College president Dr. Jianping Wang has announced her plan to build dorms for MCCC, which has traditionally been a commuter only college, and says the goal is to provide housing to a variety of students including international students and athletes as well as students in specialized programs.
“We, the college, have some very unique programs like Funeral Service. Most community colleges in our region don’t offer them. They become very popular,” Dr. Wang says, adding that because students come from far and wide to take these programs, they need housing.
According to Dr. Robert Schreyer, Mercer’s Interim Vice President of Academic Affairs, who has been at Mercer since June 2016, the goal to build dorms has “been a major part of the President’s initiative.”
Starting in fall 2016 the college began using dorms at Rider University in Lawrenceville for off-site student housing.
Asked about the Rider dorm use, Dr. Wang said the Rider dorms are “not convenient enough.” To get to the Mercer campuses students still need to drive or are “dependent on shuttle, which is not very frequent.” She added, “Rider’s dorms are not modern. They were built years ago, 40 to 50 years.”
Dr. Wang’s vision for the new dorms is that they would be built on land the school already owns, possibly the area across from the Conference Center. The second and the third floor would be bedrooms and the first floor would be for food service including a variety of eateries such as a “pizzeria, Panera, Chiptole,” Wang says.
Architectural plans have not yet been drawn up, however, as the college is still conducting student interest surveys. When those are complete, Dr. Wang says, the next step is to put out a request for proposals from design companies.
As for how much money it would cost to build the dorms, Dr. Wang says the dorm construction itself will be covered by P3, which stands for “Private Public Partnership.” Because of this, she says, “it won’t cost the college anything.”
Dr. Wang also says that rent to live in dorms would be cheaper than market rate, “because the land is a public land.”
According to the most recent numbers from the US Department of Housing and Urban Development for the region, market rate for a one bedroom apartment is $1,350 in West Windsor. This figure is supported by the Apartment Home Living rental site which currently lists rentals on Nottingham Way, five minutes from campus, at $1,400 per month, utilities not included.
If Mercer’s dorm rental was 30% less than market rate, annual costs would still come in above $10,000, not including tuition.
Asked if a student financial aid or FAFSA would cover housing costs, Dr. Wang said that it would, but noted that the “maximum FAFSA award is $6,000.”
First year student King Kamara said, “The dorm is useless because it defeats the purpose of Mercer County Community College. Community college is meant to be affordable.” He added, “I pay out of pocket, therefore you increase the cost of the community college, I won’t be able to pay.”
Professor Alvyn Haywood, when asked for faculty perspective on the prospect of dorms said, “We’re not against vision, but this seems to be very dictatorial. Students are our number one concern but this idea seems to be more focused on money-making. Of course, we need money to teach, we’re not knocking that. The question is, how do we go about making our money?”
Asked about the logistical issues of housing students, Dr. Wang said the college is not required to hire any additional security, health care or any resident assistants for dorms.
The developers would be responsible for “anything that happens in the compound,” Dr. Wang said, adding, “college security will continue to patrol the road.”
Professor of Communication Dylan Wolfe says he is not anti-student housing, but he’s not confident that Mercer would not be held accountable for any problems that could happen with these dorms.
“There are questions of liability and management. I would want those answered before I could make a determination [about the value of having dorms],” Wolfe said.
According to Dr. Diane Campbell, the Vice President for Student Affairs, historically, community colleges have not offered housing. But, she says, “Now that’s begun to change. There are a lot of community colleges that now offer housing for students.”
According to the United States Department of Education, there are 1,047 public community colleges and approximately 12%, or 128, offer some form of housing on campus, though no community colleges in New Jersey do. Most community colleges with housing are in rural areas where commuting distances are long.
Communication Professor Alvyn Haywood said of the possibility of having dorms, “It would seem to me that it moves us from being a community college into something else, and I don’t know what that something else is.”
Although surveys of students are being gathered according to both Dr. Wang and Dr. Campbell, faculty say they have not had a specific opportunity to weigh in on the project.
“The president is supposed to, at minimum consult with and gain input from all parts of the college community, which includes faculty and staff, as well as students. There has been no such consultation. There has been no system of input just a system of output from the top down,” Professor Wolfe said.
As for whether or not he thinks the project will come to fruition, Professor Haywood said, “As it looks right now unless the Board objects to how rapidly she moves, there’s a chance that [Dr. Wang] might be able to accomplish this.”
