Residence rooms on the increase
The new Jesuit Residence is home to its first 50 students this year. Each student has access to common rooms on the top floor.
photo by iits creative media services
This year, Concordia students seeking residence space vied for 215 beds. Some of those spots are in the Jesuit Residence at the northwest corner of the Loyola campus, and in the Grey Nuns building downtown.
But even a 50-per-cent increase in available spaces opver last year barely accommodated half of the applications received.
Peter Bolla, responsible for facilities management, anticipates that 1,300 beds will be available by 2010. In a recent interview, he outlined the integration of several new residences over the next few years.
Currently, the Grey Nuns Mother House houses two dozen female students. The residence is managed by Diane Raymond on behalf of the Grey Nuns. She said that the large rooms are occupied by women from Hong Kong and Italy, as well as other parts of Quebec.
Next year, three floors in one wing of the building will become coveted downtown residence space managed by Concordia. The residence will operate for several years, “while the building remains in a holding pattern until funds are secured to convert it to academic use,” Bolla said.
Meanwhile, the Jesuit Residence has been vacated and renovated for its new role as student housing. Each student gets a large private room and bath, along with access to a communal kitchen.
Concordia is making a decision on tenders put out last spring for a private company willing to provide a downtown residence. The proposal requested 500 beds within 10 minutes of the Sir George campus. Bolla expects the project to be up and running within two to three years.
Finally, Concordia is one of seven universities involved in the Cité Universitaire International de Montréal. In 2005, one third of all international students in the country were living in Montreal. Concordia will have 400 of the proposed 2,300 beds in the project. The proportion is based on enrolment statistics. Bolla expects that project to be occupied by 2010.
Bolla would like to see Concordia hit an eventual target of 1,600 available beds. “We’ll add beds by steps to make sure that the demand is there.”
Currently, there is no lack of demand. Melanie Drew, director of Health Services has been responsible for the residence program since 2001. She said there were 500 applications for student housing this year. But students are told that there are currently very few beds available.
“We try to be as honest as we can,” Drew said. Spaces are initially offered through a lottery system to first-year, full-time students who live more that 50 km away. These stringent criteria discourage thousands of students starting out each year from applying.
It may also mask what the demand for student housing at Concordia really is, especially since other universities are in a position to guarantee housing to first-year students.
Giuliana Panetta is manager of residence life. She said that half of each year’s residents tend to be international students; the other half come from out of province.