To: Dr. Erika Paterson
From: Dennis Tianxiang Deng
Date: June 22, 2022
Subject: Proposal for Determining Cause and Impact of Expensive Student Housing at UBC
Audience
My formal report will be addressed to Andrew Parr, who is the acting associate Vice-President, Student Housing and Community Services (SHCS) at UBC.
Introduction
Student Housing affordability is one of the most challenging issues students face nowadays, both financially and emotionally. Living on campus has become more expensive every year, yet housing fees charged by the university have become a necessary source of revenue, now more than ever. Many students nowadays demand a housing fee reduction.
Statement of Problem
The rise for housing at UBC is increasing, in part because the demand to live in residence at UBC has greatly exceeded the number of vacancies. and in part because UBC has put in a wide range of new expenses that require funding. Heavy investments were made in online education support, training, and systems for faculty, teaching assistants, and students’ financial aid. These additional costs coupled with marked declines in revenues of UBC ancillary services (such as housing and residences, conferences), as well as the ongoing expenses related to energy consumption and food services, have put the university in a challenging financial position, it is, therefore, a difficult and complex issue both for students and the university.
Proposed Solution
Student Housing and Community at UBC Services have considerable power to take action. Firstly, there is a great need to acquire more land (or capacity) for affordable housing. The school can reach out to several parties (local government, and commercial housing entities) for potential cooperation where more housing is available to accommodate students. Such as building University-affiliated student apartments or houses that allow students to live off-campus without sacrificing the best parts of the college experience. Secondly, UBC should also enforce sustainable power consumption measures. It has come to many students’ attention that many UBC residence buildings do not have a programmable thermostat, where unnecessary heating or cooling occurs on a frequent basis. Lights are constantly left on in empty rooms. I believe being energy efficient can reduce the cost of living as well.
Scope
To address the complex issues of renting affordability and how it affects student housing, I will pursue five areas of inquiry:
- Perspectives of students living/renting at UBC
- A Review of the changes/differences in the recent years
- Why is it hard to cut down the price for students and the school?
- Potential housing acquisitions and development
- Other tools to curb rental prices
Methods
My primary sources will include surveying UBC students and residence management staff. The questions will ask about their satisfaction with affordability and quality of life living on campus. The questions will also ask them thoughts on power management. The UBC students and staff will be asked to consent before taking the survey. The students will respond anonymously.
My secondary sources will include publications and reports on student housing on campus and its overall challenge of the rising cost in recent years.
My Qualifications
I always pay close attention to the housing availability near UBC and how housing investments and strategies are made by the school to maximize affordability, therefore I am confident to give an opinion on what can work best for students. I have also taken one sociology course on housing.
Conclusion
The continued financial deficit UBC faces, and the lack of housing capacity on campus will make student housing less affordable. Therefore, creative approaches are needed to acquire more affordable accommodation and less cost.
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