Talking Stick - May/June 2008 - 11

Eviction an Effective Motivator to Study? Eviction is a frightening idea to anyone but is typically not a common concern among college students settled in their institution’s residence halls. At State University of New York College at Old Westbury, however, eviction is a threat for students who get below a 2.0 GPA. Although the policy has been on the books since 1994, it is one that has been ignored and was not enforced for the ﬁrst time until January 2008. An institution with similar policies, Seton Hall University in South Orange, New Jersey, requires students to maintain a 1.8 GPA in order to live in their residence halls. “You need to give students the knowledge of the policy. We [Seton Hall University] use it as a retention tool and make students and parents more aware … We are here to support the academic endeavor,” says Tara Hart, director of housing and residential life. SUNY’s Old Westbury has had to apply their GPA policy to 87 students already, taking residence hall keys back from those who got below the 2.0 GPA minimum. Re-admittance to campus housing only occurs if the student brings his or her averages back up and proves to be serious about studying. As of March 2008, 13 of the 87 evicted students had done that. According to Patrick Critzer, director of residential life at Radford University in Virginia, “We [Radford University] have never removed someone for grades, as long as they are eligible to be students. We remove students from housing only for conduct reasons … We try to promote an environment conducive to learning.” SUNY’s Old Westbury has decided upon their policy crackdown primarily to boost academic performance. On the contrary, the University of Oklahoma in Norman has announced its OU Academic Success Rebate Program, which will offer a rebate based on GPA to high-performing upperclass and graduate students living in their residence halls. Opposed to eviction for those with low GPAs, they reward those with GPAs of 3.25 to 4.0. Rewards range from $100 to $400 and are given at the end of the semester. “Obviously, the more we reward good academic performance, the more high-performing students we can continue to retain in campus housing, and, therefore, the more role models and mentors we have to encourage students who may be facing academic challenges,” says Bill Henwood, director of housing and food services at the University of Oklahoma. Although each institution represents different residence hall policies and academic requirements, sources agree that they enforce a strong academic environment and overall performance. “Students who live on campus generally have higher grade-point averages and higher graduation rates than those who do not,” Henwood adds. – Courtney Hessenauer May + June 2008 11 Dishing Out Food Waste Awareness “Take what you want, but eat what you take” is generally the motto of university dining services. Unfortunately, students rarely adhere to this policy, resulting in tons of food waste each year. Ohio University in Athens is making an effort to change that behavior. During the ﬁrst academic quarter of 2008, the university’s Ofﬁce of Sustainability conducted a study to determine how much edible food product is thrown away by students in dining halls. The researchers measured the waste over the course of four dinner services at Jefferson Dining Hall. The ﬁndings showed that during each meal between 4.52 and 6.29 ounces of food were wasted per student – enough to feed over 300 people. The immediate goal of the study was to increase students’ awareness of how much waste they produce during meals. As part of the audit, researchers used one day to test the effects of removing trays from the dining hall; the least amount of waste was produced on this day. “It must be made clear that nobody is suggesting that we get rid of trays,” said Nathan Jud, a student employee in the Ofﬁce of Sustainability. “The intention was to compare waste reduction as a result of an institutional change with waste reduction as a result of education.” On the ﬁnal day of the audits, posters and table tents were used to inform students about the study and to show them how much food had been wasted. After the study, students were surveyed for ideas on how to reduce food waste. Jud said that suggestions included reductions in portion sizes and the use of smaller trays. He added that further projects dealing with the issue are currently in the works. – Kim Setliff

Talking Stick - May/June 2008

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