429 juniors, seniors draw into residential colleges

But for her, the decision was complicated by the fact that she would be studying at the Royal College of Music in London for the fall semester of her junior year. Leary ultimately chose to draw into Whitman College because it didn’t “make sense” to pay eating club fees for just one semester.

Leary is one of 435 upperclassmen last year who chose to draw into one of the three four-year residential colleges — Whitman, Mathey and Butler. For the 2012-13 year, the number of upperclassmen who drew into the residential colleges decreased slightly to 429.

The University established the four-year residential college system in 2007 to provide more dining and housing options for undergraduates. Since the system began in the 2008-09 year, there has been a general upward trend in the number of upperclassmen who choose to live within residential colleges.

The University is working on incorporating upperclassmen more into life within the residential colleges. David Stirk, the Dean of Butler College, said in an email that the colleges are looking into expanding both academic and non-academic programs for upperclassmen.

However, it is unclear just how well upperclassmen become integrated and invested in the residential college life. Although 246 members of the Class of 2013 drew into residential colleges for the 2011-12 academic year, only 195 of the class drew into residential colleges for their senior year.

The data also do not specify whether all 195 of the rising seniors are currently living in the residential colleges as juniors. Some upperclassmen that live in the residential colleges for their junior year choose to leave the year after, and others that had lived in upperclassmen or independent housing for their junior year return to the residential colleges for their final year at Princeton.

Furthermore, despite high upperclassmen demand for dorms in the residential colleges, the number of students who actually draw into the colleges has been relatively steady over the years. Dean of Whitman College Rebecca Graves-Bayazitoglu confirmed in an email that there are usually more upperclassmen who apply for rooms in Whitman than there are available spaces, though the University does guarantee housing for all four years. Next fall 160 upperclassmen will live in Whitman, an increase from the 147 juniors and seniors that currently live in the college.

This shortage is not due to lack of demand but due to a lack of space, Stirk said. For example, Butler has only allotted 150 spaces for upperclassmen to ensure that rooms are available for freshmen and sophomores. There are currently 163 upperclassmen living in Butler this year, though only 155 were offered rooms for 2012-13.

Graves-Bayazitoglu also commented that the colleges have now become not just a place to live but also “a more integrated part of upperclass life.”

It was precisely for this reason that Mark Pavlyukovskyy ’13, whose housing in Rockefeller College expired after sophomore year, decided to draw into Butler for his senior year. Pavlyukovskyy, a member of Colonial Club, said his decision to join a residential college was influenced by his semester abroad at Oxford University, which has a strong residential college system. He said that he was interested in seeking a similar system here at Princeton.

However, many students who opt to remain in the residential colleges said they do so not for the type of life the colleges provide but for convenience. There are several students like Leary who are on campus for just a part of a school year and decide to draw into residential colleges due to cost concerns. Others choose the colleges because of their dorms’ proximity to the dining halls compared to Prospect Avenue. Emma Boettcher ’14, who is not affiliated with an eating club, drew into Mathey College for junior year because she “didn’t want to walk 10 minutes to get breakfast every morning.”

For many others, the availability of shared meal plans, which allow students to split their meals between their affiliated club and the dining halls, is the primary reason to remaining within the colleges. Each year, roughly half of the upperclassmen who draw into residential colleges take advantage of shared meal plans.

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University officials said that the purpose of allowing upperclassmen to remain in residential colleges is not to draw them away from the eating clubs. Rather, the goal is to “enrich the social and residential experience” of the residential colleges, University Spokesperson Martin Mbugua said in an email.

According to Associate Dean Maria Flores-Mills, who serves as the Office of the Dean of Undergraduate Students’ liaison to the eating clubs, the shared meal plans reflect President Shirley Tilghman’s desire to see “more permeability among students” by allowing students to be active in multiple parts of the University community simultaneously.

“The University’s interest is not in drawing students away from Prospect Avenue, but rather in providing choice for students,” she said.

Graves-Bayazitoglu also acknowledged that the ability to obtain a shared meal plan is often a “decisive factor” in a student’s decision to stay within the residential colleges.

Pavlyukovskyy, who is one of the students who actively sought out the residential college system, still noted that if he had not been able to obtain a shared meal plan with Colonial, the benefits of living in a residential college for its own sake would not have necessarily outweighed the benefits of his membership at Colonial. He said that he would not have known which to choose if he had been forced to do so.

Eating clubs cap the number of plans they offer, and the limit has been reached quickly in the past for many clubs. The University does not play a role in determining the number of plans each club offers, according to Flores-Mills. In a 2007 article in The Daily Princetonian on shared meal plans, the University said that it requires eating clubs to provide at least a few every year to its members.

However, the number set by each eating club is not always set in stone, allowing even more flexibility for students who wish to live in the residential colleges.

“While many students would prefer not to pay both club fees and buy a meal plan, I have heard of students who have approached their club and successfully lobbied for a shared meal plan, so the system is a bit more flexible than it may appear,” Graves-Bayazitoglu said.