ABSTRACT
Although not considered off-campus, the Dillard complex, which is 3 miles away from campus, provides an interesting example of what off-campus life can be like. Dillard highlights some of the struggles that can be faced by off campus and commuter students due to its distance from campus, such as transportation and separation. First-hand accounts of former Dillard residents concerning isolation, encounters with mental health patients, and the struggles of transportation help to highlight these obstacles. By sharing the story of Dillard, its history, and its residents the viewer gets a firsthand look of how living away from campus can impact student life. In this PowerPoint, I aim to address the question of how William and Mary can work to make campus more accessible and welcoming to off-campus and commuter students, which make up 30 percent of the student population. I propose four changes that can be made to help this group of students with things such as transportation, sense of belonging, and accessibility to resources and amenities. My proposal includes later transportation hours, hosting more student events while also being more informative about future events, making more resources available online as well as making the threshold for viewers on certain texts higher, and, finally, creating lounges with basic amenities to create a common space for off-campus and commuter students. These changes will not only have positive effects on the students, but also their performance at the College which in-turn has a positive effect on the College itself.
TRANSCRIPT
Slide 1: Obstacles of off-campus. Presentation by Stormy Smith.
Slide 2: First sound clip (auto-played)- Sound clips reading the text on the slide can be listened to by clicking on the speaker icon in the top right corner of each slide.
Second Sound clip- Introduction. I am freshman at the college of William and Mary. William and Mary is located in Williamsburg, VA. This presentation will explore how to make campus more accessible to students who do not live on-campus. Sound clips reading the text on the slide can be listened to by clicking on the speaker icon.
Slide 3: Setting the Scene. Imagine that you have just started college at William and Mary. You’re excited and ready to take on this new journey, make friends, explore campus, etc. Your housing assignment comes, and you have been assigned to the Dillard Complex.
Slide 4: Map of Campus. When looking at a campus map, one will notice Dillard is not located on the map. This is due to its distance from campus.
Slide 5: Location of Dillard. To be exact, Dillard is about 3 miles from the Crim dell which is approximately the center of campus.
Slide 6: Map of Dillard. Shown is a zoomed in picture of Dillard. Buildings 584 and 606 are Hughes and Munford Hall and make up the complex.
Slide 7: History of Dillard. The Dillard complex has a rich history that is little known. The reason for its distance from campus is that the buildings were leased due to a housing shortage and eventually bought in 1980 from Eastern State Hospital. Before it was renamed “Dillard Complex” it was called “James Blair Terrace.”
Slide 8: Firsthand Accounts from Former Residents. Due to the distance and isolation from campus, residents of Dillard faced different everyday problems than most students living in buildings much closer to campus.
Slide 9: It was like living on an island. You were a survivor. We sort of felt like a tribe. Michael D’Orso class of ’75.
Slide 10: I encountered mental patients on several occasions. The new Eastern State Hospital was located across the lawn. Outpatients, who were free to wander during certain hours, would come into James Blair Terrace and sit with us as we watched television. We were none the wiser whether these newcomers were patients or other students we had yet to meet. Michael D’Orso class of ’75.
Slide 11: There was a bus service, probably up until the 1990s, that students called the Green Machine. It would do a loop through campus and then go back to Dillard. However, the buses stopped at a certain time, which was usually midnight. We didn’t want students walking far distances back at night to dorms that were far away. Associate Vice President of Student Affairs Deb Boykin class of ’76.
Slide 12: Struggles of Dillard. Despite its distance from campus, Dillard was considered on-campus housing. Although not all the struggles faced by Dillard residents are faced by off-campus students, there is an overlap.
Slide 13: What are Struggles faced by off- campus/commuter students? Transportation. Sense of Belonging. Limited Access to campus resources. Limited access to amenities.
Slide 14: William and Mary Off-campus Students. Over the past 5 years there has been a steady increase of students who live off-campus or commute to William and Mary. In the 3019-3030 school year 30% of the student population lived off campus or commuted. There is a demand to for William and Mary to implement measures to assist these students and to help make campus more available.
Slide 15: How can William and Mary work to make campus more accessible to off-campus and commuter students?
Slide 16: What benefits would this have? Living on-campus has shown to be more beneficial to both the student and the university. Students have better GPAs, better retention rates, the college receives more revenue, and students are equipped with better critical thinking skills. Although colleges attempt to encourage students to remain on campus, they cannot forget those students who live off campus. By making accommodations for off campus students, universities will see benefits for both students and the institution by making students want to be on campus more.
Slide 17: Solutions to combat the problems of transportation, sense of belonging, limited access to campus resources, limited access to amenities.
Slide 18: Transportation. A common complication with Dillard faced by others is transportation. Although WATA (Williamsburg Area Transit Authority) buses are used for transportation, their hours are only until 10:00 pm. William and Mary can look into lengthening these hours to keep students from walking home late which could possibly be dangerous.
Slide 19: Sense of Belonging. Students who do not live on campus often feel a lack of community. The best way to engage students and to help build a sense of community is to involve these students with events put on by the university. Many students feel “out of the loop.” Extra effort could be made to keep these students informed. Possibly having an orientation specifically geared towards these students to show them available resources on campus would help them excel.
Slide 20: Limited Access to campus resources. Off-campus and commuter students sometimes have difficulty accessing resources due to limited transportation or distance. Swem’s access and availability of resources is extremely impressive. However, there is always room for improvement and the more content they can give in an on-line format, the better. Also, some texts are limited to a certain number of viewers which can prove difficult to access at times of high demand. If possible, an increase to this threshold would help with availability.
Slide 21: Limited access to amenities. Off-campus and commuter students who eat lunch on campus may find it expensive to buy food every day and may prefer to bring it from home. To help with the lack of access to things such as microwaves to heat their food or a place of their own to eat lunch, creating a lounge specifically for these students would combat this, while also giving them a space on campus to help build community. This space could also possibly include lockers.
Slide 22: In order to make William and Mary’s campus more accessible to off-campus and commuter students I propose that they provide, inform, make, and create. Provide transportation with longer hours. Inform students more about upcoming events. Make more texts and resources available on-line. Create lounges for these students to provide amenities and their own space on campus.
WORKS CITED
Garcia, Lindsay. “The Dillard Complex.” LINDSAY GARCIA. 2015. https://www.lindsaygarcia.com/the-dillard-complex.html.
Lamb, Eleanor. 2015. “Streak to Success.” The Flat Hat, October 20, 2015. http://flathatnews.com/2015/10/20/streak-to-success/.
Smith, Sarah. 2015. “Behind the Brick Walls: From hospital to dorm to abandoned building, the Dillard Complex holds a varied history.” The Flat Hat, November 1, 2015. http://flathatnews.com/2015/11/01/behind-the-brick-walls-from-hospital-to-dorm-to-abandoned-building-the-dillard-complex-holds-a-varied-history/.
Office of Institutional Research. William and Mary. 2019-2020. Common Data Set. https://www.wm.edu/offices/ir/documents/cds/cds1920_f.pdf.
Wode, Jessica. 2018. “Identifying the Factors That Motivate Student to Choose Off-Campus Housing.” Journal of College & University Student Housing 44, no. 2: 44-63. http://web.a.ebscohost.com/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=5&sid=e5cb914a-9ac3-448f-a736-f1b12cd30ae8%40sdc-v-sessmgr01 (accessed March 1, 2020).
WATA. n.d. “Route 8: William and Mary.” Accessed April 22, 2020. https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/#inbox0
Jacoby, Barbara, and John Garland. 2004. “Strategies for Enhancing Commuter Student Success.” Journal of College Student Retention: Research, Theory & Practice 6, no. 1 (May): 61–79. doi:10.2190/567C-5TME-Q8F4-8FRG.
Newbold, John J., Sanjay S. Mehta, and Patricia Forbus. 2011. “Commuter Students: Involvement and Identification with an Institution of Higher Education.” Academy of Educational Leadership Journal 15, no. 2: 141-153. https://proxy.wm.edu/login?url=https://search.proquest.com/docview/886550725?accountid=15053 (accessed March 1, 2020).
Newbold, John J. 2015. “Lifestyle Challenges for Commuter Students.” New Directions for Student Services 2015, no. 150 (Summer): 79–86. doi:10.1002/ss.20129.
Pictures:
World Guides. Map of Virginia, n.d., http://www.world-guides.com/north-america/usa/virginia/williamsburg/williamsburg_maps.html.
Flat Hat. Munford Hall, n.d., http://flathatnews.com/2014/11/18/williamsburg-police-department-training/.
Seattle Chinese Times. Eastern State Sign, n.d., http://seattlechinesetimes.com/2016/06/20/eastern-state-hospital-pays-360000-settle-death-lawsuit/.
William and Mary. Campus Map, n.d., https://www.wm.edu/about/visiting/campusmap/.