At the Puget Neighborhood Association meeting on Nov., 18 Mayor Linville addressed the city’s concerns about the number of Western Washington University students living off-campus.
“The university can’t control what happens outside our campus,” said Paul Cocke, the Director of University Communications at WWU.
Sehome Neighborhood Association President Jean Hamilton said, “Garbage, parties and excess cars are all issues that get worse with overcrowding, and those have an adverse impact on the neighbors.”
73% of students live off-campus, according to Director of Residence Life at Western, Leonard Jones.
“University Residence builds to the needs of students. Financially we simply can’t build them [dorms],” said Leonard Jones.
There is also a concern for student safety when it comes to living off-campus, the York Neighborhood Association President Don-Hilty Jones said.
Students are paying $500 to $700 per month in rent for places that are not even minimally sanitary or safe, said Don-Hilty Jones.
“Students move off-campus because it is cheaper, they have to cut corners where they can,” according to Hamilton.
According to Don-Hilty Jones, problems with students tend to persist more when the landlords aren’t maintaining their properties properly.
“Landlords need to educate their renters more,” said Don-Hilty Jones.
“A large reason for our support for rental licensing in the city is our concern that students should have safe housing, since 50% of our housing is rental, and a large percentage of that is students,” said Hamilton.
Moving off-campus gives students a chance to further their independence without resident assistants and the other limitations dorms can pose, said Leonard Jones. Having your own space is “part of the developmental process,” Leonard Jones added.
As a way of communicating with the city, Western funds a part-time position for the Campus Community Coalition, an organization where students work with the city on issues regarding community relationships, according to Cocke.
“The kids are so fluid,” Don-Hilty Jones said referring to the CCC which he has worked with in the past.
The CCC has positively influenced neighborhood members’ opinions, eliminating some of the bias that neighbors have developed against students, said Don-Hilty Jones.
The CCC represents WWU’s students in a positive way and “sweetens the attitude” of Bellingham’s non-student community, said Don-Hilty Jones.
The university’s first concern is determining what is best for students. Building more on-campus housing would jeopardize students’ ability to afford their education, said Leonard Jones.
“Nationally there is great concern about the amount of student debt load students and families have, saddling them [students] for debt is not a good idea,” said Leonard Jones.
Even if the university did choose to build more housing, there is little demand for it, which would most-likely mean the dorms wouldn’t be filled and tuition for students would increase in order to pay for the expansion, according to Leonard Jones.
“If they aren’t filled they’d be a financial burden on us as well as on students,” said Cocke.
According to Cocke, Western’s enrollment has been constant, at about 15,000 total head count, for the past four years. The most motivating factor for the school to build more housing would be if there was a significant increase in total full-time enrollment, said Leonard Jones.
The skills that students learn while living on-campus give them the ability to work better within the community - dorms teach students how to problem-solve and how to build good, strong communities, according to Leonard Jones.
Don-Hilty Jones said that despite some occasional disruptions he enjoys his neighborhood and moved here for a reason, “It is a socially-mixed neighborhood and I enjoy that.”
University housing’s goal is to continue to be a safe and affordable option for students so that they can succeed to the best of their abilities, said Leonard Jones.
