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Comment: UVic housing woes are students’ problem

First year of university is not only an academic experience, but also an important social experience for many students.
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The University of Victoria campus.

First year of university is not only an academic experience, but also an important social experience for many students. It is a chance to meet other students, engage in university activities and events — and much of this involves living in a university residence building.

Living in residence is also important for those who might be living on their own for the first time. It also provides students considerably more access to classes, professor office hours, labs and the library than for those living off-campus.

Yet the University of Victoria has recently announced plans that would limit the ability of lower-income students to become engaged in these activities and have the same access to classes and academic services as their classmates from wealthy families. This at the same time that students from low- and middle-income families are already struggling to make ends meet due to sky-high tuition fees, the ever-increasing price of textbooks and the cost of living.

The University of Victoria has proposed a 10-year plan to massively hike residence rental fees. Beginning with a startling 13 per cent increase starting this September, the hikes would then be compounded with six per cent increases annually for the next two years and four per cent increases for the remaining seven years of the plan.

Already in the past three years, residence rates have gone from $6,412 per eight-month term for a single-bed dorm with a starter meal plan to $8,366 per term for the same room. Meanwhile, minimum wage has stayed the same at $10.25 per hour — which is almost $8 lower than what is considered a living wage in Victoria. That’s an almost a $2,000 increase with no increase in income for students.

Now the university would like to add another $546 in rent for just next year (rising $1,132 by 2017) — which would not even include any potential increases to the meal plan.

Proponents of this plan within the university administration argue that there is considerable deferred maintenance — some of which could become a safety concern — that has been sitting untouched for many years. They also reason that due to the demand for housing, they would like to build a new 600-bed residence building to house students. Since the government of British Columbia does not allow campus “ancillary services” such as housing to take on debt, they insist they have nowhere to turn but to the pockets of students and their parents.

We ask two simple questions: Why should current students pay for past mismanagement and future projects, while also paying for current upkeep and rent? What kind of campuses are we creating if only students from wealthy families can live on them?

University is already a highly exclusive institution in Canada, and it’s becoming more so. The cost of tuition alone means that some students are unable to attend, or are incapable of graduating without suffocatingly high amounts of student debt. This is particularly true in B.C., being the only province in Canada without a needs-based system of student grants, as well as the highest student-loan interest rates in the country.

Coupled with the high cost of living in B.C., it means that B.C. students consistently graduate with significantly higher levels of student debt than students anywhere else in the country.

We support the university in finally addressing past property mismanagement in our residences and applaud the desire to increase capacity to meet on-campus housing needs. However, we cannot support the funding coming from our already empty pockets.

Greg Atkinson is director of external relations for the University of Victoria Students’ Society.