The Lantern

Issue date: 3/26/08 Section: Campus

As university officials work out the details of the president's proposal for sophomores to live on campus, they might look to Ohio State's southeastern neighbor for guidance.

Ohio University in Athens has a policy that requires students to live in university-owned housing for their freshman and sophomore years.

Students must live in the residence halls until they either reach 90 credit hours or complete six academic quarters.

"The existence of the two-year parietal rule contributes to the University's success in recruiting high-quality and diverse students," said Jneanne Hacker, associate director of housing at OU. "(The rule) helps to shape the composition of the student body and fosters experiences with a wide range of students," she said.

Lizzie Jesko, who transferred to OU after her freshman year, says living in a dorm her sophomore year was a positive experience. "It made it fun; you got close to a bunch of people that you probably would not have gotten close with if you didn't live in the dorm," she said.

Jesko, now a senior, lives in an off-campus apartment and enjoys the freedom it provides. "I love it. I would rather live off-campus than back in the dorm; I liked the dorms but I wouldn't necessarily go back," she said.

One exception to the two full-years of residency requirement applies to students involved in Greek life. OU's housing exemptions allow students with one full-year (three quarters) of residency or 45 or more credit hours to live in a recognized sorority or fraternity house and bypass the second year stay in the residence halls.

Additional exemptions include students over the age of 23, those with children and those residing within 50 miles of campus who live with either of their parents or a spouse to live off-campus, the OU Housing Office said.

"Ohio University's policy went into effect in 1971 (because) students living on campus have greater opportunities for collaborative, social, and active learning experiences than do those living off campus," Hacker said.

The two-year policy was renewed in 2002 by the OU Housing Committee, which concluded the rule provides students with an optimal living and learning environment.

For some students, it did just that.

"I realized it's really hard to study when you have your own place and no study rooms at your fingertips," said Kelly Ventresco, a third year dietetics student at OU. "Overall, I'm glad I spent two years in the dorms," she said.

Ryan Devine, a video production student at OU, agrees. "Basically, I was a big fan of the dorms. It was positive to be around a ton of people my age that were looking for friends just like I was," he said.

OSU is structured very similarly to OU in that both schools operate on quarter systems and have graduation credit hour requirements for undergrads set at 191 and 192 hours, respectively. These similarities might allow for OU's current housing regulations to be used as a template when constructing OSU's housing guidelines.

The rule requiring second-year students at OSU to remain in university housing is not new. Rather, the rule has been on the books since 1957, according to the minutes from an OSU Board of Trustees meeting.

"The rule is that if you're a first or second-year student, you're supposed to live in university housing," Ruth Gerstner, a spokesperson for Student Affairs said. "It's already a rule, so nothing (in policy) would really have to happen except that we'd have to have room for people," she said.

In an interview with The Lantern editors in January, President E. Gordon Gee proposed reinstating the rule in hopes that it would improve the students' academic experiences and the overall quality of the university.

In addition to the OSU's $196 million residence hall renovation project that is currently under way, the university would need to add a minimum of 3,000 additional beds to accommodate the sophomores required to live on campus.

Meredith Miles can be reached at miles.103@osu.edu.

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