Every year, college students across the nation scramble for housing. For thousands of students at North Carolina A&T, this is no different. The Department of Housing and Residence Life is responsible for providing safe, affordable, and convenient housing for students on campus, and they have 3688 spaces to do that with. As campus has begun to grow and more people are seeking housing on campus, spacing has become tight, and changes have been made.

With the housing selection process starting this Friday, Feb. 19, many students may not be aware of the changes that have been made, or they may not know how the housing process works. The staff of the A&T Register took an in-depth look at the department in this special investigation. Some things we found to be the same, some things we found to be completely different, and some things we found questionable at best. We felt as if this information was critical to our readers.

During the course of this three-week investigation, we encountered several obstacles and some people that were extremely helpful. Phone calls were not immediately returned, some people refused to be interviewed, and student resident assistants were even threatened by hall directors that they would lose their jobs if their names appeared in print in this story.

After speaking with the Executive Director of Housing and Residence Life Leonard Jones, the Assistant Director Vanessa Woodard, and the Interim Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs Dr. Judy Rashid, we were assured that no such actions would be taken, and we sincerely hope that this holds true, and we will be following up with each person who agreed to interview with us for this investigation to ensure that they are not mistreated. We began our investigation with the lottery system.

 

The Lottery Process

Housing and Residence Life started their annual Lottery Process to determine student housing for the next school year. Some students feel this process is unfair while others feel it is perfect. The Lottery Process is a “First come first serve process inside a lottery with random numbers being assigned on a weekly basis to students” said Jermaine Foye, Assignment Coordinator Housing and Residence Life.

Each week, the students that complete the housing application are put into the lottery and receive numbers randomly. This new lottery system comes from students complaining about the process being unfair in previous years.

Students used to be able to turn in applications as early as the first day of the process, but receive the last number in the lottery. This procedure cause many complaints from students. Some applicants could be first to apply but last to choose.

Students would also camp out outside of the housing office to receive the premiere locations on campus. Foye said, as a result of students camping out in long lines and missing classes, the lottery process was initiated. Jamie Mapp, sophomore civil engineer major says she feels the lottery process is organized but never can be fair for the person who paid day one.

Students also filed complaints about the process of pulling other students up to get housing before their appointment and the process of choosing suitemates. Housing later agreed to change the rule to only allowing another student to be pulled in single suite housing.

This year students will receive their lottery numbers starting on Friday, Feb. 19. Tuesday, Feb. 23 through Friday, Feb. 26, students will have appointments to sign up for their housing in Moore Gym.

 

The Contract Cancellation

Often times, after students sign up for housing they decide to live off campus and want to cancel their room assignment. When students decide to cancel their assignment they often find it difficult because of the housing contract.

The contract gives Monday, March 1 as the date to cancel without penalty. After March 1, there is a $500 fee to cancel until April 1. After April 1, the fee to cancel is 50 percent of the total cost of the room, which generally serves as the price for one semester.

Foye agrees that the Housing department is moving toward a more business mindset by holding students to their contract and he feels it is similar to off-campus housing, where students sign a lease and are held accountable.

Kiana Saton, a freshman psychology major, feels it is not enough time to cancel your room and they should give students at least a week minimum to cancel. This year students only have one business day after the selection process has ended to cancel without penalty.

 

False Advertising

The Housing and Residence Life web site at A&T lists the accommodations that each student will get if they so choose to pick campus housing. Each residence hall has its own section where all of the building amenities are listed. However some of the facilities lists things that the building residents do not have access to.

The newly renovated Aggie Village, now named after the A&T Four, lists a community kitchen that is available for students to use.    The only problem with this listing is that students are not allowed to use the kitchen in any of the four residential Village buildings. Although it is not exactly clear why residents are not allowed to use the kitchen, some of the Resident Assistants of the Village believed it was because of safety issues.

“We’ve always been told since my freshman year that we couldn’t use the facility,” said Dorian Britt, a junior mechanical engineering major from Branchville, SC. “The only reason I can think of is a preventative method of the possibility of the building going up in flames due to irresponsibility or accidental actions and/or residents not properly cleaning up the space.”

Britt has been an RA in the Village for the past four semesters, including the current spring semester. He used to take advantage of the kitchen by baking for his residents or sometimes cooking dinner from them. However, his cooking was put to a stop when the current Hall Director, Sharece Adams, told the RA’s they could not longer use the kitchen, along with the residents.

The Register made attempts to interview Adams, however the attempts were refused as this article went to press.”We were never given a definite answer,” said Britt. “She doesn’t permit us to use it.”

The residence hall across the lawn, Village 1-3 also has a kitchen, but the resident are not allowed to use that facility either. “I have been an RA for a year and I was just told we are not allowed to use the kitchen,” said Emily Wilson, a senior business management major from Philadelphia, PA.

Residents of Aggie Village have said if given the chance they would use the kitchen, abiding by all the rules set forth by hall directors. “I would love to use the kitchen, if we could,” said Tiesha Washington, a junior political science major from Washington, DC. “I understand the safety behind it, but everyone in college is considered an adult. We should be treated as such. It just seems like they could work something out so that the RA’s on duty could supervise.”

Other resident halls that include the community amenity for residents are Morrow and Morrison Halls. It is unknown whether or not the kitchen in those facilities are available for use.

The Computer Labs

In every dorm across the campus of North Carolina A&T live computer labs designed to assist students who may not have access to one. The number of computers varies from dorm to dorm, but what remains the same across the board is how the rules are created and enforced.

“We provide the location, and Information Technology (IT) does everything else,” said Assistant Director of Residence Life Vanessa Woodard. “We really have no jurisdiction over computer labs.”

Every dorm has set hours for which the lab can be open. In Cooper Hall the computer lab is open from 8 a.m. to midnight, while in Pride Hall the hours are from 4 p.m. to 10 p.m.

The variations of these times are due to the fact that the housing directors, with input from students, determine the hours for their respective dorms.

“The decision for hours is up to the housing director. However, students work with them to create them,” Woodard said. Housing directors also have authority over whether a computer lab is opened or closed. Reports of abuse to the lab — such as misuse of the equipment, excessive trash, or stolen property — can cause the director to shut down the lab for an indefinite amount of time.

“Sometimes there are residents who are in the computer lab to just be on Facebook, while another one needs to use it for school reasons. Homework trumps Facebook, so I politely ask them to leave so we can make it fair for everyone,” said Tony Tyson, senior business management and business education major, and the resident assistant for Cooper Hall.

Barbee Hall recently closed its computer lab due to complaints of excessive amounts of trash and stolen property. Although it is closed for student residents, it is not closed to the RAs of the building.

“It’s still open for us,” said Brooke Waller, junior public relations major and resident assistant for Barbee Hall. “We open it, and then lock it back after we’re done. As a student, too, I feel it’s a little unfair for those who used the lab properly, especially those without computers.”

Some residents of the dorm told the RAs that they should just fine and ban those who were caught on camera misusing the lab. Despite their plea, nothing happened because the cameras were not working.

In the event that a computer is broken, or in need of repair, it is reported to IT and they take care of the problem. There is an IT representative that is responsible for each resident hall on campus.

“They need to fix two computers in Vanstory,” said Laron Wise, freshman marketing major.

“I have my own, but not everyone does. All the computers need to work properly.”

 

Visitation

The first thing that might come to one student’s mind when coming to college is freedom.

However, A&T’s campus, some of that freedom is limited. One privilege is limited visitation.

While conducting an assessment with all campus dorms, it was found that the Residence Hall Visitation guidelines are as follows: Monday through Friday from 4:00 p.m. to midnight and Saturday through Sunday from noon to midnight. 

“Since we have to pay to live here, then I think there should not be any restrictions on the visitation policy because it is like living in an apartment,” said Stephanie Penny, a sophomore who is an Accounting Major.

Many students do question the visitation and sometimes get frustrated with it because it often limits them. However, there is a reason why the visitation policy is set up to restrict visitation. 

The Residence Hall Administrator, Elizabeth Cooper said, “the current visitation policy is in place to ensure that academics are first.  It has to be enforced because academics are the number one priority and visitation is not a high priority. We want to make sure they are able to study and at the same time they have residents to visit, but it is a way so they will be able to do what they came here to do instead.” 

Assistant Director of Residence Life, Victoria Woodard said that although the visitation policy has been set and implemented, it does not mean that it can’t be challenged or changed by the students.  Cooper said that “the Housing and Residence Life places flyers up to inform students about the visitation meeting, which allows students to voice their opinion on visitation and possibly change it.”

The visitation policy clearly states that it may be approved by a 2/3 affirmative vote of the residents of the hall. Considering this, one might think that NC A & T would have 24 hour visitation by now, but many students are just unaware of the meeting.

“I would love to have to opportunity to go the meeting and possibly change the visitation, but since I don’t see and know when they put flyers up I just don’t bother,” said Victoria Revelle, a junior Speech Communication major.

Fire Safety

Parents send their children off to school with hopes that they are completely safe within their environment. They check the safety of the location of the dorm, as well as look for adequate safety patrol before feeling comfortable to send their child to a certain school. One aspect that some parents may not question in relation to the safety of their child is fire suppression.

In case of a fire, who is responsible for assuring residents get out the building? According to Brooke Waller, junior public relations major and resident assistant for Barbee Hall, that job is left for the RAs  as well as housing directors.

“Our job as RAs is to knock on every resident’s door, and tell them to evacuate the building. We get them out while still getting to safety ourselves.”

In the circumstance in which a resident or a group of residents do not comply with the requests of the RA or the housing director, those individuals are subject to being fined a fee.

To ensure residents know what do in case a fire happens, random drills are set by Environmental Health and Safety department according to Cooper Hall housing director Teron Martin. Housing directors as well as RAs are required to alert residents and have them stand at least 150 ft away from the building.

“It’s easier to let residents know who live in a dorm with an intercom system,” said Martin.

“We make the announcement, then do a sweep through of the floors to make sure everyone has made it out safe.”

All dorm buildings on the campus of North Carolina A&T are equipped with fire extinguishers in the event one would occur. Anyone is able to use the fire extinguisher granted they know how to use it.

“Environmental, Safety, and Health came in and trained our RAs with fire safety” said Assistant Director of Residence Life, Vanessa Woodard.

According to the schedule for the Para-Professional Leaders Conference provided by Woodard,  RAs this past August attended a safety and security session in which they were instructed what to do in case of a fire, as well as become familiar with a fire extinguisher.

According to RAs in Barbee Hall, this school year, they have not received such training.

“One RA in Barbee has been ‘trained’,” said Waller. “I have only been trained on roommate conflict, and drug and alcohol abuse, I do not even know how to use an [fire] extinguisher.”

“I personally contacted Mrs. Woodard about a R.A. manual in Nov. and still have not received one,” said junior Raymond Beamon.  

Woodard has know knowledge of the request, and said that to gain access of that manual, the proper person to contact would have been the housing director.

According to Tony Tyson, senior business administration and business education major, and veteran resident assistant for Cooper Hall, he does not believe a training has happened this year.

“I’ve been to trainings, but I did not go this school year,” said Tyson. “When I went, they showed us what to do, and for the most part people have seen how to use one [fire extinguisher] on T.V. or a real life situation. There’s really not too much to be trained on, it’s a simple thing.”

Being an RA

Most college students become residence assistance, or RA’s, because the premise is you would get free room and board, not here at NC A&T. A&T recently changed their contracts with RA’s. According to Junior Raymond Beamon, a first year RA in Barbee, they have to pay their room and board up front and then get it back in monthly stipends throughout the academic year.

Each RA pays the equivalent of a double in their perspective buildings and their meal plan of choice. “I have to pay for a double in Barbee and my meal plan, plan B. I had to get a loan to pay it.  They kind of sprung these conditions on us after we applied to be RA’s” said Beamon.

When asked about the monthly stipends Beamon said this, “We were told we’d get $400 a month, but the payments have been all over the place. Some people got $700 the first month, some people got nothing, and others only got part of it. Then one month in January we only got like $150, and they haven’t always been on time.”

Beamon believes the payment is unfair, especially when there’s hardly a surplus at the end of the year. Since he lives in Barbee he gets a surplus of about $1000, while an RA in Pride is hardly getting a surplus of $100. Basically the RA’s are not getting paid; they’re just getting paid back.

Payment isn’t the only problem for the RA’s, at least not the ones in Barbee. “What really makes me mad is the lack of support they give us. It makes people not want to come back.

We have only one returning RA, the other five of us are new. We have over 300 residents; the ratio is crazy, especially when all but one of us is new. We have no Graduate Hall Director and no Hall Director. It’s as if they’re leaving us to sink! The Hall Directors didn’t even give us proper training, we were trained by old RA’s.”

Beamon added that it’s not all bad, “I like the job because we can benefit the students but the lack of support is too much, something must be done. Dr. Rashid is someone whose really been trying to improve things.”

Where does your $150 go?

When a student wants to turn in their housing application, they must pay a $150 “deposit” – or at least that’s how they advertise it. Jermaine Foye, the housing assignment coordinator, said “it is not a deposit; it is a program and processing fee.”

According to Foye the programming part of the fee goes to the budget for all the programs that the RA’s and Hall Directors have for their residents.

Another major mystery about the $150 “program and processing fee” is why students with full scholarships have to pay it. Foye’s answer to that was, “They have to pay it because it is not related to the university.”

While attempting to gain further clarification about Foye’s last statement, several attempts to contact other members of the administrative team were made, all of which was met with no response.

Who’s Responsible For What?

Leonard Jones, director of Housing and Residence Life, heads all activities within the department including strategic planning and interviews.  Reporting directly to Jones are his three associate directors of housing.

Elfrida Mensah, associate director of housing operations, deals with most of the administrative work concerning housing assignments.

Sheila Gothard, associate director of retention and academic excellence, is in charge of heading tutoring programs, seminars, and any increasing academic excellence for students living in residence halls.

Vanessa Woodard, associate director for residence life, is in charge of the activities concerning hall directors, RAs, and graduate hall directors.

Hall Directors are meant to ensure that the residents have good, clean facilities to stay in, all utilities are fully functional and students are properly accommodated. The directors provide programs to support the academic side, such as historical programs, as well as professional programs, such as how to dress for an interview to better prepare students for the professional world.  There are also purely social events for students to improve on social skills and to just release tension.                          

Jermaine Foye, assignments coordinator, is responsible for distribution of lottery numbers and keeping up with student housing assignments.

Frederick Stocks, assistant director of facilities, handles most of the issues of housing that require immediate attention.

James Shell, housing project manager and engineering technician, is the one physical facilities operator that works within housing and deals with the major issues in regards to facilities such as water and electrical problems.

Harold Seegares, skill trade superintendent, is the head of all of the facility operations on campus.

Carey Baldwin, physical plant director, coordinates activities within all of the energy facilities.

James Johns, energy coordinator, is in charge of all energy distribution departments.

David Jackson, electrical supervisor, is in charge of the main electrical source to all on-campus venues.

Leonard Alston, heat, ventilation, and air condition (HVAC) supervisor, handles the operations concerning HVAC units within housing.

John White, plumbing supervisor, oversees the department to handle on-campus plumbing, sewer, and gas.

Ricky Richmond, steam plant supervisor, is in charge of all of the steam-operated facilities.

Tony Wade, steam distribution supervisor, manages the use of steam power used at A&T, from the cafeteria kitchens to the boiler rooms.

• K. Hawkins, J. Johnson, C. King, D. Mullins, K. McCrae, S. Obell, & M. Thompson