GSG wants temporary housing for intl. students

The GSG is set to push the administration to increase temporary on-campus housing for international graduate students.

While the Graduate Student Government decided Friday to delay voting on the matter, the organization said increasing temporary housing for graduate students shortly after they arrive in the country is a major priority. The administration, the GSG said, should pick up a duty many student organizations have filled in the past at great expense, and while university officials said they are looking into the issue, the GSG claims the need demands immediate action.

While the university does house some students during the summer - limited, temporary housing for one to three days in August on a first-come, first-serve basis, according to the Department of Resident Life's website - many others are forced to live in houses and apartments leased by members of various student organizations. If the university could pay for students to live on the campus, student leaders said, they could help alleviate thousands of dollars in costs to student groups.

This year, Dongquan Shen, the president of the Chinese Student and Scholar Association, took responsibility for finding temporary housing for 120 Chinese students, many of whom spent a week or more in a house his organization rented for $2,300.

Latha Sridharan, a graduate student in computer engineering, was one of 20 women to stay in Students Council of India Vice President Avani Sanghvi's apartment last year from late July to early August. Sanghvi's one-bedroom apartment was cramped, Sridharan said, with students sprawled across the floor and sharing one bathroom.

"I used to come home late and leave early because there was no room in the apartment," she said. "When I did sleep there, I slept on the hallway floor."

The university could solve the temporary housing issue and save those student organizations money if the administration charged the students a nominal fee and allowed them to stay in the dorms for a week at most so the students could find permanent housing, Shen said. International students can currently stay in dorms for a maximum of three days at $25.13 a night.

"The Department of Resident Life has said there are too many students to house, but it does not make sense," he added. "There are no students in the dorms in August."

Vice President for Student Affairs Linda Clement said the administration is working on the issue and has formed a committee - the Task Force on Graduate Student Housing - to examine the issue.

The resolution that was considered Friday was ultimately sent to the Graduate Student Affairs Committee for further consideration. The proposal is missing essential components, said GSG assembly member and committee member Lenisa Joseph.

"We need to identify such important issues as the level of need and cost to the university," she said.

Kothari said she expects the resolution to be voted on at the next GSG assembly meeting in three weeks.

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