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USF Plan Prescribes Dorms For Freshmen

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By ADAM EMERSON, The Tampa Tribune

Published: November 7, 2007

TAMPA - University of South Florida freshmen who live outside the Tampa Bay area would have to live in a campus residence hall under a plan that got preliminary approval from USF trustees Tuesday.

Currently, no USF student is required to live on campus, although the university is trying to shed its image as a commuter school.

Administrators say that students who live on campus are more likely to stay and excel in college than those who don't, and are more likely to be engaged in campus activities.

Moreover, the university wants to position itself alongside its more elite peers in academia, and those schools typically have 25 percent of the student body living in dorms.

About 4,400 of USF's 38,000 students enrolled at the Tampa campus live in the school's residence halls. That is nearly at the school's capacity, but the university plans to open a new residence hall with the capacity for 1,000 more by fall 2009, when the new policy would take effect.

The newest proposal would put 500 more students in USF dorms, said Tom Kane, director of USF's residence services.

Freshmen living in Hillsborough, Pasco or Pinellas counties would not have to live on campus, nor would students who live within a 30-mile radius of USF, which would include some areas in Polk and Hernando counties.

A survey of high school students showed that many students viewed USF's plan as a positive sign. Only three other public universities in Florida require students to live on campus; most can't even guarantee housing.

"It's something that could give us a marked advantage over other schools," said Robert Spatig, USF's undergraduate admissions director.

USF student government President Garin Flowers said he supports the idea, but was concerned about an influx of campus residents in need of already limited parking spots. He also noted that older dorms need renovation.

Trustees will later consider a policy that would address those and other issues, administrators say.

The school plans to renovate rooms that are vacant in 2009, Kane said.

In other business, trustees gave preliminary approval to an increase in fees for students on the Tampa campus.

Academic fees would increase by 37 cents a credit hour, transportation fees by 75 cents a credit hour and athletic fees by 98 cents a credit hour. A student taking 15 credit hours a semester would pay $31.50 more.

The hefty athletic-fee increase partly would back an increase in the number of football tickets for students, reflecting an anticipated spike in demand for a football team that briefly soared as high as No. 2 in rankings this season.

Reporter Adam Emerson can be reached at (813) 259-8285 or aemerson@tampatrib.com.

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