Dorms Shaping Up as Place to Be at Cal State Fullerton

When 18-year-old freshman Idalia Temblador begins classes at Cal State Fullerton on Monday, she will bring with her the eagerness expected in a new college student. But she will also bring an anticipation about campus life not normally associated with CSUF students.

Temblador must at first commute to school from her home in Pico Rivera, but she hopes to be among the first students to move into the first-ever student housing on the Cal State Fullerton campus.

Construction of the campus residence halls won’t be finished until December, and the first units won’t be ready until January. But the new dorms, are already a hot topic, especially among freshmen.

And college officials are hoping the initial interest in the dorms will result in a whole new attitude about what life at Cal State Fullerton, known primarily as a commuter college, has to offer.

After-School Attractions

“Dorms generate a more positive feeling about the environment. Students acquire a territorialness about campus,” said Roy Williams, CSUF housing director. “More activities will be taken on and generated by the on-campus students, which will attract other students to the campus after hours. The campus takes on a whole different character.”

A number of students said that commuting to school, often over long distances, leaves them no time to return to the campus for extracurricular activities.

“It would be a lot easier if we were close by and, ideally, if we were living on campus,” said 17-year-old Patsy Morales. “College life is not supposed to be just coming to school for classes and then going home. There should be some interaction.”

The university already has received more than 500 applications for the fewer than 400 dorm units, with more applications arriving each day, Williams said.

Applied Several Weeks Ago

Most incoming freshmen received housing applications last week during student orientation. But Temblador applied for a dorm spot several weeks ago and says she has a good chance of being accepted.

“Dorms makes it a lot easier to be around and meet new people,” Temblador said. “Also, my parents want me to move out and start experiencing the world, but they would feel more comfortable with me in a dorm setting rather than off campus.”

Other students agreed that dorms provide an easier transition from the home of parents to independent living.

“I would like to be living on campus right now,” said 18-year-old Sandra Michel, also of Pico Rivera. “In a dorm you’re independent, but not so independent that you have to worry about everything else on top of getting through school.”

Parental concern about students in apartments and the fact that thousands of students who live too far to commute often can’t find affordable housing near campus make the dorms an important new selling point for the university, campus officials said. They noted that Cal State Fullerton and Cal State Hayward are the only schools in the 19-campus California State University system without dormitories.

A record 24,500 students are expected to begin classes Monday, and 70% to 75% of them will commute, university officials estimate. Figures from the fall of 1986 show that 43% of the student body lived outside Orange County, placing a premium on housing around the college.

“Housing is definitely a factor for parents and students who are evaluating different schools,” Williams said. “Time and time again I hear, ‘How can you be so big and not house any students?’ from parents. I think the housing factor will bring in more applications from students out of state and from different areas of California.”

Robert Gallego, a university recruiter, said that when he and others have talked to prospective students about college life, the ‘living on campus’ factor has been conspicuously absent.

“Let’s face it, some students just want to live away from home even if it is across the street,” Gallego said.

Cost Relatively Low

The relatively low cost of student housing will also be an important factor for students and parents, especially when compared to housing costs in Orange County, where a two-bedroom apartment can rent for upward of $700, Gallego said.

Because the dorms will not be available until January, the first housing contracts offered to students will run through June 30, 1988, with rooms renting for $225 per semester plus utilities, Williams said.

The new dorms won’t resemble the traditional cramped and utilitarian quarters where surreptitious meals came from hot plates. They will resemble the interior of a three-bedroom house more than a single-room dormitory. The three, four-story buildings on the northeast corner of campus will have a total of 66 suites, each with three bedrooms, and each bedroom will accommodate two students.

Priorities Established

The suites will be same-sex, but the buildings will be completely co-ed, Williams said--”the kind of situations you find in an off-campus setting.”

The suites, which include a common area, will be fully furnished, including a microwave oven.

The rooms will be wired for cable television, and students with personal computers will be able to tie into the university’s main computer system. There will also be a lounge area with a fireplace, a large-screen television, a computer room, a typing room and a recreation room for aerobics and weight training.

Housing contracts will be awarded mostly on a first-come, first-serve basis, but within several categories. About 200 beds are reserved for first-time freshmen, with a priority for those on financial aid. Six rooms are set aside for residential advisers, 30 for disabled students and 60 for honor students, athletes on scholarship and students in other special categories.

“We are going for what you see when you walk around this campus or enter a classroom--a mix of people,” Williams said. “We think that is what will work best.”