When students think of iHouse, they often think only of international students. However, more than 50% of Carmichael College is composed of Korean students. We have been having capacity problems for years, but now the problem has become severe. Part of this is due to the fact that iHouse and Carmichael College, while they overlap, are different entities. This is more than experienced in the other dormitories.
iHouse has about 286 beds. Yet this semester, there are approximately 350 students in Carmichael College. This includes exchange students this semester. Already there is a shortage of beds. Compounded to this are another 30 international graduate students. This has caused a shortfall of about 100 beds. Next semester, with the KOICA graduate students, we will lose another 36 beds (18 students, but limited to two students per room). They are guaranteed kitchens, so they must be in iHouse for the fall semester.
If one looks at the math differently, we can begin with 286 beds. Next semester, due to graduate students that number is reduced to 220 beds. From that 220 we must remove 120 beds for freshmen and exchange students. That leaves only 100 beds for sophmores, juniors, and seniors (a group of about 230 this semester). While the university is beginning to become aware of the problem, it is often the Korean students who find themselves not finding a room in iHouse. Even one of my EGC students, who is a Korean 3rd semester, was not able to have a room in iHouse despite having less than 4 penalty points.
What are the results of this housing problem? First, Korean students are asking to leave Carmichael College because having a room on campus in important to them. Second, because many of our team students do not live in iHouse, it takes away from our community and team spirit. What is sad is that the new Happiness dorm on campus has about 100 empty beds this semester, but Carmichael students were generally not given access to the rooms in the new dorm.
How does this effect you as a student? There is a need for both short term and long term solutions. I am not sure what the short term solution will be although I have given some input. Long term, a new international dormitory will be built, hopefully beginning this summer. In the meantime, please be patient and try to understand as the university is working through these needs. It may mean shuffling some of the RCs around, moving graduate students to another place, giving dormitory announcements in Korea, or some combination or other ideas to take care of the needs of both Korean and international students in Carmichael College. As you are watching this please think from a Korean perspective, how would you feel if you could not live in the same dorm as the rest of your team or could not even get into housing in your second year though you had less than 4 penalty points.

alex bishop
 

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