The Chart Online

Is Southern's housing worth the cost?
Jacob W. Brower

Associate Editor

According to many on-campus Missouri Southern students, living in the residence halls comes with a variety of good and bad.

Many students believe living in the residence halls is worth the money, while experiences of others have been less than favorable.

Andrew Doennig, freshman kinesiology major, said his experience has been mostly positive. The first-semester student, however, recently had to contend with some unexpected visitors in his first-floor private room in Blaine Hall.

Doennig said he was going to sleep on a recent night when he saw a mouse scurry across the floor. He said he set up mousetraps that week before going on a weekend visit to his parents in Monett.

When he returned on Sunday night, he said he found, not one, but three mice had been captured. Doennig said he believes the mice were coming in through a large crack between the floor and his closet.

"They were supposed to fix the hole under the closet, but they haven't done it yet," Doennig said on Oct. 17. "A work order was made out a few days ago, but nothing's been done yet. I don't think it should be much of a hassle for them to cover it or fix it or anything."

Bob Harrington, director of the physical plant, said a maintenance person is on duty from 6:30 a.m.-11:30 p.m. He did say, however, that maintenance people are on call at all times in case of an emergency.

Harrington said Blaine Hall, which houses male students, has traditionally been harder to maintain than the all-female McCormick Hall.

"We try to keep it up as best we can, but the men's dorm does take more abuse," he said. "I don't know that any part of it is in really bad shape. As you can imagine, with students moving in in August and out in May, they've lived in these rooms for nine and a half months without any cleaning or maintenance done. That can make for a difficult job in the summer."

Other students in Blaine Hall said they had trouble with the air conditioning the first week or two of the semester. However, most said they were satisfied with the quick manner in which the problem was remedied.

"We had problems getting the air conditioning on, but as soon as we told them something was wrong, they got it fixed," said Eric Norris, freshman business major. "It's great now. I've enjoyed living here a lot so far."

Deb Gipson, Southern's director of housing, said it is imperative for students to inform either their student assistants or maintenance if a problem exists.

"We've come a long way in the area of maintenance," she said. "About five years ago, I was concerned. As long as a student lets us know there's something wrong, we can usually handle the situation within a couple of days."

Private rooms offered

On-campus students this semester have been given the option of private rooms, which has not been available in years past. A $2,600 semester fee covers private housing plus 20 meals per week - the same meal plan as offered in all on-campus housing.

The residence halls also offer apartments, suites and regular double occupancy rooms. The apartments provide two bedrooms with a common living area and a shared bathroom for $2,200 per semester.

The suites offer two bedrooms with two bathrooms and a common living area for $2,400 per semester. The regular double occupancy rooms are $2,000 per semester.

Gipson said she believes the financial benefits of living on campus far outweigh those of off-campus housing.

"Most [off-campus] apartments [in the Joplin area] rent for $400 a month, and that doesn't include utilities," she said. "I think the cost of utilities, plus food, is something you have to consider when looking at on-campus housing.

"That's a pretty dad-gum good deal. I wish it was like that at my house."

Gipson said Southern's on-campus students receive benefits that are as good as, if not better than, any other institution in Missouri.

"I'd put us up against anyone in the state, quite frankly" she said.

Are Southern's prices best?

Other institutions in Missouri are quite comparable to Southern, however. Missouri Western State College in St. Joseph, Southern's sister college, offers two kinds of housing - suites and apartments. A suite at MWSC, which consists of four bedrooms (three doubles, one triple) and a shared living room costs $1,046 per semester. An apartment at MWSC, which consists of two double bedrooms and shared living room, costs $1,302 per semester. Single rooms are not offered.

While these prices seem significantly lower than at Southern, MWSC's housing does not come with a meal plan. Meal plans, which are purchased separately, cost $829 for 12 meals a week or $1,130 for 15 meals a week plus $300 "flex" money, which can be used either in the cafeteria or student center.

The housing costs at Pittsburg State University, only 30 miles northwest of Southern, are significantly lower. On-campus students can live in a single room with seven-day food access for $2,280 - the most expensive option available.

Other room and board options at Pitt State are as follows: double rooms and seven-day food access is $1,953; double rooms and 14 meals a week are $1,833; single rooms and 14 meals a week are $2,160; double rooms and 10 meals a week are $1,719; single rooms and 10 meals a week are $2,046; double rooms and $300 flex money is $1,368; and single rooms and $300 flex money are $1,698.

Dr. Terri Agee, Southern s vice president for business affairs, said all room and board fees are applied to the maintenance and refurbishment of the residence halls, payment of bonds taken out on the Student Life Center and East Hall, and utility costs.

"Every penny goes to residence hall operations," Agee said.

Future improvements

Stegge Hall is closed this year for refurbishing. The roof of the building has already been replaced, and Agee said she hopes the College can do internal refurbishing "when the weather gets bad."

"We thought this would be a good year to do it, since we wouldn't have to displace anybody," she said. "We would like to keep the residence halls in as good a shape as possible, funds permitting. I like to say 'funds permitting' because that's a key issue anymore."

Agee said the traffic light system for the crosswalks on Newman and Duquesne roads are the College's top priorities.

"We're waiting to see what the fiscal picture of the state is before we commit to anything," she said. "Last year was full of so many twists and turns that I can't even begin to project what we'll face this year. I'll continue to be hopeful that the cuts to higher education won't be as severe this fiscal year, but it's too early to project what's going to happen."

Gov. Bob Holden will deliver his State of the State address in January, where he will give his budget recommendations for all state departments, including higher education.

On-campus Southern students felt the effects of the budget cuts this year. Across the board, students pay 8.5 percent more for housing than last year. PSU increased its room and board fees by 4 percent this year, while MWSC increased housing costs by about 6 percent.