Housing master plan in the works

University administrators have been quietly moving for the past six months to create a new "housing master plan" in an effort to consolidate all future projects into a single document.

With seniors banned from on-campus housing this year and many juniors being kicked out next year, both the university and private developers have scrambled to put up as many new housing units as possible.

This year alone, the university spent innumerable man-hours outlining its long-term goals, including an update to the Facilities Master Plan that was released in January and a revised Strategic Plan said to be unveiled in the next couple of weeks. However, this is the first time administrators have included ideas for both on-campus and off-campus housing into a single document.

"The housing has gotten tighter and tighter and tighter," said Assistant Vice President for Student Affairs Pat Mielke, the main creator of the plan. "It was an obvious next step."

But while the project should make proposed housing information more accessible, it might not bring about an end to the housing crunch. A noticeable trend in the housing proposals is that few contain concrete plans.

For example, a copy of the plan provided to The Diamondback lists two buildings to be constructed in lots U4 and U5 on South Campus. So far, it has only been approved by a Facilities Management committee; it has yet to be voted on by the full facilities council.

University administrators also want to increase the number of beds in Carroll, Caroline and Wicomico halls when the buildings undergo a long-needed renovation in fall 2013, but officials are still not sure of where the extra bedrooms would go.

Also included in the plans are StarView Plaza, which has been in the works for the past six years and still is far from being built, and a plan to tear down the Knox Boxes and construct two800-bed housing units even though the apartments are owned by many different landlords who have not yet given their consent. Janet Firth, who owns a majority of the buildings, has not come to the university with any proposals yet to tear down her apartments and build new housing.

Resident Life Director Deb Grandner explained that the plan isn't more concrete because, as is the case with the university's other long-term plans, it is "really a guide."

The document is broken into two sections, one for university-affiliated housing and the other for private off-campus housing. The on-campus section includes:

n renovations for Carroll, Caroline and Wicomico halls, adding 250 net beds

n two units to be built on South Campus, adding 750 beds

n 100 new beds to be added to North Campus when Old and New Leonardtown are relocated to make way for the East Campus development.

The projected total number of new on-campus beds is 1,468 by fall 2013.

Off-campus projects include:

n two new additions to University View to be finished by fall 2011, the first with 500 beds and the second with 900 beds

n a project to be built where Jerry's Sub Shop now sits that would house about 700 students by fall 2012

n StarView Plaza, which would potentially house 535 students.

Duncan said that university officials also wanted to consider faculty and staff in its plans for new housing. A new unit at the corner of Mowatt Lane and Campus Drive would house 600 students, faculty and staff. Duncan also mentioned building a new unit near the College Park Metro Station for faculty and staff - not listed in the housing master plan.

There will be 4,835 new off-campus beds if all these projects go according to plan.

Vice President for Administrative Affairs Doug Duncan said he had "no idea" why the university never put together a housing master plan before.

Grandner explained that prior to 1999, there was not enough demand for housing to warrant all the time it would take to create a master housing plan.

"There have always been long-term plans for renovations, but for a long time we had too much housing so we didn't need a plan," she said.

But the recent boom in housing demand makes the plan much more useful, Grandner said. Grandner said she envisions her department growing in terms of the number of both beds and employees, but Duncan said the university was not planning to increase enrollment despite the efforts being made to house more students.

University President Dan Mote said he actually hopes enrollment in College Park will decrease slightly, adding that the ideal student body would be about 25,000 undergraduate students and about 10,000 graduate students. The new housing has nothing to do with enrollment, but rather making housing more accessible to students who are currently being excluded.

"It's not just that seniors as asked to move off campus and juniors are kicked off campus, but transfer students are never even offered housing," he said, adding that he hoped the new housing units would better serve upperclassmen, transfers and graduate students.

Asked whether there would ever be a housing glut, Duncan said, "I don't think we'll ever get to that point."

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