'We're growing'

The approximate number of freshmen expected to move to Greenville this weekend is 5,500.

Upper classmen are used to move-in weekend: wide-eyed freshmen toting boxes up and down the stairs (or elevators) of various ECU dorms.

However, this year, 280 first-year students will be toting those boxes to the North Campus Crossing and The Bellamy apartment complexes, both located about four miles from ECU.

"The freshmen class is significantly larger this year than last year," said Aaron Lucier, director of operations and associate director for Campus Living. "We had the largest freshmen class in history last year, and this year we have the newly largest freshmen class in history. We're growing."

Because of the gigantic class, accommodations on campus for almost 300 first-year students is not an option.

"It was pretty clear about May 1 that we had an issue," Lucier said.

Before May 1, students were guaranteed on-campus housing, but after May 20, all students who submitted requests for housing were put on a waiting list.

Eighteen-year-old Hayley Sizemore was accepted to ECU but decided not to attend because of the housing problem.

"I told ECU I wanted to come in the middle of the summer, and that's when they told me there was no more housing," said Sizemore.

Sizemore now attends Dixie State College in St. George, Utah, but would have attended ECU if able to stay on-campus.

"I kind of wanted the experience of living on-campus, especially for the first year," she said.

Campus officials started looking for apartment complexes over the summer to house the overflowing number of incoming freshmen. According to Lucier, complexes that were considered must have met North Carolina state codes, have sprinkler systems installed, contain fire extinguishers, have reasonable privacy, be furnished and have a large number of vacancies.

The Bellamy and North Campus Crossing met those requirements, and both include amenities such as swimming pools and fitness rooms.

Students who decide to stay in either of these complexes will be living in four bedroom apartments, and each will have their own bathroom and bedroom, much different than dorm rooms.

The Bellamy, a new apartment complex located just south of ECU, has 116 beds waiting for incoming freshmen as well as four resident advisors and a professional staff member.

North Campus Crossing, located north east of the university, will be opening their doors to about 120 freshman students, along with four resident advisors and a professional staff member.

"We are really excited about working with the university on this new venture," said Sarah Brock, property manager for North Campus Crossing.

ECU has taken up the challenge of providing more transportation at the apartments for these incoming students and setting up programs that mimic those put in place on campus.

"We are trying to make [living in these apartment complexes] as close to campus life as we can," Lucier said. "That's difficult, because it's not the same, [but] we are trying to give social opportunities to students to connect them to the institution."

The Bellamy's property manager Donna Scurry says that their complex will work closely with university officials to make the housing situation more comfortable.

"We will work in correspondence with resident advisors to make it as much like campus living would be if they were on campus," she said.

So, what about price?

Students who are living in these off-campus apartments will dish out $2,375; the same amount as the College Hill Suites residence hall on campus. However, as spaces open up on campus, students will be required to move from their apartment complexes to dorms, and their bill will be adjusted accordingly.

Other information: students living in either The Bellamy or North Campus Crossing can decrease their meal plan to the smallest one available ($400 Pirate Bucks plan) until the week of Sept. 4, but are required to have a meal plan of some sort. Usually, all incoming freshmen must have at least the 9 Pirate meal plan, but officials have allowed these students leniency based on the nature of the situation.

These first-year students can also purchase a commuter-parking pass until space becomes available; at that time, they must buy the $200 D lot pass issued to all freshmen.

This writer can be contacted at editor@theeastcarolinian.com.