The IU Student Association is planning to create a housing guide for students looking to move off campus.
The goal of the guide is to make the transition from on-campus to off-campus smoother, chief of staff Sara Zaheer said.
“We want to make sure that they’re as prepared when they’re making those decisions as possible,” Zaheer said.
Last semester, freshman Alex Yu worked as an IUSA intern and began thinking about questions he could ask students about moving off campus.
After attending the Association of Big Ten Students conference a few weeks ago, Zaheer began working on a similar project with Sara Ivey Lucas, assistant dean of students for parents and off-campus affairs, and decided to bring Yu aboard.
Zaheer, Yu and Lucas will begin meeting in the coming weeks to discuss their plans, goals and ideas for this guide.
“When I was looking for houses, it was overwhelming,” Yu said. “I feel like a lot of other students felt this way, too.”
One of the first steps in creating this guide will be to send a survey to students containing questions about different landlords or property owners, price of rent and utilities, cleanliness and safety.
Yu said he is also looking into the idea of creating a ranking system where students can rank specific elements of an off-campus house on a 1 to 10 scale.
Keeping a strong connection with students off campus is important, Zaheer said.
“You don’t want to lose that connection between the University and the students,” she added.
Although no format for the guide has been decided, Zaheer said her plans include a web-based resource where students can look at different categories they want to learn more about, including locations or safety.
“We want to just guide students to look more thoroughly through things before signing,” Zaheer said. “It is a big step going from the dorms where everything is taken care of for you to off campus.”
Other aspects Zaheer said she was looking into include creating a resource for students once they have moved in, or a student-based source on how to avoid getting in trouble with police.
The guide could also be a way to hold landlords accountable, Yu added.
“That way they’ll be inclined to do better,” he said.
Although this guide is still in its early steps, Yu said he hopes it will be ready to roll out by next school year.
This resource is something Zaheer said she wished she had when making the decision to move off campus.
Other students said they agree. Freshman Gil Fitzgerald has already signed the lease for his off-campus apartment for next year. However, he said this resource definitely would have helped him make the decision.
“I think that’d be an awesome idea,” Fitzgerald said. “If a resource like that existed, we would’ve absolutely utilized it.”
Even if the guide is only a list of questions for students to think of before moving, Zaheer said it would be still be a good starting place for students.
Yu said he wants this guide to be a good source of information that can only be found out from other students.
“My goal is to help students have an unbiased source they can look to when searching for off-campus housing,” Yu said.
