Possible pilot program to extend Firestone hours

Kinsey explained that the pilot-program proposal was the result of an analysis of the data from a study-space survey issued by the USG and the Office of the Executive Vice President last May.

It is unclear when the University will decide whether to implement the program. Though the University faces economic challenges, Kinsey said, “[w]e still think that considering some of the opportunities for improvement that we identified are worth considering should times change.”

The survey, completed by 750 undergraduates, found that half of all respondents studied until 2 a.m. from Sundays through Wednesdays and that one-third of all respondents studied until 4 a.m. during peak periods.

Kinsey said the survey also showed that about 80 percent of respondents studied in their rooms rather than in Frist or Firestone during peak periods and that 75 percent did so outside of peak periods.

Many students may be unaware of study-space options and their amenities or hours of operations, he said, adding that information has been distributed to the residential colleges.

Two housing-survey results presented

U-Councilor Brian No ’10 presented the results of the USG housing survey conducted last spring, and Assistant Vice President for Facilities Services Chad Klaus explained the preliminary results from another survey conducted this fall by the Housing Department.

Nearly 800 students responded to the USG’s survey, and about 72 percent said they opposed the annexation of Spelman 8 and Little by Whitman and Mathey colleges, respectively. Roughly 24 percent said they favored Little’s annexation, 7 percent said they favored Spelman’s, and 3 percent said they favored both.

The decision to have some residential colleges annex parts of uppercless housing, No said, was a “unilateral decision by the administration.”

No added that many upperclassmen draw into four-year colleges not out of interest in the system but to maximize their chances of getting a bigger room. He added, however, that he could not be completely certain.

Nevertheless, No said that the USG hopes the University will “take into consideration the overwhelming student desire to keep things the way they are.”

Klaus said this fall’s housing-demand survey showed that demand for living in a four-year residential college jumped from 16 percent of respondents from the Class of 2010 to 30 percent for respondents from the Class of 2011.

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Klaus said that because the University is experiencing the “peak of [its] excess capacity,” there are two “unhappy” populations: students who were interested in Spelman but felt undermined by the annexation and students who did not get into the four-year residential college system.

Klaus said that 44 percent of undergraduates responded to the Housing Department’s survey and that most respondents strongly agreed that the people they lived with or the size and type of their dorm room were the most important factors in forming a positive residential experience.

According to the survey, Dod, Little, Patton and 1903 halls are among the most desirable dorms on campus, while Brown, Scully, 2 Dickinson and 1901 halls are among the least desirable. Spelman is on both lists.