A whole new community
According the Fleury, most students want to stay on campus, and most don’t want to miss out on the atmosphere.
“We’re 100 percent residential but we have students that live at home, we have students that are commuting, and we don’t have facilities for these students,” she says. “[Off-campus students] don’t feel like a part of the community.”
Sophomore Kyle Daley agrees thatthose who live off-campus miss out on this aspect of living at St. Michael’s.
 |
Housing Director Sheryl Fleury is easily one of the busiest people on campus when room selection draws near. |
“I think it’s a dumb idea because you’re missing out on what is here on campus,” he says.
Junior Dan Sandberg is concerned with the wrong students living off-campus.
“I think for some people the St. Mike’s bubble is a little too constrictive and for them it would be a rewarding and fun experience,” he says. “I don’t think living off- campus is for everyone though.”
Sandberg, a member of the Environmental Council, is also concerned with the environmental impact commuting students will have.
“The fact that we have the bus pass now makes the idea a lot more reasonable,” he says.
Kelly McQueen is also a rising senior, but she is no longer considering living off-campus in the fall.
“I think that my biggest problem is wthat you can apply by yourself, but not in groups, so you might be living off campus, but your friends would still be here,” she says.