In light of the ever-increasing demand for housing, Room Assignments Specialist Kathy Butler is asking students living in singles to consider sharing their room in exchange for a reduced housing cost.
On Dec. 3, Butler sent an email with the subject “How can I cut my room rate in half?” in which she expressed that Residential Life is “anticipating significant housing needs for the spring.”
To compensate for the inconvenience, Butler said in her email: “The room charge for this arrangement would be half the regular small house single-room rate, making your housing cost for the spring semester only $1,862, significantly lower than a regular small house double-room rate.”
Junior Jack McCormick decided to take Butler up on the offer, moving out of his single on the second floor of the Colorado College Inn and in with his friend Caden MacKenzie, just downstairs.
“We both needed the extra $1,900 for different reasons,” McCormick said. “It works out well because he is going abroad for half of next semester.”
Despite the appeal of this arrangement, McCormick also recognizes that the move is the direct result of an unresolved problem.
“I think this option is a last resort, essentially paying me and Caden to live with each other,” said McCormick. “It’s a sign of how desperate CC is for new housing options and how behind they are in meeting that demand for housing.”
Residential Life and Programs Coordinator Zachary Kroger attributes the issue to CC’s unexpectedly large student body.
“We had more students decide to come to CC this year, so we have to come up with some creative ways to house them all. The biggest issue now is placing returning students. We are overbooked by quite a large number, so we are pulling out all the stops,” he said.
Residential Life are truly coming up with creative options. “I will even be moving out of my on-campus apartment, so that a number of students can move in,” said Kroger. “It’s great that so many people want to come to CC! But on the other hand, we are having to triple up rooms in places we never tripled before.”
ResLife is relying on people who live in singles in the Inn, like McCormick and MacKenzie, Old Town Language Houses, and some of the fraternities to volunteer to live with a friend.
“We aren’t forcing anyone to do anything. It’s all on a volunteer basis,” said Kroger. “At this point, every single space counts.”
To avoid facing the same problem again, ResLife will be making some changes in their approach to housing selection for next year.
“The one thing that is definitely going to be different next year is the amount of juniors who will be given permission to live off campus. Planning ahead is very important,” Kroger said.
Current sophomores thinking about applying to live off campus are encouraged to do so, and are much more likely to be approved than in previous years. The space they would have taken on campus will be much appreciated.
“If it was up to me, I would tell my Admission Office friends that we are converting their offices into student rooms,” joked Kroger.