Following Brigham Young University's decision that it would no longer approve student housing outside of Provo, the BYU Off-Campus Housing Office conducted a comprehensive review of its program and has determined new boundaries for all approved properties.
Properties located outside of the boundaries may continue to be approved for single students until April 30, 2007.
The new boundaries circle the university extending from 500 West in Provo to 1450 East and its aligned streets. The north boundary extends approximately along 2200/2230 North from Carterville Road to North Temple Drive, with the south boundary being Provo Center Street from Seven Peaks Boulevard to 500 West. In all cases, the boundaries include both sides of the street.
These boundaries encompass more than 90 percent of all current approved housing spaces.
As the number of students choosing to live in Utah Valley has grown considerably in recent years the university has had to determine how it can best use its resources to meet the needs of its students and contracted landlords.
Important to BYU is the moral and spiritual living environment of its students. "As always, our goal is to continue to provide this environment for our students, as well as to provide students and landlords with the level of service necessary. Hence, BYU's Off-Campus Housing Office needs to adjust the territory it manages," said Julie Franklin, director of Residence Life at BYU. "As the ever-increasing number of approved housing spaces continues to exceed the demand of BYU students, it makes sense to adjust the BYU-approved housing area."
The number of rental spaces approved by the Off-Campus Housing Office has risen steadily over the past five years to more than 23,000 in 2003.
Only 14,738 of those spaces were occupied by BYU students this past winter semester, Franklin said. The rest were occupied by students at other institutions in Utah County.
In issuing this advanced notice, BYU intends to give previously approved property owners ample time to make students aware of their status.
"There will still be plenty of housing choices for BYU students," Franklin said. "We expect this move will allow us to have greater impact on the remaining approved properties."
Franklin said the university also recognizes that a student's living situation is a major part of his or her college life. National studies, she said, show that living on or near campus helps students better integrate into a campus's social network of peers, faculty and extracurricular activities. "This facilitation then leads to better retention and graduation rates."
Single students who live with their parents will continue to qualify for exceptions to the policy. Married students are not required to live in BYU-approved housing.
This announcement was originally located at http://byunews.byu.edu/release.aspx?story=archive03/Dec/housing.
For several years, Brigham Young University has been concerned about its ability to manage its off-campus housing program. More than a year ago, BYU made a decision to no longer approve new applications for housing outside of Provo. At that time, the university allowed those properties currently approved, yet outside of Provo, to retain their approved status while BYU reviewed the situation. The university has now concluded a comprehensive review of its off-campus housing program and has established new boundaries.
BYU has always recognized that a student's living situation is a major part of his or her college life and has sought to provide an environment for its single students -- living on and off campus -- that is conducive to the moral standards required of its students, as well as one that will enhance their academic performance. After serious review, discussion and study, the university has determined that the new boundaries for approved properties will help achieve this objective. A map designating the new university-approved borders is available at www.byu.edu/offcampushousing.
Additionally, the university has found that most of our single BYU students (approximately 98%) have chosen to live in housing closer to campus. Also, most properties that are outside the new boundaries are housing a very small percentage of BYU students. The university does not want to, nor can it, impose control over housing for all of the single young adults in Utah Valley.
BYU's boundary decision allows for students from other institutions to live in BYU-approved housing as long as they live within the determined boundaries.
We appreciate that this decision may have a financial impact on some property owners, which is why we are giving so much notice before its implementation on April 30, 2007.
It is my personal opinion BYU students who live on or near campus will benefit academically and socially, as they are able to play an important role in helping to build our campus community.
Garry Briggs
Off-Campus Housing
This announcement was originally located at http://newsnet.byu.edu/story.cfm/48070.