On-campus housing will improve significantly within the next four years, according to a presentation for Ohio State’s Board of Trustees Thursday.

Hope Moore/The Lantern
Morrill and Lincoln towers are the most recognizable and popular student residence halls. Lincoln Tower will go under conversion to add 1,300 beds and eliminate quads – an investment that will cost the university more than $38 million.

Provost Joseph Alutto and Vice President of Student Affairs Richard Hollingsworth said OSU will invest $196 million in the next four years to improve existing dorms, eliminate quad-style housing and add up to 1,500 new beds. They also discussed a proposed plan to require sophomores to live on campus.

“Right now, we don’t have enough room, especially if we want to talk about students staying a second year,” Alutto said.

Hollingsworth said the improvements to student housing are necessary, as most of the facilities were built in the 1950s and 1960s and are starting to show age.

“The first thing we’re going to do is get more beds, right now,” he said.

These beds will allow the university to move people out of dorms undergoing renovation, thus shortening construction time, and will also allow for the elimination of the quads – four person rooms or suites.

“While we’re making these improvements, we don’t want to put people on the street,” Hollingsworth said.

Each dorm undergoing renovation would be taken off-line for about one year and many would receive upgraded bathrooms and improvements in appearance.

Alutto and Hollingsworth also discussed the benefits of requiring sophomores to remain on-campus. They cited several statistics indicating students who live on-campus have higher grade point averages, are more satisfied with their college experience and graduate within four years more often than their counterparts east of High Street.

The biggest hurdle to the plan seems to be financial.

“The president (of the university) has set a goal, and we need to take a look to see if this is possible, or if this is an aspiration that is not feasible,” said John D. Ong, Board of Trustees member.

Various ways of creating new housing were discussed, from on-campus buildings constricted by the university to off-campus buildings on private land managed by developers.

Student board member Debra Van Camp said she has concerns about the affordability of any new housing.

“As housing costs increase, (affordability) needs to be part of our development plan,” she said.

Rachel Lichtenfeld can be reached at [email protected].