An Ohio State official said an operational change in the South Campus Gateway apartments made sense, but ultimately, drove some residents away.
OSU’s Office of Student Life assumed operation of the apartments on Aug. 1. OSU previously owned the apartments, but they were operated by Campus Partners, an affiliate foundation of the university.
Molly Ranz Calhoun, associate vice president for Student Life, said the change in operation “makes sense.”
Housing experts are already employed within the Office of Student Life, and Calhoun said the apartments will maintain a high quality of housing.
With the university two-year live-on requirement expected to be enforced before the 2015-2016 school year, the Gateway apartments will contribute to the additional number of beds needed to house all second-year students.
All Gateway residents, who had been contracting with Campus Partners prior to the change, had the option to stay in their apartment and contract with the university.
Kris Bradley, a third-year in aeronautical engineering, lived in a three-bedroom apartment in the Gateway last academic year but chose not to contract with the university.
Bradley said his decision not to stay was because “we couldn’t find a third roommate. We didn’t want to play the lottery and get a random person assigned to us.”
Under a contract with the university, Bradley said he and his roommate wouldn’t have control over their third roommate. He said OSU would automatically fill any vacancies as it does with other residence halls.
In an interview in May, Calhoun said Campus Partners had retained “about 70 percent” of its residences in the Gateway apartments from year to year and retention rates this year were “pretty consistent with that.”
Undergraduate students living in the apartments have a contract with OSU, while graduate students have a lease; both end on April 30, 2013. Students have the option to renew these and maintain their residence over the summer.
Gateway apartment residents must pay for water and electric but have access to free wireless internet, cable and phone service from OSU.
Calhoun said the Gateway apartments are “very appealing to juniors and seniors.”
Each apartment building has five resident advisers and a hall director.
“We’re trying to give the students there the same experience they would have in a residence hall,” Calhoun said.
Ashley Bowe, a third-year in strategic communication, lived in the Gateway apartments prior to the operation change and chose to contract with the university.
Bowe said there have not been many visible changes since the operation change and that the atmosphere is the same.
“It’s just an apartment building, it doesn’t feel like a residence hall,” Bowe said.
Some amenities that were offered by Campus Partners are no longer available, Bowe said. Previously, residents were able to rent air mattresses and vacuums, which they can no longer do, she said.
“The biggest difference is the rent went down,” Bowe said.
Under a lease from Campus Partners, rent per month was $1,195 for a one-bedroom apartment, $1,622 for two bedrooms and $2,150 for three bedrooms, said Erin Prosser, director of marketing and community relations for Campus Partners.
Residence halls are divided into four categories: room rates 1A, one, two and three. Rate 1A is the most expensive, costing $3,848 per semester
Calhoun said that rates per semester for the Gateway are “geared more towards rate one and rate two,” and are consistent with that of other residence halls.
Rate one is $3,609 per semester, which is about $720 per month. Rate two is $3,021 per semester, which is about $604 per month. Monthly rates are under the assumption that residents will occupy the room for five months in a semester.
This rate “is typical for our apartment-style, renovated, air-conditioned kind of buildings,” Calhoun said.