By Signe K. Skinion

A University Housing official told members of the Residence Hall Association and the Undergraduate Student Government at their joint meeting Tuesday that the students affected by a recent change in housing policy will not be put on the streets.

Also, people wanting to live on-campus next year should be ready for contract renewals next week, University officials said at the meeting.

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Ed Jones, University Housing director, told RHA/USG members that the six or seven students who were living on campus while taking classes at John A. Logan, a Carterville community college, may remain in SIUC residence halls for a while, even though the policy allowing them to stay permanently has been pulled.

We (Housing) want to give the students’ reasonable time to find living accommodations, Jones said. We are not going to put these people out on the streets with their bags.

The policy, began this semester to allow students who were academically suspended from SIUC but wanting to return to campus after raising their grades, did not have approval from the SIU Board of Trustees and Logan officials, so the policy was quickly retracted by University Housing last week.

Questions about the retraction of the policy arose at the meeting when concerns were mentioned on behalf of the students affected by the change. Some members at the meeting said the students who were living under the policy have expressed problems with finding housing and were unsure how long they could continue living in the residence halls.

There is no policy in effect on how long the students can remain on campus, Jones said. I am concerned about the problems these students are facing, and we (Housing) will try to help them any way we can.

In other business at the meeting, Beth Scally, University Housing coordinator of Marketing and Public Information, said students need to be thinking about where they want to live next year because contract renewals begin next week.

We are trying to get as many people as possible to sign up for their rooms for next year, Scally said. It is a real hassle for the students who decide halfway through the summer that they want to live on campus in the fall because they don’t get to choose the room they want and the area that they want to live in.

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Scally said pending SIU Board of Trustee approval, there will also be special rooms available in Neely Hall, located in the Brush Towers, called super-singles.

These super-singles will have carpeting, a halogen lamp, a couch, mini-blinds and a mini-fridge available for those students who want them, Scally said. The super-singles will cost an extra $100.

Scally said during contract renewal there will be a lottery for the students who want the super-singles and regular singles, and there will be an added bonus for students who sign up for rooms next week.

We will be having treasure chests with prizes for the students’ who have the winning key, Scally said.

Glenn Stine, assistant director of facilities, said students wanting to live in Boomer One, located in University Park, will be seeing new furniture next year.

There is a sample display of the new furniture set up in room 218 of Boomer Two, Stine said. The furniture committee has checked all the furniture we looked at for durability and student usefulness.

Students who currently live off campus and want to move into residence halls next year can sign up on Feb. 12 at Washington Square D, located near the SIUC Recreation Center.

Anyone with questions about contract renewal should call Scally at 453-5632.