Changes to Housing Policies
Assistant Vice Provost for Student Housing Steve Nygaard spoke about student’s concerns about whether Loyola Village Residence Hall may no longer require students to be 21 years and older. “It’s supposed to be for juniors,” Nygaard said.
Loyola Village residences consist of 136 apartments. The residence life website for Loyola markets the housing complex stating, “Here mature students can begin the transition to independent off-campus living in a secure complex that houses other faculty, staff, and students.”
However, due to growing numbers in the student population and limited student housing, Loyola Village has also become the home of younger students.
USF’s Institutional Master Plan, which outlines the university’s upcoming construction projects, includes a proposal to build a new student housing facility on Lone Mountain. However, Nygaard said he did not have sufficient details to comment on the project.
He did make clear that USF cannot co-sign on off-campus residence leases to ensure landlords house USF students. While the university can encourage landlords to provide student housing, the lease remains between the landlord and student.
New ASUSF Senate Position for VP of Sustainability
ASUSF Senate VP of Internal Affairs Kelly Cook presented details on a new ASUSF executive board position which would help manage the $22,000 budget of the Green Initiative Fund for Tomorrow(GIFT). The position of VP of Sustainability would require the student to develop and manage several initiatives to help USF become a more environmentally friendly campus.
Since the funds for GIFT are collected from a $2 contribution each student pays as part of the student activity fee, the VP of sustainability would ensure the money be used responsibly to create environmentally sustainable projects on campus. The ASUSF executive member would also head the ASUSF sustainability sub-committee, which is currently comprised of students dedicated to increasing sustainable initiatives on campus. Some of the projects the sub-committee has recently executed have been the bicycle giveaway and the water bottle design contest. Both projects relate to the upcoming Bike to School Day scheduled for March 6 and the Earth Day event to be held April 19 where the sub-committee will give away the student designed water bottles. The goal of the sub-committee is to encourage USF students to make more environmentally conscious decisions while providing more sustainable projects on campus.
Further updates on when candidates will be able to run for the position of VP of sustainability will be announced later this semester.
