Sacramento State’s Student Housing Advisory Committee unveiled the results of a survey on the housing needs of Sac State students at a reception on Feb. 7.The survey results will be used to formulate plans for the construction of new student dormitories as part of Destination 2010.

The survey was conducted by Anderson Strickler, a consulting firm specializing in construction projects for educational institutions.”It really feels the pulse of the students on campus,” said Lori Varlotta, vice president of Student Affairs, in discussing the survey’s significance.If all goes according to plan, Varlotta hopes to have students moving in to new on-campus housing by fall of 2009.

The survey involved over 2,000 people, taking the opinions of both current students and parents. Among students, the survey centered around six focus groups: international students, first-time freshmen living on campus, first-time freshman in general, returning students living on campus and juniors and seniors in general and first-time transfer students.

The survey found that most first-time freshmen students are happy with the current residence hall situation – which includes smaller shared rooms ?” while older and international students would prefer more privacy with semi-suites, suites, and apartment-style housing.

This sentiment is reflected in the current housing statistics, with 75 percent of the students currently living on campus being first-time freshmen.

Some of the most important factors to students when choosing where to live include affordable rent, proximity to campus, security and safety. Parents also placed top emphasis on those factors, but also cared about having their children on meal plans and wanting their children to meet other students.

Parents also like the idea of their children living in student housing officially associated with the university and that has live-in staff.

The current Sac State resident halls have 1,072 beds, made up of 1,050 in traditional dorm-style rooms and 22 in semi-suites.

Based on the survey results, the demand by students for housing could be met by 2,496 new beds to compliment the 1,072 already on campus, for a total of 3,568 beds. The plan would also call for 921 of the current traditional-style dorm bedrooms to be converted to other housing configurations.

If students got their way, the survey suggests that the Sac State campus would end up with 304 beds of the traditional dorm-room variety, 248 in semi-suites, 1,284 in suites, and 1,732 in apartments.

While this plan would make students happy, the final construction may be different once rent and construction costs are considered.

“Student opinions count for quite a bit in this process,” Varlotta said. “But so do parent opinions, since they are going to pay for it.”

“We have very basic floor plans that we are looking at, but we don’t have architectural firms yet,” Varlotta said. “The chancellor’s office has to give us the go-ahead before we go on.”

The next step would be to get approval from Sac State President Alexander Gonzalez, and then get the plan approved by California State University Chancellor Charles B. Reed. The oversight ensures that the school’s plans are realistic given the project’s budget and expected revenue from rent.

Varlotta said the budget for student housing comes entirely from rent paid by students living in the dorms. Since taxes and outside funding are not used for student housing, extra income from student rent has been accumulating in a special account over the past few years to pay for the construction.

“It’s a direct service that students (can use),” Varlotta said. “Choosing to live on campus is an option, so if you want to partake in that optional activity, you pay a user fee.”

Some of the survey’s results came as a surprise to the Student Housing Advisory Committee. Cynthia Cockrill, director of residential and housing life, expected students to be excited about having classes taught in their residence halls, but instead found that student’s preferred to keep their living space and academic space separate.

Avi Ehrlich can be reached at [email protected]