When the Howard Johnson Hotel was filled and there were still students that needed housing, the University of Tampa turned to the Sheraton Suites as a temporary fix. Four weeks into the semester students are still living in the Sheraton, and UT’s Associate Dean of Residence Life, Krystal Schofield, is searching for a solution. While the process of room swapping was ongoing at the time of the interview, Schofield established a definite timetable for the integration of students quartered at the Sheraton onto either the Howard Johnson or campus.
“Room changes will be completed by September 16, 2011,” she said. “And the moves will be completed over the weekend.”
Schofield acknowledged the rumor that students were offered monetary incentives over the summer to move off campus and thus free up additional housing, but stated that the attempt was a small-scale one and relatively unsuccessful.
“Over the summer, there were offers made to a select group of students. However, that process ended prior to the start of the semester, and fewer than ten students accepted the offer,” she said.
In addition, Schofield stated that it would be counter-productive to tighten security measures in an attempt to weed out troublesome residents and make room for more deserving individuals.
Schofield disavowed the prevalent belief that discipline was enforced more strictly at the hotels than in the residence halls and affirmed equality of security both on and off campus. Rather, she advocated a more constructive ideology concerning housing violations.
“Our goal is not to have students removed from campus for violations. We would rather help them understand the policies to become Spartans. When students, regardless of their housing assignments, violate our policies, we follow set procedures,” she said.
To counter concerns that the integration of Sheraton students into the HoJo might cause discomfort or inconvenience for preexisting residents, Schofield stated that life at the hotel would continue just as before.
Freshman writing major Allyson Anatra stated that while living at the off-campus hotel presented certain problems as well as perks, the experience was overall an enjoyable and rewarding one.
“I love a lot of things about this place like how we have queen size beds, maid service, our own pool and the easy-going vibes it gives off. I also, surprisingly, love the walk between campus and the HoJo. There are beautiful sites to see along the way and it keeps me active,” Anatra said of her living conditions.
“The best part of the HoJo would be all the friendly people who live in it. Everyone chills in the hallways and there are always people sitting outside; I feel like I make new friends every day.”
Marring an otherwise pleasant residence assignment, however, was one glaring inconvenience.
“A few weeks ago it would be a miracle to send an email from inside my room because I was usually forced to go out into the hallway for a stronger Wi-Fi connection,” she stated.
Donna Alexander, Vice President for Information Technology at UT, admitted that technical difficulties of this nature among HoJo residents was not uncommon, but affirmed that her department was doing everything in its power to rectify the situation.
“Installation of the additional equipment was completed Tuesday, September 13 at 5:30 p.m. After the upgrade, the Howard Johnson Internet service vendor did a room-to-room check to verify that the Internet service was working acceptably,” explained Alexander. “Reports from 40 students across all UT occupied floors indicated Internet access had improved significantly. The Internet service vendor is continuing to monitor the situation and has additional equipment on hand to install if needed.”
Anatra verified that Internet connection problems had greatly diminished since the start of the semester, but despite her over-arching satisfaction with her living conditions, expressed the belief that hotel housing should remain only a temporary arrangement for UT.
“It is definitely a better choice to build new residence halls so that all the students are living on campus together,” she closed.
Jeffrey Palmer can be reached at jeffrey.palmer@spartans.ut.edu.
Haha, I saw two water bottles and a lovely feet on the photo