Current News/March06
From CNUpedia, an IEEE Innovation.
Contents |
Trible meets with cnuhousingsucks.com
A summary of their conversation can be found at their website.
President Trible responds to the housing issue
The following is an email sent to the CNU Community on 3/24/06
I regret that CNU is unable to fulfill immediately all requests for on campus housing next year. Over the past ten years, CNU’s residential student population has exploded from 300 students in 1996 to almost 3,000 residential students in 2006. Happily our students are choosing in remarkable numbers to live on campus and you have brought our campus alive with your energy, enthusiasm and intellectual firepower.
Regrettably, the construction of new residential facilities has not been able to keep up with the student demand. Every year, more and more upper-class students want to live on campus. That’s a challenge experienced by schools that are vibrant and successful, but it does pose a problem.
There are approximately 330 upper-class students who wish to live on campus and have not yet been offered rooms. The housing lottery will be completed today, Friday, March 24. Next week – starting on Wednesday – 90 additional rooms will be offered to these 330 students according to their lottery number. That will reduce the number of upper-class students awaiting rooms to 240.
In past years, a large number of students have reserved rooms and then made other arrangements. Each year that number is about 5% of the overall number of beds that are available and that would mean that between now and the start of classes in August, we will be able to offer about 150 beds to the remaining 240 students. In other words, we believe that we will be able to accommodate almost all of the students who wish to live on campus.
I have asked the housing office to work with every student and help you find a place on campus or find an appropriate place in the community.
CNU has requested authority to spend $25 million to build another residential complex. Both the House of Delegates and State Senate have approved this request. This authority will allow us to meet the increasing demand for beds over the next several years. Unfortunately, it will not help us this year or next.
The following are answers to frequently asked questions about housing.
GENERAL: Q. How many beds are available to students? A. Total Beds 2,871 Freshman Beds -1,140 - 1,641 Sophomore Beds -926 - 715 Beds Retained by Students -342 Beds Available for Lottery 373
Q. I am a rising junior/senior, why can’t I have preference over rising sophomores? A. Rising sophomores are required to live on campus.
Q. Will Housing help me find off campus accommodations? A. Yes, the Housing office will assist every student who is looking for off-campus housing. The housing web site will post off-campus opportunities.
Q. How does living off campus impact my financial aid? A. Financial aid provides for both on and off campus housing expenses.
Q. Can I “over crowd” with others who have selected a room during the lottery? A. Yes, providing the other residents agree.
Q. Can I be drawn into an accommodation with a rising sophomore? A. Not until all rising sophomores have had an opportunity to select a space.
Q. Are there other on-campus options coming that were not included in the lottery? A. Yes, Warwick River Hall has been added for occupancy during the 2006-2007 academic year.
Q. Why didn’t housing anticipate the shortage? A. An unprecedented number of students have chosen to remain on campus.
WAIT LIST:
Q. How will I be contacted if a space becomes available? A.
- The Housing Office will call students on the wait list to let them know when openings are available.
- The Housing Office will develop a web page that will allow each student on the wait list to check their current status.
Q. When will I be contacted? A. The staff in the Housing Office will begin to contact students on Wednesday, March 29, 2006 and will continue to contact them as spaces become available.
Q. How do I get on the wait list? A. You are automatically placed on the wait list in the order of your lottery appointment number, and will be contacted in that order.
Q. Will I be offered a bed or an entire accommodation? A. If an entire unit is available, you will be entitled to fill the unit in accordance with established lottery guidelines. If only one bed within a unit is available, then you may opt to take it or defer until the next bed becomes available.
DEPOSIT:
Q. Can I get my deposit back? A. We will return your deposit if you wish to be removed from the waitlist or if we do not offer you a bed.
Q. If you offer me a bed, and I do not accept the offer, do I forfeit my deposit? A. Yes. If you are offered a bed and decline to accept it, you will forfeit your deposit.
If you would like additional clarification or have a question not answered above please contact the housing office at housing@cnu.edu or by calling 757-594-7756.
Paul Trible
President
Christopher Newport University
1 University Place
Newport News, VA 23606
PHONE: 757-594-7002
FAX: 757-594-7864
e-mail: ptrible@cnu.edu
Dining services is under the microscope
The following is an email sent to the CNU Community on 3/20/06
CNU Community, I hope you all had a happy and safe St. Patrick's Day! Hopefully by now you know that the university is looking into the possibility of contracting out our dining services. I am appreciative of the amount of students who have emailed the Dining Services Advisory Committee and I about their opinions regarding dining services, however I would like more feedback. Of a 5,000 person community, this committee has only heard from about 100 individuals (not counting petition signatories, or face book postings). For the most part, the kinds of comments include both pros and cons that take into consideration the atmosphere of student life; our dining services staff, the quality of our food. Please email sga@cnu.edu, and let me know how you feel about this matter. If you're better at public speaking, them come to the Senate meeting today, Monday at 5:30pm in SC 150 the Alumni Room to participate in the Senate's discussion on dining services. Below I've outlined specific aspects of CNU dining services to be taken into consideration… yes, it's a long email (SORRY!) but be sure to read through and take note of the reminders at the end!
Specifically I am interested in hearing comments we have not already heard (i.e. I've already heard that students love our dining services staff), tell me what you like best about our current food service operation? Do you like the menu options? The variety? Made -to order items at Discovery or Captains? Do you like the autonomy we have as a self-op to make immediate changes (did you know that with our current food provider, Sysco, if students went up to the Director of Dining Services Kevin Ososkie and said 1,000 students wanted a Mediterranean dish for dinner tomorrow, he could put that order in by 5:30pm and the school would receive the ingredients the next morning?).
What do you like the least about our current food service operation? Do you think our management is poor? Do you think the staff has little ownership in their jobs and their customers? In other words, do you think the staff sees themselves as an integral part of our CNU community?
s the food consistently bad? Do you think it is poor quality? (Did you know in terms of food quality, we order between the middle and top quality food which is above average compared to our needs and other schools)?
How much or are you willing to pay more money for contracted services?
Would you like to see new meal plan options (whether we contract out or not, this is something we can change)?
What guarantees would you like to see expressed in a contract if we choose a contracted service provider? (We have already asked that if we hire a contractor, that they rehire all of our full-time staff.)
What are your friends at other schools saying about their food service provider? Have you been to other schools across the state? Was what they offered in terms of food, quality, and service better than CNU? Is the positive difference you saw in other schools changes that could be implemented within our current dining service operations? (Keep in mind that you still haven't seen what the Student Union has to offer: made-to order Mongolian food from the Mongolian grill, brick pizzas, home style/breakfast bars… a Cosi concept, and a Coldstone concept as well). Do you think the decision to contract out should not be made until we open the new student union and see how those operations are for a year or two?
Club presidents and treasurers: keep in mind this decision affects catering and concessions too. Clubs and organizations might be faced with fewer catering waver options and more expensive food. For example, the students at Oakland University were appalled by the cost of a 2-liter of a Pepsi product for $3.55 through Aramark and $1.50 through Chartwells (http://www.oakland.edu/post/09242003/campus.htm)
I have a great number of articles about Aramark, Chartwells, Sodexho and Thompson Hospitality (the four companies contracted in the state) and would love to share this information in a balanced fashion with anyone if they have any questions or concerns- stop by the SGA office in the student center. I hope students understand that the decision has still NOT been made. I have a vote in this committee, and I intend on voting on how the student body feels on this issue; but I can't make that decision without your input. In the meantime I'm doing further research on the cost-benefits of contracting out versus self-operating etc.
- Final reminders: applications for in for SGA elections and Class Council elections are due in OSL today (Monday at 5pm). While you're there ask for information to nominate someone for professor of the year or male/female leader of the year!
- Personal Responsibility on Warwick Boulevard (PR on WB) week hosted by SGA's Pedestrian Safety Committee and SIFE is being capped off with Sheriff Gabe Morgan of Newport News speaking today (Monday, March 20,
2006) 4 :00 - 5:00pm in the CNU Alumni Room. Be sure to come check it out.
- Senate meetings every Monday at 5:30 in SC150 - an excellent opportunity for visitors to share their comments and concerns about anything CNU.
- Hate reading these long emails, but want to keep in touch with what SGA is doing? Keep an eye out in your mailbox for quarterly updates from your student body President in "The Main Mast." The first one was sent out last week.
Mehreen Farooq
President, Student Government Association Christopher Newport University mehreen.farooq.04@cnu.edu
