The LSU Board of Supervisors passed Friday the first-year residency requirement, which will force all first-year students to live on campus beginning in 2009. The 2009 incoming freshman class will be the first group since 1979 to be required to live on campus. The Board overwhelmingly voted to institute the requirement, with the only dissenting vote coming from Student Government President Cassie Alsfeld, whose dissent stemmed from a concern for students’ quality of life. “I think that the timing is bad. There are a lot of kinks in the system. 2009 is unrealistic for them to start this,” Alsfeld said. “These are students we’re talking about and their community environment.” Alsfeld’s concerns included lighting around the dormitories, better parking, bus routes near the dormitories and having a better system in place to check for health issues, such as mold and asbestos. “There is great development happening on campus right now, but some of the dorms aren’t scheduled to be renovated for another five years,” Alsfeld said. “I think 2012 would be a better year to start this.” Thursday’s Board meeting contained discussion about the policy in which Alsfeld voiced her concerns, and the other board members agreed that a lot of details needed to be worked out before the policy could be successfully implemented. The resolution was approved Friday without further discussion from the Board, although Board member Laura Leach agreed with some of Alsfeld’s concerns. “The health and safety of students is the primary concern of all of us,” Leach said. Leach requested that if the resolution was approved, the University would take initiatives to improve issues such as lighting and parking. Chancellor Sean O’Keefe agreed to her stipulations. The Board’s ruling applies to almost all freshmen. The rule will not apply to first-year students who are 21 or older, live with their parents, are married, have dependent children, are enrolled part-time or who have medical or financial needs. Students who have other compelling reasons will also be exempt from this policy. This resolution is the direct result of the Flagship Agenda and its goal to improve the retention rates of undergraduate students. According to a memorandum from the Office of Academic Affairs dated Aug. 24, 2006, “an important part of increasing student success is the transition from high school to university: the first year experience.” The memo stated that students are more likely to succeed if they have close access to faculty, seminars and classes, which they would if they were required to live on campus in their first year. The two-year trial period will begin in 2009. LSU System President John Lombardi will then review the past two years, and if his evaluation is positive the policy will stand and continue to be reviewed for the entering class of 2011. It will be up to O’Keefe to develop a review process that will measure improvements in retention as a result of the policy. It will also be up to O’Keefe to advise the Board of any improvements, modifications or extensions that should be made to the policy. A particular emphasis of this review system will be on students who had lower test scores or GPAs in high school. Fee bills will not go up as a result of this policy. “Having more students on campus will result in extra revenues but not necessarily in a fee increase,” said Charles Zewe, vice president for Communications and External Affairs for the LSU System. “Student fees are a completely separate issue, and it’s hard to predict now if the main campus will deem it necessary to have more fees as a result of this.” The Office of Academic Affairs and the Board hope this resolution will result in the University being grouped with other prestigious universities that have first-year residency requirements in place.
—-Contact Joanna Brown at [email protected]