Over 2,000 students live in on-campus housing and more than half of these are freshman or first-time students. Bonnie Burchett, director of housing and residence life, believes these students choose to live on campus because of the benefits that come from living in the residence halls.
“These numbers include transfer students,” Burchett said. “We get quite a few transfer students. It is also including those that live in family housing.”
“There are a lot of positives that come from living on campus,” she said. She notes that the conveniences are what many students like. “Students can wake up 10 to 15 minutes before class and still make it on time. Because they don’t have to commute, they save gas, which is very valuable right now.”
Another benefit that comes from living in the dorms is being closer to the services located on campus. Students have better access to the Center for Physical Activity, the library, computer labs and all the special events and activities that are held on campus.
“That seems like the more economical thing to do,” Burchett said. “Students pay for these things in their fees. It doesn’t make sense to repay for them somewhere else.”
Burchett believes that the biggest positive is the opportunity to live in the community environment. “People from all different backgrounds get to live together in close proximities,” she said. “Most students have probably never lived like this before and it can be a real positive experience.”
“Students learn to get along, get past their differences and I really feel that it makes them more accountable,” Burchett said. “They get the opportunity to make lifelong friends. There’s always somebody around if you want to do something so you’re hardly ever alone.”
However, living in on-campus housing is not always a positive experience. Roommate problems, studying issues, lack of privacy and unhappiness with room arrangements are the main problems that plague students.
“Some students say that they can’t study in their halls,” Burchett said. “That really gripes me. Some of the best students live on campus. Honors scholars, Roan scholars, they all live on campus. Our surveys even showed that students who live on campus persist to graduation at a higher rate than those that commute.”
Some residents don’t like the community bathrooms that most of the dorms have and some also dislike the lack of privacy that comes from living in a community situation. “The residence halls that have private or suite bathrooms always fill up first,” Burchett said. “We also have a lot more requests for private rooms. Last year, we had so many requests for private rooms that we couldn’t fill them all.”
The housing department is addressing the bathroom issue in the new residence hall, which has yet to be named. It has 217 double occupancy rooms, all of which have private baths. This hall will also have individual thermostats in all the rooms and more flexible furniture arrangements.
“When it comes to the actual dorms, most students are unhappy with the temperature and the fact that most of the furniture is immovable because it is attached to the wall,” Burchett said.
“They say that it is either too hot or too cold. They can’t change it because the older rooms don’t have any way to change the temperature.”
The problem that most residents face is conflict with their roommates and neighbors. Burchett feels that the first step to resolve these issues lies within the students themselves.
“We want the students to take self-responsibility,” she said. “They need to address it themselves and if that doesn’t work, then go to the resident advisor or resident director. If they can’t get it settled then it comes over here to us.”
ETSU has a total of 11 residence halls. Davis Apartments and Lucille Clement Hall are the only co-ed halls.
There are two off-campus apartment complexes which are a part of the ETSU housing system – Buc Ridge and Buc Village. Burchett believes that living in the dorms is a better deal than renting an apartment. The least expensive dorm is $1,082 a semester per person. Most residence halls charge $1,155 a semester per person. The halls with private baths and kitchens cost slightly more. Electricity, water, cable, telephone and Internet are included in the price.
“The charges for the halls is combined with tuition and can be paid for with financial aid,” Burchett said. “Another thing is if one roommate doesn’t pay, it won’t affect the one that does. Students don’t have to worry about getting their electricity turned off.”
“I think everyone should live on-campus for at least one year,” Burchett said. “Some people have lived on-campus all through their college careers and loved it.

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