Pro Freshmen Live-In Rule

1. Pro Freshmen Live-In Rule Presented for Master Thomas Drake & English 207 class

2. Claim: Incoming UI freshmen up to 21 years of age should be required to live on campus for their first year. • Improves Academic Performance • Builds Better Retention Rates • Creates More Active and Involved Students • Boosts Safety of Students • Promotes Stronger Mental Health • Important note: On-campus living, in the case of this presentation, will signify both residence halls and Greek houses.

3. Reason 1: Students that live on campus perform better academically in the University. • Statistically: • On-campus students’ first term GPA: 2.88 • Off-campus students’ first term GPA: 2.54 • On-campus students in good academic standing: 81.7% • Off-campus students in good academic standing: 65.5%

4. Reason 2: On-campus students are more likely to remain with the University to finish schooling. • Statistically: • On-campus retention to sophomore year: 82.5% • Off-campus retention to sophomore year: 59% • On-campus drop or stop out rate: 0.1% • Off-campus drop or stop out rate: 11.4%

5. Reason 3: Students are more active and involved in their own University. • Statistically from Alexander Astin: • “The amount of student learning is directly proportional to the quality and quantity of student involvement.” • “The educational practice of instructors is directly related to the capacity of that practice to increase student involvement.” • Otherwise from Ray Gasser, Alexander Astin, and Vincent Tinto: • “Student involvement becomes an important element for student success in higher education.” • “Involvement [has] a strong relationship with student retention and social and intellectual development.” • “The more involved students became with the institution and community, the more likely they were to overcome any obstacles they faced coming into or during college.”

6. Reason 4: Safety in on-campus living protects students. • Moscow Police Department has direct access to campus and can respond to calls immediately • Off-campus is unmonitored and often dangerous

7. Reason 5: On-campus housing improves students’ mental health. • Support Systems: • Trained Resident Assistants: • Mediation • Counseling • Academic resources • Crisis management • Peer mentoring • OR can refer students to someone who can help. • In-place support systems are designed especially for students • Convenient access to counseling and support systems

8. Counter Argument Responses to Arguments from Anti Freshmen Live-In Rule Group

9. “Living on-campus is too expensive to make mandatory.” BUT… • It is only required for one year • Cost of one extra semester due to poor academic performance: $4000-$5000 • Off-campus cost: $2348 (doesn’t include food or utilities) • Greek cost: $2800 -$3000 (includes food and utilities) • Residence Hall cost: $3902 (includes utilities + $1123 for meal plan) • Groceries for off-campus students easily cost $100/month • $2348+($100x9months)=$3248 • Still doesn’t include utilities, yet already it is more than cost of Greek housing

10. “College freshmen are adults, and they should be able to make their own decisions.” • Students have the choice to choose what university is right for them. Therefore they don’t have to go to this university. • The University of Idaho pays for a large percentage of student tuition and should be able to make requirements to secure the success of their investment

11. “There is not enough room on campus to house all incoming freshmen and upperclassmen that want to live on campus.” • Campus housing can accommodate approximately 1991 students (This number is highly flexible depending upon whether rooms are being doubled up) • This number excludes Greek housing availability • Only 10 percent of students live off-campus and 85 percent of residence halls are being utilized • The money Campus Housing brings in through sales of rooms to students can be reinvested to better prepare the campus for growing enrollment

12. “Living on-campus will not allow the quiet and alone time a student might need to complete school work adequately.” • Still, statistically speaking, the students living on-campus have a higher academic success rate than those living off-campus, as previously described. • Therefore either: • The quiet must not really be necessary • The residence halls and Greek houses are not as “hectic” as claimed to be • Or the students (who are constantly being bettered by their supportive learning environment of on-campus housing) are able to work with the noise and harness the knowledge despite it all, making them stronger people better adapted to work in the world

13. “This [freshmen live-in rule] will deter incoming students from attending the University of Idaho.” • 85-90% of freshmen at UI already choose to live on-campus anyway • The academic, social, mental and all-around success is worth it!

14. “Particular students with mental illnesses or particular personality types will not find the quiet time and space that they require.” • There are plenty of healthy examples of students with mental illnesses and personality types being successful in on-campus living situations • It may prove safer for those students with mental illness to live on-campus to have access to help resources • “Sharing a dorm is especially difficult.” - Ivy League schools purposely pair different personality students with each other for increased learning opportunities and to create more well-rounded students • “Eating cafeteria food is challenging because of highly specific food preferences.” - Sodexo works with specialized dietary needs and preferences of students

15. “Civil Liberties.” • This is not a case of religious discrimination and therefore the Yale Case cannot be applied • Yale Case applied only to student not believing in Co-Ed living • Many halls are not Co-Ed at UI • Greek Houses are not Co-Ed • There will be a built-in exemption and appeals system for those that believe they have valid reasons to not live on-campus

16. For More Information… • All information given herein was gleaned from: • Master Thomas Drake’s “First-Year Students Live-In Rule Debate Resources” page available at http://www.class.uidaho.edu/eng207-td/index.htm • All resources were browsed, studied, researched and interpreted for use in this presentation. • Feel free to ask questions! Thank you!