Off-Campus Housing Office On-Campus

Frostburg State University is continuously looking for ways to bring our community together. On February 20, 2013, the dialogue series project, funded by Maryland Judiciary’s Mediation and Conflict Resolution Office hosted the dialogue series focused on sustaining the campus and the community. The series is held twice every semester with the goal of bringing students, faculty, and Frostburg locals and officials together in order to build a closer and stronger community; and focus on community-based action plans to support improved campus-community communication and a non-violent culture in Frostburg. The first series of this semester was held on the on the 20^th of February in the Lyric Building on Main Street located next to the book store. When first walking in, there is a sign-in sheet, a photo release form, and a sticker to fill your name in. Next to the sign-in table was a table with food. For that particular series, there was roast on a stick, quesadillas, and small squares of cheesecake. There was also your choice of coffee, hot chocolate, and water to choose from. While everyone ate, there were two musicians playing live on stage, Jason Twigg and Fritz Kessler, who are a two-piece old-time string band from Frostburg, Maryland.

Beyond the music though, the room was bustling with chatter as the participants mingled and talked amongst each other. Everyone was all mixed in; some students were at tables with faculty, others were at tables with locals, while others sat with their peers. After about twenty minutes, nationally known conflict resolution scholar-practitioners Dr. Frank Dukes (right), lecturer and director of the Institute for Environmental Negotiation at the University of Virginia, and Dr. Marvin Johnson(left), founder and executive director of the Center for Alternative    Dispute Resolution, began the series by reminding the participants why they were there and what the goal for that night was: develop an action plan. The participants were broken up into groups and they had their choice of which station they wanted to go to. There were five stations to choose from: Building Relationships, Discovering Western Maryland, Pride in FSU and Frostburg, Race Relationships and Western Maryland, and Off-Campus Student Housing.

Every station had a facilitator, someone to direct the conversation and write down suggestion made. For the Off-Campus Student Housing group, their group facilitator was Felicia Watkins, who works at the Maryland Mediation and Conflict Resolution Office. The representative for that group, or the person who helps put the plans into action, was FSU junior Courteney Navarini. The participants went in a circle to introduce themselves; most of them were students, besides Eric Williams, Assistant Director of Residential Programs. Navarini explained what needed to be discussed for the action plans adding that today she just “wants to know what the students want.” The three main topics for discussion included; establishing an off campus housing office, establishing a neighborhood watch, and getting landlords more involved in the project. Navarini also explained that the ideas that were written down today would be presented to Dr. Gibralter, president of FSU. After explaining the topics, Watkins takes over.

To begin, Watkins asked the group participants to “figure out what you all need from this housing office.” From there the ideas and suggestions began flowing so quickly that Watkins was having a bit of difficulty keeping up. There were many ideas presented. Students shared their ideas, some with testimony. Some of the suggestions for the office that were written down to present to Dr. Gibraltar were that there should be a checklist for students so they know what to be aware of when going to choose off-campus housing residency and the creation of consumer awareness so tenants know their rights. Many group participants thought theses were great ideas. Watkins commented that “students need to know their rights.” Other ideas included a rating system that former tenants would use, similar to rate my professor, and providing a comparison rate list for all of the off-campus housing managements. Eric Williams said that “students have a lot of trouble finding comparison rates” for off-campus housing.

However, some of the other group members concern was how much FSU would be involved in the off-campus housing office. It would be an off-campus housing office located on FSU campus. One student wondered if Dr. Gibraltar would really consider it because FSU does not want student’s off-campus because they cannot be controlled nor would they receive the money paid for room and board. Navarini chimed in to remind the group members that they are still only in the beginning stages and still have to present the idea to Dr. Gibraltar. The group concluded with Navarni reminding members about the meeting with Dr. Gibraltar on February 22, 2013 and encouraged others to accompany her and support.  For more information on how you can get involved with having Off-Campus Housing Office on-campus, please contact Courteney Navarini at cmnavarini0@frostburg.edu

If you have ever wanted to find another way to better the community and have ideas, the dialogue series is a great place to express them. The next dialogue series will be held on March 26, 2013 and on May 4, 2013; the groups will be celebrating their progress on Main Street at St. Mikes.