Since the Board of Regents approved UNI’s purchase of The Quarters, the university has acquired the facility and has begun transitioning The Quarters into a UNI facility. Students and non-students alike have noticed changes in the facility, expressing that although they’re still under a lease with The Quarters, they didn’t anticipate being under a lease with the university.
UNI elementary education student and current Quarters resident Haley Mastin chose to live at The Quarters because she felt as though she had spent enough time living on campus. But, with UNI acquiring the facility, Mastin says that she’ll look for a new place to live in the fall. “One of my roommates and I were kind of iffy on if we wanted to renew our lease or not anyways, and now we want to get out of here, quite frankly, we don’t want to be here,” Mastin said. “I did my time on campus. I’m 21, I want to live my life, I want to be a college student.”
Harlie Miller, also a UNI elementary education student, echoed Mastin’s sentiments surrounding returning to The Quarters. “Most of the students that live here wanted to get off campus, and now we’re back on campus,” said Miller. “Along with that non-college students can’t live here and two of my roommates aren’t college students. One had planned on living here next year but now she can’t and has to find a new place.”
Both Mastin and Miller talked about immediate changes that they saw around the facilities, ranging from changes in amenities to how residents pay rent. “They’ve taken the tanning bed out,” said Mastin. “It’s more just disappointing than anything, I personally didn’t use it but for others who did, that could be upsetting.” Mastin also noted that the Apple computers residents could use to print had also been taken out, and she assumes that the university would replace them with mobile printers that are around campus. “It’s more of, these are amenities that our lease said we would have access to, and now that The Quarters is under the university, which current residents didn’t have a say in, we don’t have access to certain amenities that were originally in our lease,” Mastin said. Miller discussed that the resident portal The Quarters facility originally used had been replaced by a portal that was confusing and hard to use, especially for non-student residents of The Quarters, and that late fees on rent payments have “gone up to $60.” Mastin added to this, noting that non-student residents have had issues picking up packages.
Sophie Serrano, a UNI student and Quarters resident said that the acquisition of The Quarters makes residents feel more restricted. “I feel like this purchase is going to steer a lot of students away from living at The Quarters as many students come here to get a little more freedom,” said Serrano. “With the university purchasing I feel there’s going to be a lot less freedom.” Mastin says that according to communications from University Housing and Dining, the university anticipates an influx of students wanting to sign a lease at The Quarters. “Apparently there’s a waitlist. I do and I don’t believe that,” said Mastin. “There are people who want to live on campus and there are people who want their own place…this was just kind of the perfect place.”
Serrano, Miller and Mastin all discussed that they wished the acquisition would’ve taken place at the end of the academic year, instead of taking place in the middle of the semester, affecting their day-to-day lives. “It’s a lot for people in school to worry about ‘Oh my god, how do I pay my rent now? Will I get a late fee if I can’t figure out the portal?’” said Mastin. Miller added that these issues have made her change her opinion on The Quarters as a whole, and is contributing to her lease renewal evaluation. “I haven’t renewed my lease because of all of those differences and it made me not interested in living here anymore,” said Miller. “I thought about it, before UNI’s purchase,The Quarters made it feel like a home instead of feeling like you are back on campus.” Now, Miller and Mastin agree that The Quarters feels more like campus than it does home for them. According to Miller, “…The cops patrolling, no access to printing, no community gatherings, less response from the office, no check in,” have all contributed to current residents feeling like they’re back on campus again, after residents like Miller, Mastin and Serrano signed with The Quarters to purposefully live off-campus.
Pete Moris, UNI’s director of public relations, told the Northern Iowan in January that the acquisition is meant to serve students and provide a wider variety of on-campus living, and that the university is working to make the transition as easy as possible for residents. “Current residents won’t see much change in terms of the remainder of their lease,” said Moris. “We want to make it as smooth of a transition as possible for everybody. Once we take physical possession of the facility…residents shouldn’t notice much of a difference.”
The university remains in contact with current residents regarding changes to the facility and their leases. In the most recent email sent out by UHD, the options for student and non-student residents were listed for the Fall semester. It details that non-student residents are ineligible to renew their lease for the Fall semester, and those who have previously renewed their lease can contact the housing office to terminate their lease. For both students and non-student residents, those who email the housing office by Feb. 28 can terminate their Fall semester lease and receive refunds for any prepaid rent.
