Student Housing Report and Plan

 

 

For the academic years 2005-2006 and 2006-2007, Northland Pioneer College has contracted for student housing services with the America’s Best Value Inn (formerly The Western Holiday Motel) in Holbrook, AZ.  At a cost of $2000 per student per semester, NPC students have received a private room at the motel.  The motel is approximately two miles from the Painted Desert Campus.  NPC currently provides no transportation between the motel and any NPC facility.  Efforts to expand this service by making similar arrangements with motels in other NPC site communities have proven unsuccessful. 

 

NPC currently charges a student a $100 refundable security deposit and $1000 per semester for student housing that the Best Value Inn.  The college pays the other $1000 per semester per student directly to the inn.  To date, there has been one major security incident.  In the fall of 2005, a student’s room was broken into and burglarized.  The student became involved in a fight with one of the intruders.  He reported the burglary and fight to the police.

 

Student Housing Occupancy, Fall 2005-Spring 2007

 

Fall 2005     Spring 2006     Fall 2006     Spring 2007(to date)

     7                        5                    7                      6

 

Total cost to NPC (4 semesters):  $25,000  (annual budget allocation of $24,000)

 

The primary advantage of the current arrangement is that students do not need to search for housing on their own.  The college provides the facility through a contract service; the student simply has to pay his/her fees and show up at the motel.  The disadvantages of the current arrangement are:

 

·        Housing is available at one NPC site only, while some programs (Nursing, for example) are available only at other sites

·        Distance from the housing to the nearest campus (two miles), no NPC transportation available

·        Lack of in-room or in-facility cooking and laundry services

·        Nature of the facility (motel, single rooms only) limits service to single students only; no married student couples, no families, no groups of students can participate

 

Plan for 2007-2008

 

While the current arrangement has not placed a large strain on college financial resources or staff time, the service it provides is limited.  We plan to not renew the contract with America’s Best Value Inn at the conclusion of the 2006-2007 academic year.  In place of the current housing arrangement, the college will initiate a student relocation housing scholarship program.

A student relocation housing scholarship program assumes that the intent of student housing is to allow students who do not live near NPC sites to have living quarters near a NPC site.  It also assumes that the primary focus of any NPC housing arrangement would be to assist students who must relocate in order to pursue their education.  With these assumptions in mind, the relocation housing scholarship program will operate as follows:

 

·        Financial Aid will initiate a new scholarship designed for students who must relocate to pursue their NPC educational career

·        Student will need to demonstrate financial need through the federal financial aid process

·        Student will need to demonstrate that they have relocated/are relocating to community near a NPC facility to pursue their education (verification of home address, verification of new address, a signed lease, rental agreement, or verification of a pending lease or rental agreement)

·        Student will need to demonstrate full-time enrollment status for the applicable semester

·        Scholarship amounts will vary based on need, to a maximum of $1000 per semester

·        Scholarship fund will total $24,000 per academic year (current annual budget outlay for student housing)

·        NPC Student Services will provide interested students with contact information and apartment/rental listings, as available, in NPC site communities

 

This scholarship arrangement will have the following advantages over the current housing arrangement:

 

·        The scholarship is portable – it can be used to relocate to any NPC site community

·        The scholarship is flexible – any type of student (married, single-parent, etc) can take advantage of the opportunity

·        The scholarship gives more choice to students – students can identify what living arrangements work best for them (students could theoretically pool their scholarship funds and live together, improving their group financial situation)

·        The scholarship allows NPC to continue to practice fiscal restraint, since the college can cap awards and total fund balance at whatever amount seems prudent