(KATV) Little Rock- Living on the UALR campus has not
been a requirement, especially since the university attracts non-traditional
students. But that will change next fall for entering freshmen.
Incoming freshmen don't need to
worry. You will not be forced to move into a dorm, but the school wants
students to be more involved, get the whole college experience and graduate on
time.
This semester there are nearly 13,000
students attending UALR, only about 1,000 of them live in dorms.
Chancellor Joel Anderson says, "It
is not going to change the fact that UALR will continue to be overwhelmingly a
commuter campus."
Chancellor Anderson say requiring freshmen to live
in campus housing is nothing new in the U.S. and Arkansas public universities. "We
want to see more of our students stay in college and graduate from college and
living on campus is research proven to make important contributions to
that."
Some students worry about the
bottom line… cost. Since it sets a student back $1,200 to $2,500 a semester.
Senior, Ebone Elliott says, "Especially like with housing steadily going
up and the credit hours price increasing as well. It is putting a headache on
my parents and me as well."
But the majority of students Channel
Seven spoke with are for the change.
William Bissett has a family and
he is getting his third degree. He says, ""It's also nice for parents to
know their children are being taken care of in a very safe environment."
JT Poole explains, "My
freshman year, I wish I would have lived on campus. I would have met more
people and been involved."
UALR's graduation rates are among
the lowest in the state, Chancellor Anderson says some students who work have
to take less hours and graduate after five or six years.
Lenita Gill wants to be a
kindergarten teacher. Gill says because she has lived on campus since she was a
freshmen, she will graduate on time. "I feel like I am productive. It is a lot
easier for me to get a lot of work done on campus; I have a lot of access to
the library and the food courts."
A few exceptions to the new rule
are if you're married, have a child, rather live with family or 21 years old
and above.
According to UALR, there is
plenty of room for students to live on campus. UALR has roughly about
one-thousand freshmen. In the spring the campus took over the University Village
apartments; that will be an extra 420 beds opening in the fall of 2013, bringing
the total to 1400 rooms.
Chancellor Anderson concludes, "We anticipate in
time additional student housing will be built, but we're cautious about that.
We will wait until the time is right for us to do it and it makes sense."
Picture by Katherina Yancy, KATV
