The Lumberjack



Students Serving The Cal Poly Humboldt Campus and Community Since 1929

Tag: housing shortage

  • Limited university housing almost full

    Limited university housing almost full

    by Dezmond Remington

    Every morning the sun rises, every evening it sets, and about a quarter of the way through every spring semester, the housing website crashes when a couple thousand desperate students all attempt to turn in their applications for the next year. It’s a pattern that never fails, and this last go-round was no different. 

    Student Kristin Tran was one of many affected by the crash. They had to wait two hours when the application opened to get it turned in, missing class in the process to make absolutely sure it went through when it could. 

    “It was definitely really crazy and super chaotic,” Tran said. “I am registered with SDRC too, so I have accommodations, but because of the shortages, they said they’ve also had to be super selective about who gets certain accommodations now, because they simply don’t have enough room for everyone… it’s just kind of scary.”

    Nabbing a university-sponsored spot is not easy. According to Housing Assignments Coordinator Carly Strand and Executive Director for Auxiliary Operations Stephen St. Onge, it’s entirely first-come first-served, although it isn’t just one long list. Applicants are sorted into gendered lists. If they’re comfortable with co-ed housing, that is also taken into consideration. 

    As of March 22nd, 2,335 students had applied for the 2,406 beds in university housing, which includes all on-campus housing and all of the ‘bridge’ hotel housing. However, St. Onge and Strand said they were working on getting more housing, although from where specifically they couldn’t say. 

    There were 1,500 applications for university housing from returning students, who are all competing for 911 beds. They will find out on March 29 if they got a spot. They’ll find out where that spot is later in the spring. Strand advised returning students to avoid panicking about housing in the meantime. 

    Incoming freshmen will learn if they got housing in June. As of March 22nd, about 700-800 freshmen had applied for the roughly 1,500 beds on campus mainly reserved for them in Canyon, Cypress, and the Hill. The number will rise as the Fall 2023 semester draws nearer. 

    St. Onge said that in a typical year about 25% of the applications are canceled. The application is free to submit, and some applicants may end up attending a different school. However, St. Onge also said that the freshmen cancellation rate this year may be closer to about 20% because the campus’ new polytechnic status has made it more desirable.

    Setting up student housing in local motels has been tough. According to St. Onge, it takes about six to eight months to scout a location and lock down a deal with the owners. It costs the school $100 a day to house a student there, although the residents are charged about $20 a day—the lowest rate of any university-provided option aside from three-person dorm rooms.

    “The university is subsidizing housing for students because it is committed,” St. Onge said. “It is committed to providing safe and affordable housing for students.”

    Tran doesn’t feel that the university’s first-come first-served policy reflects that mission well. 

    “They want to double enrollment,” Tran said. “It’s going to get a lot worse until they deal with it and deal with the fact that their growth is kind of unsustainable right now.”

  • University promises on-campus housing for returning students following backlash

    University promises on-campus housing for returning students following backlash

    by Angel Barker, August Linton, and Dezmond Remington

    A housing protest on Feb. 8 in the U.C. quad drew hundreds of frustrated students, many of whom stayed for several hours. Dozens of students used the open mic to share their thoughts with the crowd about the housing crisis, and the impact of the university’s recent announcement that returning students would not be offered the option to live on campus in the fall.

    In the end, the University relented, announcing on Feb. 10 that 600 on-campus beds in Creekview and the College Creek apartments would be reserved for returning and transfer students. In a meeting of the Associated Students Board of Directors, CPH Executive Director of Auxiliary Services Stephen St. Onge provided other updates on the University’s ongoing plans for student housing in Fall 2023.

    Students will not be penalized for leaving on-campus leases early, and will receive partial refunds if they choose to live elsewhere.

    St. Onge said that the University is working on an amenity package for those students who will be living in the ‘bridge housing’ off campus. There are no details yet on what this package will include, or when this information will be available. The housing website explains that students are collaborating with admin on this.

    Students were frustrated by the lack of concrete answers provided by St. Onge on some pressing subjects, as he avoided speaking definitively on any topic outside of specific updates on housing. 

    At the Feb. 8 protest, Ashe Kolden talked about their experience with being homeless. They moved up to Humboldt right as classes were starting in 2020 with their partner. They weren’t able to find a place to live, so for a period of a whole month they lived in a tent with their partner in a campsite in Samoa. The housing coordinator on campus wasn’t able to help them, but they were eventually able to independently find a spot they could afford. 

    “I’m really lucky to have a tent, I’m really lucky to have a camping stove, and I’m really lucky to have [been homeless] while school wasn’t in,” Kolden said. “I’m imagining students living in those situations while school is in….I’m just scared for every student here who’s going to have a similar experience that I did, because 99 beds at the inn is not enough for all the students who are about to be kicked off campus.”

    Plenty of people simply let their feelings loose about the decision, condemning the university administration. University president Tom Jackson in particular was a target, even though he was not present. One student yelled, “Tom Jackson, if you’re listening, fuck you, you’re a little bitch.” 

    Some of the comments were more hopeful. Associated Students At-Large Representative Gerardo Hernandez spoke to the crowd, saying that the Associated Students were there to help. 

    “What I say to [a fifth of CPH students being homeless] is, that’s bullshit…we’re here to advocate for you,” Hernandez said. “We’re all screwed…we need to stand together.”

    Chrissy Holliday, Vice President for Enrollment Management and Student Success, says the University’s goal is to provide roughly 1000 off-campus beds for returning students, adding an additional 650 beds. Where those beds will be located is unknown.

    The themed housing communities on campus, including Rainbow/Gender Inclusive, Sankofa House, Native American Living, and La Comunidad will maintain their number of students, including returning students, according to St. Onge.

    “There are groups from, I would say, some of the more vulnerable populations, members of the BIPOC community, LGBTQ community, foster youth,” St. Onge said. “We will save spots on campus for them to continue on campus should they desire.”

    Lower-level administrative positions have been on the front lines of the university’s response to controversy in the wake of last week’s housing announcement. 

    “I know I, myself, the folks who work in housing, our campus administration, we hear the concern, and we feel it,” Holliday said. “None of this is anything that we do lightly. We are doing everything we can to put the pieces together for our students in a way that alleviates as much of the concern and the negative impact as we can.”

    “There’s not going to be as many beds as will probably fill the need, but we are going to open some up,” St. Onge said.

  • Humboldt students struggle to find housing

    Humboldt students struggle to find housing

    by Ollie Hancock

     In August of every year, a new batch of students fills the dorms, apartments, and homes in Arcata neighborhoods. Overbearing parents pilot SUVs in a line around the block on check-in day. Students scramble through Craigslist listings in search of a last-minute opportunity. It’s no secret there is a housing shortage in Arcata, but the new polytechnic designation will increase demand. Cal Poly Humboldt expects to double in enrollment in the next six years. There are plans to build infrastructure, but they won’t be available until 2025 at the earliest. During this in-between period, the school will provide “bridge” housing. Steven Onge, a representative of Housing and Residence Life, explained the plan to master-lease nearby hotels to house students in the meantime. 

    “We’ve been working with it for over a year [and] we’ve developed relationships with several hotel owners and property managers,” Onge said. “This property was nice. There’s a pool there, and laundry is included, so we think the location was good, and the amenities are good.”

    This academic year, the Comfort Inn will house almost 98 students with amenities like maid service and free continental breakfast. Residence Life is doing their best to make it a genuine college dorm experience with group dinners. Students can take the bus to campus in about 10 min. 

    “We’ve got some vending machines which will have fresh food in them, and we’ll do weekly community dinners and events to support students,” Onge said. “I’m hoping to get a food truck that we can use.” 

    Students still aren’t convinced. Kirby Marks, a nonbinary student, was made to choose between staying in male or female dorms when the gender-neutral dorms were unavailable in their building.

    “I had to call them, and I was like, ‘I have no choices. There is no housing for me to choose from. I will not be able to live on campus. What’s going to happen?” Marks said. “So I had to change my gender marker to male so that I could actually get into housing.”

    Opportunities for housing off campus are few and far between. Senior Humboldt student Zack Gamble says the high demand for housing allowed landlords to take advantage of students. 

    “It’s too easy to be a bad landlord out here,” Gamble said. “You don’t have the opportunity to turn down a place because you might not get another one for a few months.You have to take what you can get no matter how run-down decrepit it is.” 

    Since moving to Humboldt, Gamble has experienced his fair share of shakey Humboldt housing, from dry rot-ridden houses that shift with every earthquake to out-of-code heaters that require DIY maintenance. Gamble thinks the school should look critically at how the polytechnic designation will impact housing. 

    “You can’t increase your student base every year but have nowhere to put them,” Gamble said.