For some students, UTM is home for the holidays
For almost 500 U of T Mississauga students, staying in residence over the winter break means being home for the holidays.
UTM Student Housing is bucking the trend in post-secondary education by keeping its doors open to students during the break. It is a recent departure from how it previously operated.
According to Chad Nuttall, director of Student Housing and Residence Life, there were a small number of students who remained on campus during the holidays. The process to stay was designed to be discouraging and restrictive to student applicants, Nuttall says. Those who remained were charged an extra fee.
“It was a really discouraging fee for people,” Nuttall says. “It didn’t feel right.”
As the number of international students grew – approximately half of those now in residence are international students – Nuttall and his team decided to review their policy. They discovered that most institutions either closed or were restrictive about allowing students to remain in residence during the break.
“We didn’t want to be like our peers, we wanted to be the best,” Nuttall says, noting UTM has more international students than most of its peers.
“When we welcome students on moving day, we say, ‘Welcome home,’” he continues, adding people don’t get kicked out of their homes for a couple of weeks during the holidays.
Whether international students or not, some may not have a place to go during the closure or they may not have the money to pay additional fees, Nuttall explains.
“If people are here, they shouldn’t have to leave,” he says. “Residence is home for these students.”
Student Housing now keeps its doors open to students over the holidays. Students still have to apply to remain on campus, and those who have had issues in residence may be turned down, but the applications are mostly about knowing the numbers and ensuring appropriate service levels.
A contingent of residence dons work over the holidays and the service desk is open, albeit with reduced hours. The additional fee for students to stay has also been dropped.
While there hasn’t been much formal feedback, the number of students choosing to stay is encouraging. Nuttall estimates fewer than 100 stayed when the process was both costly and restrictive. This winter will see 450 students staying in residence over the holidays, a number that could climb each year.
Nuttall says his next push will be getting other campus services to follow his lead once they hit that “magic number.” (Only about a third of students currently remain on campus.) There is no food service on campus during the winter break and the residence dining hall is closed. But all students have access to a kitchen, including those in Oscar Peterson Hall. A communal kitchen was built there a couple of years ago, built in large part so students would have access to a kitchen during the winter break, Nuttall says.
Student Housing and Residence Life will also host two activities for students staying over the holidays. On Dec. 28 students are invited to a Winter Holidays and Cultural Celebration night at Oscar Peterson Hall for activities and a potluck where they will have a chance to make foods like dumplings and potato latkes. Then on Jan. 4, students can meet in the lobby of Oscar Peterson Hall at 1 p.m. to head together to Celebration Square to skate.
Nuttall says his team hopes to build on these activities in future years as they provide support to international students and push to be a world leader in student housing.
“We want to be very welcoming,” he says.