Bathrooms and roommates they’re two issues that should be on the mind of every Kansas University student seeking to live on campus.

KU has living quarters on campus for about 5,100 students, and Diana Robertson, associate director of Student Housing for the university, said the number of bathrooms and the number of roommates that come with each room is a major difference students need to consider.

Maryam Shakib, a freshman from Iran, left, and her roommate Krysdanell Cole, Topeka freshman, surf the Internet and watch television in their room at Gertrude Sellards Pearson residence hall.

The difference comes down to how much students want to share their space. KU has 10 residence halls that will be open during the next school year, and they offer rooms that allow students to choose between two roommates or four, and between a bathroom in the room or a centrally located bathroom/shower facility that is shared by residents on the floor.

The decision would seem like a no-brainer to most, but there is a cost consideration that must be weighed. Robertson said for students to share less, it would cost them approximately $1,300 a year, which is tacked on to the typical base rate of $4,600 a year for a standard residence hall and meal plan.

More and more students are willing to pay the extra money these days, Robertson said.

“We’re definitely finding more students want their privacy and their private baths,” Robertson said. “We live in a different time now. For past generations it was nothing to share a room or a bathroom. But today, many of our students have never shared a room before and some have never even shared a bathroom.”

The university is trying to change with the times. Over the past five years, the university has undertaken major remodeling projects and have added more “suite-style” rooms, which all have private bathrooms in each suite, but vary in size depending on whether they are made to accommodate two or four people.

Students interested in that type of living have two options, either Lewis Hall or Templin Hall. Ellsworth Hall, however, will be closed during the next school year, allowing it to be remodeled into suite-style rooms. It will re-open for the 2003-2004 school year.

The university’s five other residence halls are traditional two-person, shared bathroom facilities.

Apply early to secure room

Robertson said her advice for students wanting to live in a suite-style hall was to get their applications in early.

“Our process for assigning halls is relatively simple,” Robertson said. “On their application, we ask students to rank in order of preference where they want to live. So the earlier you get your request in, the better your chances are.”

The process for selecting roommates also isn’t overly complicated, Robertson said. Students first have the option of requesting a specific roommate. If students don’t have anyone in mind, then university officials simply start putting people together.

“We basically just match them with somebody else who wants to live in that same dormitory,” Robertson said. “We have learned over the years that you can ask students beforehand a billion and one questions about what type of music you like and whether you are late-night studier or an earlier riser or things like that and it still doesn’t make a lot of difference.

“What it all comes down to is communication between the roommates after they have been matched together. That’s why we have all our residents fill out a form with their roommates that address some issues. We want them to come up with the answers. It helps them address some issues about how they are going to use the space, whether they are going to share the food in the room or not, and just other rules that all roommates eventually have to have.”

Other living options

Traditional dormitories aren’t the only option for students. KU you also offers scholarship halls for students who qualify. Five male halls and five female halls each accommodate about 50 students.

But Robertson warns that finding a spot in a hall can be difficult.

“We have a high number or residents who return to the halls each year, so we only have room for about 150 freshmen each year,” Robertson said. “And they are students who have been very active in high school, have great GPAs, and they’re also people who realize they’re going to have to maintain those GPAs in college.”