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Show 14 | MyWeberMedia.com | April 18, 2019 >>CONTINUED FROM PAGE 14 especially if you live in (Wildcat Village) because they make you pay $1000 for food that is subpar, but besides that, it’s all right,” said Olsen. Living in housing offers a significant number of advantages for the average student over an off-campus apartment, a big one being a single bill. Students who live in housing have access to Weber State’s secure Wi-fi network, don’t pay individual bills and have access to the maintenance staff free of cost. Kerr believes one of the main obstacles for getting students to move into housing is the upfront price tag, but she sees it as a perk of housing that all of the costs are lumped together instead of listing rent and then applying individual bills. “I think that’s a barrier that students find, but if they look a little bit more in-depth, it’s really not different than what they would be doing off campus,” Kerr said. For students, issues with the amenities can cause headaches. “For some reason a lot of the amenities break,” Olsen said. “I’ve had doorknobs break; I’ve had lights, fans and even shower heads break, and I know that comes from use, but it also comes from the amount of money put into those things.” According to both contracts signed by the university, there are rooms set aside for each member of the professional staff as well. Kilcrease and his family live in Wildcat Village, along with Unique Harston. Harston is the area coordinator for Wildcat Village. She lives in University Village with her family, as does Shane Rivera, the area coordinator for Wildcat Village. While the Wildcat Village trio is the most recent construction for housing, it does not represent the end of the property that WSU owns. There are also two houses on Birch Avenue, as well as five other houses in the areas surrounding the main campus. Two houses are used by faculty and five by students. There’s currently one empty house and one rented by a Weber State staff member. These properties are not listed as ones available to rent by Weber State because there are so few that can be used, and some of the properties were already lived in when WSU purchased the buildings. “We haven’t listed it on our website and marketed it because you put it out there and you’re getting 1,000 phone calls for something that has vacancy, like, once every three years,” Kilcrease said. However, there is no plan for housing to expand by individual houses in any specific way. Weber State simply feels it is in their best interest to purchase property near campus when the opportunities arise, rather than leave the houses vacant. One of the few possible long-term plans for the houses focuses on the few between RH1 and the Dee Events Center. If the proposed Bus Rapid Transit line is built on campus, the pathway would plow through, or near, those homes. Ahead of the switch, the housing professional staff made another change — this time back to a process they thought worked better. Since about 2012, students who wanted to check out of their rooms could come by the housing offices whenever they pleased to fill out the exit forms and drop off their keys. Now, students must schedule a checkout time in advance with housing to have a 20-minute meeting with the student and walk their rooms. There will be almost 40 employees to assist the students over the week in rotating groups, beginning on April 22. This is done because, while most universities give 24 hours after the student completes their last final to move out, Weber State faculty mostly uses the testing centers to administer their finals. Students have until April 19 to select their checkout time and must be moved out by April 27 at noon. While the change in checkout procedures can come as a shock to students who were used to the old system, it’s another step in the employees’ belief that they can determine what works best for the students and for themselves — and it has nothing to do with who signs their paychecks. Kilcrease maintained that housing has worked hard for nearly two decades to ensure the operation worked as seamlessly as possible, and he doesn’t believe future residents should notice any changes. “We know that most students don’t know that there’s any difference between Campus Living Villages and Weber State University,” Kilcrease said. “They just believe they’re at Weber State and they’re a student and that it’s all seamless, and so I really don’t think that the average resident is going to notice any difference.” Ultimately, the next batch of residents will decide if the change in management equates to a difference in campus life or if it will be more of the same. They could also be like Olsen, who was left with one feeling: “I wish it was a little bit better,” Olsen said. Comment on this story at signpost.mywebermedia.com Overlooking the Community Center and building 3 at University Village. KELLY WATKINS | The Signpost The food court in Stewart Wasatch Hall before opening for dinner. KELLY WATKINS | The Signpost The sign at University Village entrance. KELLY WATKINS | The Signpost |