Housing and Residence Life just confirmed that they are reversing the policy and allowing fourth year students to live on campus. I honestly cannot believe how quickly you all came together to set this right because this victory belongs entirely to the students who spoke up.
March 7, 2018
Final supporters
Mercer University – Housing and Residence Life:
On behalf of the Mercer University undergraduate students affected by the new housing limitations, we would like for you to read over this message, its signatures, and take your students' opinion into consideration.
Mercer students recently received an e-mail notifying them 4th year students would not be able to select on campus housing options, and not only that but students who are guaranteed housing on campus as a Resident Assistant or in any of the Lofts won’t be allowed to pull in 4th year students to live with them in their room. As students we have found multiple issues with these new limitations.
First, the time residence life chose to notify us of these new limitations. On February 1, 2018 current loft residents received an email from Housing and Residence Life informing them of the timelines to retain and move rooms within the lofts. This email also stated that:
“If you have a preferred roommate who does not currently live in the Lofts, there will be a process for you to pull them into you room ... The preferred roommate(s) must have a completed 2018-2019 Housing Contract. More information will be sent prior to this process opening.”
Then on February 16, 2018, after residents retained spaces, just days before the pull in process for the lofts began on February 21, 2018, they received emails notifying them that there would no longer be an option to pull in rising 4th year students until all other undergraduate students completed the housing process.
Second, what this means for students. By February students already know where and who they’ll be living with the following year, because the housing process is quickly approaching. The late notice of the limitations on pulling in 4th year students has hindered students and their plans. Now students who will be working as Resident Assistants or living in the lofts won’t be able to pull in 4th year students who they have planned on living with, ending up with roommates they may not even know and creating a less than ideal living experience. Some 4th year students who were planning to live on campus were doing so because they have evening classes, on campus jobs with late shifts, and/or no transportation to and from campus. Pushing these students off campus creates more safety issues than the university already has.
Third, what this means for the Office of Housing and Residence Life. Students living with people they don’t know has been known to cause problems between roommates. Housing and Residence Life has dealt with roommate issues in the past, but forcing students into less than ideal living situations is going to result in more of these issues being brought to the office.
As students we understand why these limitations are being put in place, but we don’t believe they were implemented in a fair manner with the best interest of all Mercer students in mind. Mercer has continued to increase the size of incoming freshman classes without increasing housing options, and now there is a shortage. This isn’t the fault of the students, and although limitations may need to be placed on 4th year students in the future, February, after some housing processes have already begun, isn’t the appropriate time to implement them. These new limitations were simply too last minute to allow students time to adjust to them.
We are calling on you, as an office who is in place to support students and make their time living at Mercer valuable and enjoyable, to allow students who have on campus housing through the lofts or as a Resident Assistant to pull in 4th year students prior to opening those rooms to the rest of the student body through the housing process.
If you're upset by these recent limitations on housing, the contact information for Housing and Residence life is below:
email: [email protected]
phone:478-301-2687
Updates
February 22, 2018
I really never expected to see this kind of momentum when I started this page. This whole situation belongs to all of you now and I am just humbled to be a part of it.
Reached 100 supporters
February 22, 2018
26 Comments
Each year it has become a privilege to gain seniority. It has also means you finally figure everything out and can live with friends. Taking this away does not make the Mercer Experience a good one. I don’t have a car so I can’t leave campus plus my evening job does not make it ideal to walk off campus at 11 at night. I would like to live with people I know and will work well with.
It seems unfair to boot out students who have paid for 3 years of instruction and force them to find alternative housing at the last minute. I'm sure the school is fully aware of how unsafe the area can be. Why allow your school to grow beyond capacity without considering the safety of your loyal students?
Lofts do not count as on campus housing and are not the solution to this problem. Lofts are expensive and not every student/students parents can afford them. Some students have to use loans to pay for housing and the lofts don't accept loans so either build more housing that financial aid can pay for or make financial aid be able to be used for lofts.
When we toured Mercer 4 years ago we were told there would be housing available for our sons for all 4 years they would be at Mercer. Quite frankly this was one of the things that sold us on the school. I am disgusted to find that this is not the case and that students have only just been told! My sons should be concentrating on their studies not trying to find safe, affordable housing and worrying where they’ll be living next year! Shame on Mercer!!
If there is such a shortage, rising 3rd years should be allowed to move off campus. If this were the case, me and a future roommate would gladly move off campus and out of the incredibly overpriced lofts. There’s two more spaces available if we could move off campus!
My daughter will be affected by this decision and it is not timely to figure something else out
This process doesn't appear to take into account the needs of all students. If there isn't room for more students then they should be wait lisited.
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Housing and Residence Life just confirmed that they are reversing the policy and allowing fourth year students to live on campus. I honestly cannot believe how quickly you all came together to set this right because this victory belongs entirely to the students who spoke up.
March 7, 2018
Final supporters
Mercer University – Housing and Residence Life:
On behalf of the Mercer University undergraduate students affected by the new housing limitations, we would like for you to read over this message, its signatures, and take your students' opinion into consideration.
Mercer students recently received an e-mail notifying them 4th year students would not be able to select on campus housing options, and not only that but students who are guaranteed housing on campus as a Resident Assistant or in any of the Lofts won’t be allowed to pull in 4th year students to live with them in their room. As students we have found multiple issues with these new limitations.
First, the time residence life chose to notify us of these new limitations. On February 1, 2018 current loft residents received an email from Housing and Residence Life informing them of the timelines to retain and move rooms within the lofts. This email also stated that:
“If you have a preferred roommate who does not currently live in the Lofts, there will be a process for you to pull them into you room ... The preferred roommate(s) must have a completed 2018-2019 Housing Contract. More information will be sent prior to this process opening.”
Then on February 16, 2018, after residents retained spaces, just days before the pull in process for the lofts began on February 21, 2018, they received emails notifying them that there would no longer be an option to pull in rising 4th year students until all other undergraduate students completed the housing process.
Second, what this means for students. By February students already know where and who they’ll be living with the following year, because the housing process is quickly approaching. The late notice of the limitations on pulling in 4th year students has hindered students and their plans. Now students who will be working as Resident Assistants or living in the lofts won’t be able to pull in 4th year students who they have planned on living with, ending up with roommates they may not even know and creating a less than ideal living experience. Some 4th year students who were planning to live on campus were doing so because they have evening classes, on campus jobs with late shifts, and/or no transportation to and from campus. Pushing these students off campus creates more safety issues than the university already has.
Third, what this means for the Office of Housing and Residence Life. Students living with people they don’t know has been known to cause problems between roommates. Housing and Residence Life has dealt with roommate issues in the past, but forcing students into less than ideal living situations is going to result in more of these issues being brought to the office.
As students we understand why these limitations are being put in place, but we don’t believe they were implemented in a fair manner with the best interest of all Mercer students in mind. Mercer has continued to increase the size of incoming freshman classes without increasing housing options, and now there is a shortage. This isn’t the fault of the students, and although limitations may need to be placed on 4th year students in the future, February, after some housing processes have already begun, isn’t the appropriate time to implement them. These new limitations were simply too last minute to allow students time to adjust to them.
We are calling on you, as an office who is in place to support students and make their time living at Mercer valuable and enjoyable, to allow students who have on campus housing through the lofts or as a Resident Assistant to pull in 4th year students prior to opening those rooms to the rest of the student body through the housing process.
If you're upset by these recent limitations on housing, the contact information for Housing and Residence life is below:
email: [email protected]
phone:478-301-2687
Updates
February 22, 2018
I really never expected to see this kind of momentum when I started this page. This whole situation belongs to all of you now and I am just humbled to be a part of it.
Reached 100 supporters
February 22, 2018
26 Comments
As a parent with two daughters at Mercer , who have been there since they were freshman, and will be third and forth years in Fall 2018, this is extremely upsetting. The university has grown quickly and that can be a good thing, however I feel as if the upperclassmen now do not matter . The university is so focused on bringing in new lower classman that students who have already been there do not seem to be important.
Each year it has become a privilege to gain seniority. It has also means you finally figure everything out and can live with friends. Taking this away does not make the Mercer Experience a good one. I don’t have a car so I can’t leave campus plus my evening job does not make it ideal to walk off campus at 11 at night. I would like to live with people I know and will work well with.
It seems unfair to boot out students who have paid for 3 years of instruction and force them to find alternative housing at the last minute. I'm sure the school is fully aware of how unsafe the area can be. Why allow your school to grow beyond capacity without considering the safety of your loyal students?
Lofts do not count as on campus housing and are not the solution to this problem. Lofts are expensive and not every student/students parents can afford them. Some students have to use loans to pay for housing and the lofts don't accept loans so either build more housing that financial aid can pay for or make financial aid be able to be used for lofts.
When we toured Mercer 4 years ago we were told there would be housing available for our sons for all 4 years they would be at Mercer. Quite frankly this was one of the things that sold us on the school. I am disgusted to find that this is not the case and that students have only just been told! My sons should be concentrating on their studies not trying to find safe, affordable housing and worrying where they’ll be living next year! Shame on Mercer!!
If there is such a shortage, rising 3rd years should be allowed to move off campus. If this were the case, me and a future roommate would gladly move off campus and out of the incredibly overpriced lofts. There’s two more spaces available if we could move off campus!
My daughter will be affected by this decision and it is not timely to figure something else out
This process doesn't appear to take into account the needs of all students. If there isn't room for more students then they should be wait lisited.
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As a parent with two daughters at Mercer , who have been there since they were freshman, and will be third and forth years in Fall 2018, this is extremely upsetting. The university has grown quickly and that can be a good thing, however I feel as if the upperclassmen now do not matter . The university is so focused on bringing in new lower classman that students who have already been there do not seem to be important.