As a result of several surveys conducted last semester, significant changes to housing for sophomores, juniors and seniors will be implemented for the upcoming academic year. These implementations will begin to be seen in just a few weeks with the earliest date for housing selection taking place on Feb. 8, according to Dean of Housing and Residence Life Brian Dawson.
Some of the biggest changes for next semester will revolve around reduced costs and a new lottery system for juniors and seniors, as well as the introduction of new, themed housing for sophomores, Dawson said.
“Housing and Residence Life has compiled over 2,500 responses from three recent surveys. The main goal was to find out why students were leaving Pepperdine housing as juniors and seniors, as well as to find out how to improve the quality of life in Pepperdine housing,” Dawson said.
The surveys revealed that 83 percent of respondents found the cost of Pepperdine’s housing to be a factor in their choice.
Housing prices around the area have fallen recently, and Pepperdine’s rates have remained on a more flat trajectory, according to Dawson.
“Responses indicated that most students would like to be able to live here, but have been priced out of the market. We want to remain competitive,” he said.
In order to help remedy this problem, discounts will be given to students on a seniority basis. Rates have not been published yet, because the Board of Regents has yet to approve them. Their response is expected to come around Feb. 1, Dawson said.
Although the rates have not been finalized, around a 10 percent reduction in price for juniors and a 20 percent reduction for seniors has been recommended, according to Dawson. Towers will also be offered as a lower-cost option for juniors and seniors.
In order to also help make costs more manageable in the residence halls, triples will also be offered next year. The third bed will be lofted in the space where the closets currently are with a wardrobe and desk area underneath. Dawson also made clear that the triples will only be offered to those who request them and that no one will be forced into having to live in one. The triples will also be given the rooms with the best ocean views, Dawson said.
Although 20 percent of respondents from the surveys stated that they would pay more for ocean-view rooms, HRL will not charge more for such rooms in an attempt to keep the housing choices equitable for all students, Dawson said.
The manner in which students choose housing will also receive an overhaul for the next year. There will be two assignment days where housing is decided by a lottery system. Seniors will have first pick with their assignment day on Feb. 8, and juniors will follow on Feb. 14 with their assignment day, Dawson said. On the assignment day, students meet at the Caf, randomly draw a number and then proceed in order to the “map room,” located in the Fireside Room, where they can see all of the available options.
“Students will actually have the opportunity to look at specific floor plans and views and pick exactly which room they will live in,” Dawson said. Students who wish to room together will have the opportunity to all enter the “map room” together with the highest number a person in the group has drawn.
“We are trying to improve the housing experience by giving the students more options,” Dawson said, “and these changes seem to put more choice back in the hands of students.”
Sophomores remaining in Malibu will also see changes to housing in the coming semester. “Sophomore housing will now be on Outer Road and probably Banowsky, and will be themed,” Dawson said.
“The dorms will have faculty families and will be mixed in gender with one side of the dorm (suites A and D) being female and the other side being male, or vice versa,” Dawson said. Although the names for themes have not been finalized, dorms will focus on things like the fine arts, the outdoors and social justice, and there will be an honors dorm as well as dorms focusing on spirituality and on leadership.
“We are trying to model these dorms to mirror the experience other sophomores have abroad. The different dorms will even go on field trips and activities that are specific to their theme,” Dawson said .
Working as a sounding board for many of the Housing Department’s ideas, the student-led SGA Housing Committee has helped to provide feedback as well as pass on new resolutions to the department. Themed sophomore housing as a way to help contribute to the sophomore experience was one of the ideas from Housing Committee, according to SGA President and Housing Committee member Mimi Rothfus.
Very shortly, students will be receiving emails and flyers in their mailboxes describing the new housing changes. Students’ parents will also be receiving information on the new choices.
“If students want something, I want to work to make that happen,” Dawson said. “Students wanted better, more affordable housing options here on campus, and we are trying to raise the bar and give the choices back to the students.”