AJ Long is a multimedia journalist for Samford News Network.
A survey sent out to the entire student body put housing on Samford’s campus in the spotlight. With undergraduate enrollment on the rise, the university sought student feedback on housing options for the near future. This included which features students value in residences, and which housing unit style they would prefer.
The survey was sent out to all Samford students on Thursday, October 12, and concluded on Wednesday, October 18. Consulting company Rieth Jones Advisors was utilized by the university to conduct the survey.
Questions included students’ level of satisfaction with housing on campus. For students who live off campus, the survey asked what benefits they saw to living elsewhere, whether that be at home with family or in local apartments. All participants were asked about which style of residence unit they would prefer. These ranged from the dorm set-ups like the ones seen in Smith and Vail, to the doubles of Beeson Woods, to the suites of West Village.
Mock-up floor plans and and projected costs for each unit were included. However, it stressed that these were just projections for the purposes of the survey, and were not representative of any final product.
Colin Coyne, who serves as Samford’s Vice President for Finance, Business Affairs, and Strategy, said that future plans regarding housing were part of sequential, yearly improvements to the campus experience. 2023 has seen remodeling and upgrades to the cafeteria experience. 2024 will feature the completion of the Seibert gym and stadium renovations that are currently under construction. Coyne hopes that housing can be the next step, pending approval and finalization of the plans at the Samford administration level. The survey was intended to better inform Samford on what students would want out of new housing and residence developments.
I think what you can expect is, as you look at Samford’s residential housing portfolio, we’ll always try to maintain gradations. So there will be some housing that is more affordable, and some housing that is more, if you will, premium priced based on the features available. And we think that’s important so that every student has a place to live on Samford’s campus.
Colin Coyne, VP for Finance, Business Affairs, and Strategy
In the email that included the survey sent out to all students, the university said it wants to balance student-requested features with the cost of building new residences and maintaining old ones.
