All rooms full on campus
Almost every room in all residence halls is full of students across Central Michigan University and the university's uptick in freshman enrollment is mostly to blame, according to university officials.
Joan Schmidt, director of Residence Life, said its boom in on-campus living is an improvement from last year.
“There are a few women’s spots here and there but the men’s spots are filled," Schmidt said “Last fall we opened with 5,330 and this fall we opened with 5,975."
In the 2013-14 academic session, the top floor of Robinson Hall was completely empty. This year, that floor is full of students, Schmidt said.
Resident Assistants and Multicultural Advisors have also noticed a change in their halls this year with the larger freshman class.
“Last year there was two to three people in a room, sometimes just one," said Cody Sapp an MA in Wheeler Hall. “Now it’s consistently four people in a room."
The increase in freshman enrollment hasn't just added more bodies to rooms, its put them in places they typically don't reside in, said India Jackson, an RA in Campbell Hall. She's seen an increase in freshman on her floor – Campbell Hall hall has been historically an upperclassmen residence hall.
“I do have about seven freshman on floor," Jackson said. “I think I had maybe one or two freshman last year”.
Despite having more residents on their floors and in their halls, both Sapp and Jackson agree that having students live on campus is beneficial
“The hall is a lot more diverse just because there’s more voices," says Sapp.
Jackson agreed with Sapp, and said the residents are becoming more active in activities around the halls.
“I think the freshman are more willing to do hall council," Jackson said. “They want to get involved because they are new here,"
Schmidt also said that full capacity in the residence halls adds to the community.
“Everybody has roommates," Schmidt said. “It makes programming a lot easier because more people will come out to things like hall council."
Despite increases in enrollment and administrators pushing to keep getting more students, there are no plans in place to increase residence hall capacities.
“We don’t anticipate an increase like this again," Schmidt said.
