On-campus housing at Augustana is like Russian roulette for those who want to live in one of the nicer buildings our school has to offer. First-year students participate in random selection and the remainder are subjected to time slots, a competitive housing selection process and rules surrounding off-campus living.
However, Augustana offers unique housing opportunities for second-year students: the ALIVE (Augustana Leaders in Vocational Exploration) and International House specialty housing programs. Currently, these programs are only available to sophomore students. However, the college should offer similar housing programs for students in other years to ease the stress of the housing selection process and provide more options for students.
ALIVE is a program that rising sophomores can utilize to help them with future careers, help out with the world and be introduced to different student backgrounds. With this program, students take the WLLC-300 course and can learn about the types of food that are eaten around the world, significant cultural events and the different ways they can be a part of on-campus organizations.
With this amazing opportunity for students to learn the vast backgrounds of other cultures, it is conflicting that Augustana has a housing program for sophomores but fails to provide other years with the same opportunity.
Although Augustana has opportunities for students to choose where they live while they are First-Years, sophomores and juniors through the housing programs, there are no on-campus options for seniors, except for Community Advisors (CAs).
With the many different options and programs available to younger students, it would only be fair to offer seniors this opportunity as well. When learning about Augustana having no housing options for seniors and facing renting a house, it boggles me that we are expected to accept it as it is. Paying for tuition, classes, groceries and maintaining a job on top of that, there’s an added stressor for students in their final year.
Considering the guidance that specialty housing opportunities provide sophomores, Augustana should provide something for students in other years, especially seniors. Augustana is not the only school where college administration wants and expects students to find a place of their own, but it is unusual for a private institution to instill this on seniors without adequate resources. Elmhurst University’s housing page for example shows an array of housing options available for all four years presented in an easy-to-read format. Options range from living in a typical dorm to one of the many school owned apartments, raising questions as to why Augustana doesn’t have these options for seniors.
From living in a typical dorm to being in one of the many school-owned apartments, it is unfortunate that Augustana also doesn’t have a specialty housing program for seniors. Adding the opportunity for students in their First-Year, junior and senior year to enroll in specialty housing programs would provide students with greater options and less stress in the housing process.