AISLINN EDMUNDS
Special to The Leader
It’s no secret that SUNY Fredonia is in financial disarray from program cuts to most extracurricular club budgets being cut in half.
But I fear that Fredonia is beginning to think that the solution to these economic problems is to squeeze even more pennies out of the students who already pay a considerable amount to learn and live here nine months out of the year.
My newest concern lies with Residence Life, as I have reason to believe that their newest townhouse “policy” puts dollars into the pockets of our institution while taking advantage of their students in tandem.
On April 9, I and 196 other townhouse residents received an email from Resident Director Jill Swanson that said, “All townhouse students are expected to move out by Friday, May 24 regardless if you are returning to your same unit next year. Students are not permitted to store their items in the townhouses over the summer.”
This email raised confusion, as I remembered Swanson telling me and my roommates Michael Hamill, John Read and Stephanie Reed over the winter break before our move-in that a big selling point for townhouse residency is that tenants can keep their items in their units over summer vacations.
Townhouse residents pay an average of $5,150 per person, per semester, along with a $100 deposit.
This is easily the most expensive housing plan offered, compared to kitchen suites sitting at $4,300 and standard single- and double- occupancy costing anywhere from $4,100 to $4,800.
Many of us have agreed to these prices because we were led to understand that we were also paying for amenities that are not offered in other residence halls.
Since the email did not explain why we’d need to move out of a unit that we’d be living in again next fall, I naturally sent an email to Residence Life asking for clarification. This began a chain of messages that gave inconsistent explanations as to why residents needed to move.
Residence Life and Director of Residence Life Kathy Forster had initially informed me that the units would be used for summer camp and conference housing. However, in her email response, she stated, “We do not provide summer storage in any residence hall or townhouse bedrooms/common spaces as these areas are rented out for conferences and programs during the summer months.”
What’s interesting about this explanation is that there would be no furnishings in our units to successfully house students or conference goers. I’ve been told by several Resident Assistants that summer camps always house students in the dorms, as it is easier to keep track of everyone in one building.
I then responded to Forster by saying, “Thank you for the clarification. However, the first email on this chain confirms that storage was accessible in years previous [ — ] ‘In past years that was an option but not for the past couple.’ [ — ] and was the policy that I as well as my roommates were promised when we moved in.”
After this, I was then informed on April 10 by Forster that I couldn’t keep my belongings in my unit because, “Due to normal wear and tear and sadly abuse of the townhouse units they require professional preventative maintenance and at times renovations in all units.”
Again, I question this being the case since we were asked last spring to move out for necessary renovation that was explained to us as though this were a one-time inconvenience, which seems to now not be the case. The email regarding this came from Swanson on April 4, 2023, stating, “We are completing extensive maintenance projects in the townhouses this summer including but not limited to door repairs, ceiling repairs and full painting of all units so that when residents return this fall the units are fresh and up to date. This does not allow belongings to be kept in the units over the summer.”
In that same email from Swanson, there was a note saying, “With living in the townhouses, students are able to stay from August to May (including academic year breaks) at no additional cost. This does not include summer break.” But this comment did not state that this was a policy for every year, so we assumed it was specific to just Summer 2023 while renovations were being done.
In fact, nowhere on the official lease, nor the Fredonia website, does it specifically state anything about the disallowance of unit storage over the summer break. It only reiterates what Swanson’s email said, that from August to May, there would be no additional cost for storage over any breaks. The vagueness is distinct.
The townhouse licensing agreement also states that general upkeep and maintenance are permitted all year round while residents are living in their units. Under the inspection section, it says, “Duly Authorized representatives of the university may enter student rooms for the purpose of inspection or maintenance.” What would the moving of our belongings do to aid in this process if it is possible to complete while we live here?
My favorite response was an email from Forster, who assured me that I would be able to keep my belongings in my unit and live here over the summer if I were to pay a $3,000 fee as per the link she forwarded me: “We are offering summer housing in the Townhouses if interested. Feel free to visit this link for more information regarding summer housing in the townhouses.”
This last suggestion left me especially confused. Where will the alleged summer campers and conference attendees stay if I choose to reside in my unit? What if we all chose to pay the $3,000? Would this new policy remain relevant since there is such a desperate need for summer vacancies?
Despite this policy becoming the “new expectation,” there has been no change to the licensing agreement since 2021 when I moved here, to the licensing agreement that exists now as of April 16, 2024.
Lastly, residents were given no formal notice that the policy had changed. If you ask Residence Life where you can find the written policy, they will forward you to the regulations around occupancy and summer residency. Still, there is nothing that suggests there to be an allowance or disallowance to keeping belongings in the unit.
In fact, the timing of their email on April 9 informing us about the lack of complimentary storage accommodations for the summer break came four days after applications for townhouse living in Fall 2024 closed. The Fredonia website includes the statement “UPDATE AS OF 4/5/2024 Townhouse Applications are closed for Fall 2024.”
It feels deliberate that Residence Life decided to upheave almost 200 students’ plans only after they had committed to a lease for the following year.
You may be wondering where we are expected to keep our belongings since we were informed about this new policy with a month of school left and with no prior notice. Well don’t you worry, Residence Life has us covered!
For the price of $200 per person, we can store a whopping 10 boxes worth of our belongings in one-half of a dorm located in abandoned Igoe Hall with no assistance in pick up or drop off.
If you’re wondering how an entire apartment is meant to fit on only one side of a dorm room you wouldn’t be the only one! But if you feel you need the whole room to store 20 boxes then no worries! You’ll only have to pay $400 in exchange.
In my final response to Forster, I suggested our email chain shows significant inconsistency and vagueness in the explanation of why we can no longer keep our items in our townhouses. This, along with ignoring my request to drop the storage charge, and then telling me I could stay in my unit with my belongings for the right price, leads me to believe that the reason we are being asked to move out has nothing but monetary benefit for our school and complete financial exploitation of students who are attending a school that was sold to us as “affordable.”
Since sending this email, I’ve been met with silence from Forster.
After a week’s worth of communication with Swanson, we scheduled a meeting with Forster and Swanson for Friday, April 19.
Unsurprisingly, no headway was made. When bringing up our concerns and personal perspective on the situation we were unfortunately met with deflective and unprofessional behavior from Forster with a considerable amount of eye rolls. It felt as though she fostered an overall contempt that the meeting was happening at all.
Contrary to Forster’s behavior, Swanson greeted us with compassion and empathy.
She was apologetic for the confusion we’ve experienced. She was more than willing to continue the discussion with us to aid in making the move out as smooth as possible, despite her inability to change the situation.
In this meeting, we suggested a proper email be sent to inform all students that the townhouses, in Forster’s words, will “never ever ever ever offer summer storage again” to ensure that all confusion current residents have can be resolved. Forster did not seem receptive to this recommendation.
We were provided an additional reason for the discontinuation of this amenity, explaining that staff for summer camps will be living in some but not all of the units for the first time ever. We suggested that senior units could be used for this lodging since they would need to move regardless but we were told that this would not be equitable for all students, or convenient for Residence Life.
We still lack understanding as to why they have never explained this new reason before when they had admitted to knowing that this plan would be put into action for several months now, if not an entire year.
Forster expressed disappointment in our concern, as the previous in-unit storage was a “courtesy” and it’s too bad how kind courtesies happen and then people assume that this will be the standard. She then threatened to remove the policy that allows us to move in a week before classes and stay a week after classes end since that is a “courtesy” as well: “We will certainly either go back to the standard move-in date where everyone is moving and keep it standard to a regular residence hall, I don’t know what the answer is.”
Since Forster had told us unprompted this action was “not a money grab,” I once again suggested the waiving of the $200 fee just for this semester. I had hoped to continue the discussion but was only met with, “We appreciate your feedback.”
After some awkward silence, my roommate Michael then asked, “Just to be clear, you will not waive the $200 storage fee, and we still have to move out?” Forster responded with a clipped “Yep, that’s right.”
What was most disappointing about this entire affair was how we had ultimately hoped that we’d be able to have an open conversation. We wanted Forster to understand that the choices that are being made considerably impact her residents. Forster failed to show us she understood this message as she continued to chastise and project the problem onto us.
One helpful piece of advice offered by Forster is that we should look into Dan’s Moving and Storage Company if we’re so worried about the on-campus storage charge. So if you have to move out of the townhouses this summer, don’t take it from me, take it from Forster! Use Dan’s! They’ll be sure to offer a more equitable deal that includes pick-up and drop-off of stored items.
I, as well as many other residents, have signed a petition that explains that this policy change was made with no proper notice and does not honor the promises we were given at the time of moving in. The attempt to take even more money from the students whose tuition, room and board are meant to pay for the quality of life and education we were promised when agreeing to studentship at this institution and the sneakiness and dishonesty behind the decision to dishonor past agreements are egregious.
To think the student body will take this manipulative action in silence is ignorant. Despite everything, our ultimate goal as residents is to come to an equitable agreement. We are more than willing to negotiate with Residence Life for fair terms in the form of allowing us to store our items in our units or dropping the $200 storage charge.
As of now I, as well as my roommates, cannot in good conscience promote or encourage prospective students to apply to our institution with the understanding that there is financial exploitation around every corner.