Jackson State tackles housing issues

William H. Kelly III
Associate Editor

As college enrollments continue to increase, Jackson State University, like many other colleges and universities across the nation, are faced with challenges in providing housing to students in need.

As this fall semester began, much attention was given to this issue in the local media in Jackson as some JSU students faced housing challenges.  JSU is projected to have 10,000 students, its highest enrollment numbers in the history of the university, which university officials say contributed to the need for housing.

James C. Renick, Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic and Student Affairs at JSU, told The Blue & White Flash several reasons why the housing situation occurred.

“You have this confluence of factors where we’re housing more students, acquired a 500 plus bed complex, and then we got another off-campus facility. We have to fix up the property and get all of that ready for the fall in addition to getting the rest of the residence halls ready. We just kind of fell behind schedule and when you do that it has a domino effect on everything,” said Renick.

He added that students participating in summer programs and ongoing renovation to some residence halls contributed to the problem as well. Summer program students were housed in various locations on campus instead of one specific building.

“We have a lot of summer programs and we just have to be better at managing the properties we have, especially in the summer, so we can get in there, renovate, clean and do what we need to do in those spaces as opposed to having students spread out all over campus,” stated Renick.

Submitting paperwork and following required guidelines can play a major role in having a smooth housing process.

“In the housing contract there is a provision that you have 48 hours to claim your room; we really kind of stuck to, if you don’t claim your room or if you’re not here or you haven’t paid your balance, then your reservation is expired and we have to give it to someone else,” said the Provost.

He added: “Many students had a large balance and what we’ve done historically, which I’m not sure is the best policy, is allow students to come into the residence hall and when they don’t have enough money to pay their tuition then they have to leave the residence hall. If you do it that way then you have other students who have paid all their money and are ready to go and it’s almost too late for them to get housing.”

While some students did experience difficulty, others report that their process was smooth and worry free.

“I applied for housing the second day that we could apply last semester and over the summer I received housing without any problems and I was housed in Campbell South. I didn’t get placed with my requested suitemates and I asked to be placed in the Palisades but I wasn’t complaining,” said Alivia Swenson, a sophomore social work major from Fairfield, Calif. “Besides that my process was smooth. I just had to sign the housing contract and turn it in and then go over to Campbell to get my key activated and that was it.”

In some cases, students who completed their housing process on time still faced problems with on-campus housing.

William Carroll, a sophomore civil engineering major from Mobile, Ala., is a track team member and honors student who faced housing issues. Carroll was scheduled to be assigned housing by Aug. 21 but was able to move-in early on Aug. 19.

“I got to Jackson State on Aug. 18 and I’ve been assigned housing since late June, early July. I heard a lot of stuff going on, I heard a lot of people didn’t have housing and that they were giving away people’s rooms so I stayed consistent with checking my P.A.W.S. account to make sure I still had my housing,” said Carroll.  “I still had my housing when I got here but I couldn’t check in and I actually saw somebody else’s name highlighted in the room that I was supposed to be in. I just happened to recognize the name, which was one of the freshmen coming in on the team.”

Renick stated that if students have completed all the proper paperwork and have the funds available for housing, there are rooms available.

“We still have a few vacancies primarily for women; the men’s spaces are almost exhausted. We are in conversation with IHL to build housing. Next fall Alexander Center will come back online and that will give us about 300 additional beds. I don’t envision this to be a problem next year,” said Renick.

Social media and local news stations reported anonymously that a Jackson State student was supposedly living out of his vehicle.

“That story turned out to be a prank, but I think when people are frustrated sometimes they say things. I didn’t see the story but I heard there was no face shown. There wasn’t anybody living out of their car, it was all a hoax,” said Renick.

According to the housing department, JSU currently provides housing for approximately 2,800 students. Current enrollment numbers for JSU will be available on Sept. 10.

Jackson State currently has several residence halls located on and off campus. They include on-campus: Alexander Residence Hall, Campbell College Suites, John W. Dixon Hall, McAllister-Whiteside Residence Hall, and Transitional Hall. Off campus locations include: University Pointe (formerly The Palisades), Tiger Plaza, and Tiger Pointe (formerly local hotels).

According to Renick, Jackson State is one of the few universities that make accommodations to help upperclassmen. Schools including the University of Mississippi and Mississippi State only guarantee housing to freshmen, but they do have more apartments close to their campuses.