Editorial Board/FIUSM Staff
It has become apparent that the University is focused on financial gain and growth.
This goal is evident through the impending deal between Royal Caribbean International and the University, as it guarantees $2.2 million for the University from Royal Caribbean, as was reported in July.
The partnership involving the University and Royal Caribbean has been continuously emphasized as a positive move in the interest of students since it can bring in potential internship and job opportunities.
What is being easily cast aside and forgotten within all this positivity is the unknown fate of students that can be negatively affected by this partnership.
Part of the deal between the University and Royal Caribbean includes the leasing of the Bay Vista Housing land for a housing and training facility that is intended to be used by Royal Caribbean entertainers and performers.
Bay Vista can currently hold 272 students and six resident assistants. This means that 272 students need to be accounted for once their housing situation changes, through no fault of their own.
Granted, this number is nothing compared to the student population, but these are still University students.
Yet, this issue has been easily dismissed countless times.
Several “solutions” have been presented but none really deal with the situation as best as it should be dealt with.
The suggestion to have these Biscayne Bay Campus students relocate to Modesto A. Maidique Campus, for instance, would only make matters worse. Not only would they have to compete for housing, possibly the new housing facility Parkview, but they would also have to deal with an unnecessary commute that could easily be avoided if this were handled with actual consideration of these students.
Another solution the University is presenting is the option of housing students in the surrounding BBC area. Housing, which they cannot guarantee, will be the same or would have a competitive price as on-campus housing.
Plus, student safety at an off-campus site cannot be guaranteed and can hold the University liable.
President Rosenberg said last month that, “There will be bumps in the road [and] maybe a transition where we will need to get a residence hall off-campus, but that would be kind of a one-year inconvenience and it seems to me, as it relates to the bigger picture and the benefits that will come to the University through this partnership, that it’s a tradeoff that’s worth taking.”
While we understand and appreciate the University for taking the initiative to bring in a potentially advantageous partnership, for both students and the University as a whole, the potential of at least a year of off-campus housing for students who want to live on-campus at BBC feels like more than an inconvenience.
opinion@fiusm.com
Sources:
1. “Public-Private Partnerships Planned for Campus,” FIUSM.com
2. “Royal Caribbean to lease Bay Vista housing land,” FIUSM.com
3. “President Rosenberg talks growth and expansion with Student Media,” via FIUSM.com
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