On July 1st, 60 students received an email from USF St. Petersburg Housing and Residence Life informing them that they were being transferred to live at Hilton Bayfront hotel on First Street South, instead of Residence Hall One (RHO) on campus.
School would begin in less than a month.
Due to an increase in First Time in College (FTIC) enrollment and the push for on-campus living, there was a significant overflow of students assigned to dorms in RHO.
This is a result of the university’s Strategic Plan goal of 10,000 students in 10 years.
USFSP resorted to their legal contract with the Hilton, in which the university can rent out a block of rooms to students. This hasn’t been necessary since the construction of the University Student Center (USC), where student housing is also located.
Living at the Hilton costs $4,984 for the Fall Semester – over $1,000 more than living in RHO, where rent ranges from $3,174 to $3,922 depending on the floor plan.
Scott Hendershot, the Housing Assignments and Operations Coordinator of Housing and Residence Life, said the original list of students set for the Hilton consisted of returning and transfer students who applied for housing after the signup window in March. Others who transferred to the Hilton, were students who applied after it was known that RHO would be at capacity.
“This was the first time the university was aware of the need to use the Hilton, so we immediately notified affected students who had already applied for housing,” said Hendershot.
Another email was sent on July 1, offering third and fourth year students the opportunity to cancel their housing and meal plan contracts without a cancellation fee, in order to make room for incoming freshman. The email did not warn students of the possibility of living at the Hilton.
Because the emails were sent less than a month before school began, some students were left scrambling to make new arrangements if they didn’t want to live at the hotel, or were unable to afford it.
Brian Richter, a sophomore, turned his housing contract in on time and had an assigned dorm for weeks. However, he was still told that he would be transferred to the Hilton.
Due to personal and financial reasons, Richter and his roommates rejected the transfer and abruptly moved into a house 3 miles away from campus in what Richter said is a “bad neighborhood,” considering the Pinellas County Crime Index ranks the neighborhood a four on a scale of 1 to 100 –100 being the safest.
“5K a semester to live somewhere isn’t practical,” Richter said.
Sophomore Kania Davis anticipated off-campus housing, but did not expect to be transferred to a hotel.
“When I first found out that I was being placed in the Hilton, I was in disbelief,” Davis said.
“Why would they bring so many people knowing we had no space on campus?”
Fortunately the near $5,000 can be deducted from her financial aid, however, she was unable to purchase a meal plan due to the high cost.
“I thought it wouldn’t be that bad after all,” she said. “After our first night in the hotel, our floor was flooded and I was forced to evacuate my belongings for what they said would be a couple days. It’s going on five days and I am still not able to move back into my room.”
Instead of being relocated to the Hilton, some students were assigned eight-person dorms. These were larger dorms recently converted to house more students.
Brandon Zulli, a third-year transfer student, was supposed to live with seven other students divided between two bedrooms. He canceled his contract because he “didn’t want to share that tight of a space with so many other guys.”
The Hilton provides access to the hotel gym and pool while each room is equipped with a small refrigerator. Students are not allowed to have microwave ovens, and they must buy their own toilet paper. Students were asked to sign a contract that stated hotel housekeeping would only replace linens and take the trash out every two weeks. Two resident assistants live at the hotel and most students have one roommate.
According to USFSP’s Master Plan, at least one more residence hall will be built in the next few years, but there are no specific arrangements yet.
