For the fall 2013 semester, the university had the largest freshman class since 1991, so an alternate housing program was needed to accommodate the overflow of new students.
The programs stirred false fears that university officials were taking a large financial loss by housing students in an off-campus apartment complex. Michael Mills, directer of housing and dining services, maintains that the program is efficient and will not cost the school money.
MSU had a total of 1,320 beds available for the incoming students. As of May, every one of those beds was reserved. The onslaught of freshmen newcomers had not ended though, and the university was forced to find an alternative place to house them.
The Grove offers two big advantages that make living there similar to living in the residence halls: their apartments come fully furnished and the utilities are already set up.
The going rate for three-bedroom apartments is $475 per month, but because of an in-house policy, students staying at The Grove pay the same rate as those living on campus. According to Mills, the price difference could eliminate the school’s housing revenue, depending on how many students apply and how long they stay.
“We started with 93 students at the Grove,” Mills said. “After no-shows were processed in on-campus housing, we offered those spots to any students at The Grove that wanted them on a first-come, first-serve basis.”
Mills said 21 students took the offer to move back on campus, leaving 72 still at the Grove. He also said housing officials are confident they can move all students back on campus prior to the start of the spring semester.
“As far as what it costs, that depends on how long they stay at The Grove,” Mills said. “If they end up staying the whole semester at The Grove, then it will cost us a little bit more than what we are charging the students.”
If the students stay the full four months of the semester, the university will be paying $140 extra per person for all 72 students staying at The Grove, totaling a loss of $10,080. However, Mills said the money would be automatically covered by other housing rents.
“Our fall budget is based upon total housing occupancy being about 95 percent,” Mills said. “Since we will actually be ahead of that budgeted occupancy percentage, any losses that result in full semester stays at The Grove should be offset by higher-than-budgeted revenues.”
Mills said the school felt that despite the possibility of economic inefficiency, it was more beneficial to the university to offer alternate housing and ensure those students’ enrollment.
“Would these students have attended Midwestern State University if housing was not available?” Mills asked. “I am not sure if they would have attended or not, but as an institution we felt it was important to offer them housing (even in this case, off-campus), if it got them to enroll at Midwestern State University.”
While living in The Grove may be a necessity for university housing and residents, there are also some problems associated with living in that are 1.1 miles away from campus, including crime. The campus police now have to added task of protecting not only the campus housing, but the overflow housing as well.
“The apartments were just added to the 24-hour patrol list that our officers visit on a daily basis,” Dan Williams, police chief, said. “The amount of visits to the apartments varies from shift to shift depending on the events of the day.”
Williams said the added patrol location does not change the daily routine of the officers since the campus police already patrol much of the southeast parts of Wichita Falls including the Fantasy of Lights storage facility and the North Texas Regional Simulation Center, which allows nursing students to participate in clinical experiences.
“We’ve responded to a few minor calls concerning some vehicle accidents and a few loud noise complaints,” Williams said. “We haven’t dealt with anything major.”
Despite this slow start, crime is still a part of the culture of the grove. Since the start of 2011, the city police department has been called to The Grove a total of 449 times.
Williams and the campus officers have the dilemma of whether to patrol the apartments as a whole, or strictly the housing students.
“We often work with the Wichita Falls police department,” Williams said. “If we could determine that it was a student who was a part of the housing program, then we would try to handle it. Anything else we would collaborate with the city police on the best way to handle the situation.”
The campus police’s presence at The Grove has effected the crime rate. In the first three months of last year’s fall semester, police were called to the apartments 33 times. In the first three months of this semester, they have only been called 21 times
VIEW the related Campus Watch story.
