R.3
A resolution regarding
Undergraduate Housing at the Hasbrouck Apartment Complex

Whereas Hasbrouck Apartment Complex offers Graduate and Professional Students with families a family-friendly and affordable housing option close to campus, fostering a vibrant community of scholars and families; and,

Whereas for the 2006–2007 academic year, Campus Housing placed 30 undergraduate and transfer students into the family-centered Graduate student residence, Hasbrouck Apartment Complex, in an effort to meet the need for available housing laid out in the Residential Initiative during the construction on West Campus; and,

Whereas on February 27, 2006, following a visit from concerned Hasbrouck residents, the GPSA passed the following motion:

The GPSA wishes to notify the Office of Campus Life and the Division of Student and Academic Services, as well as the Board of Trustees, of the GPSA’s disapproval of the decision to house “traditional” undergraduates in the Hasbrouck Apartment complex, and that the GPSA strongly urges Campus Life to halt contract negotiations with undergraduates and to consider other options.

And,

Whereas this �pilot program� in operation this year has proven disturbing to the community of graduate and professional students who rely on the housing complex to provide a family-centered community of mature scholars; and,

Whereas in response to the �pilot program�, the current and prospective residents of Hasbrouck � graduate, professional, undergraduate and transfer students � have each strongly and publicly opposed implementation of the extended plan; and

Whereas under the current plan, Campus Housing plans to place up to 270 undergraduates in Hasbrouck for the 2007–2008 academic year; and,

Whereas Campus Housing has been unable to provide a guarantee that the period in which undergraduates will be assigned to live in Hasbrouck will be limited to one year, referring to the undergraduate placement program as a ‘pilot program’, inspiring anxiety among graduate students that this trend will continue to threaten what limited, viable graduate-only housing is available; and;

Whereas the decision to place undergraduates in Hasbrouck appears a short term solution to fulfilling the Residence Life Initiative, in the long term the effects are proving disastrous to the community living vision at Cornell that the same initiative intends to protect and enhance;

Article 1.

Be it therefore resolved that the GPSA disapproves of the decision to house undergraduates in the Hasbrouck Apartment complex; and,

Be it further resolved that the GPSA urges Campus Life to take seriously student feedback on this year�s �pilot program�; and to conduct an emergency comprehensive review and revision of the plan to consider other options for temporary undergraduate overflow student housing in 2007–2008; and,

Be it further resolved that should these options for overflow undergraduate housing involve further disruption of graduate housing services, that these options be discussed in conjunction with the GPSA�s Pay and Benefits Committee and Housing Advisory Group.

Article 2.

Pursuant to this emergency review of the plan for overflow student housing, should Campus Life conclude that housing undergraduates in Hasbrouck is in fact the only viable option for meeting their Residential Initiative commitments, then:

Be it therefore resolved that the GPSA calls on Campus Life, the Vice President of Student and Academic Services, and the Dean of Students’ Office to return Hasbrouck to graduate-only housing by no later than the Fall semester of 2008; and

Be it further resolved that should West Campus be incomplete due to construction schedules in the fall of 2008, Campus Housing put together a viable contingency plan for housing remaining undergraduate students that precludes continued residency at Hasbrouck; and,

Be it further resolved that Campus Housing meet with graduate Hasbrouck residents regularly throughout 2007–2008 to hear, respond to, and prioritize their ongoing concerns regarding this mixed residential space; and

Be it further resolved that the GPSA calls on graduate and professional residents at Hasbrouck to continue their residency at Hasbrouck during and after the undergraduate residency, such that Hasbrouck housing units remain graduate student housing units in the future; and

Be it further resolved that Campus Housing amend their website and other promotional materials to indicate that undergraduates will be housed in Hasbrouck for the academic year 2007–2008, including whatever impact this might have for �domestic groups (with and without children), some single students, and visiting scholars and post-doctoral fellows� to save such students the $50 application fee should they be turned down due to the undergraduate placement program; and,

Be it further resolved that the GPSA work with Campus Housing through the re-established Housing Advisory Group, which will consist of at least one representative from each campus residence as well as at least one off-campus housing representative, to monitor the ongoing status and quality of life of graduate and professional students in Hasbrouck during 2007–2008; and, ‘ ’ ‘ Be it finally resolved′ ’ that this resolution be circulated to Susan Murphy, Vice President, Student and Academic Services; LeNorman Strong, Assistant Vice President and Director of Campus Life; Kent Hubbell, Dean of Students; Alison Powers, Dean of Graduate School; Joseph Burke, Director of Residential Programs; Philip McPheron, Director of Graduate and Professional Student Housing; and the GPSA Housing Advisory Group.

Respectfully submitted,

Zuoming Wang
Pay and Benefits Chair, GPSA

Janet Vertesi
President, GPSA