Horan Hall, a suite and apartment-style residential hall at MU. CUPPEK PHOTOGRAPHY / COURTESY
Grace Cardinal, Editor-in-Chief
Manhattan University has announced a new commuter residential program for students looking to live on campus during the winter months. The announcement was made on Oct. 15, with applications opening the same day.
According to an email sent to MU commuters, the goal of the program is to give students the opportunity to avoid icy commutes and unpredictable weather in the colder months. The plan includes prorated housing and meal plans that are available to students from Nov. 2 through March 13, 2026, with additionally priced winter break housing options available.
Director of Residence Life Ronnie Genee spoke to The Quadrangle about how the idea for the program came to fruition.
“I started my career working with commuters,” Genee said. “Recently, I’ve been thinking about what we can do to help commuters out more? And hearing students saying, ‘Oh, I just had to travel an hour and a half,’ and I know with New York winters, it gets bad. So I was thinking about how could we make the experience better? Since I oversee Res Life, I thought, okay, one thing that we can do in Res Life is at least offer some temporary housing…to alleviate any of those concerns so that students can just focus on their academic experience. We came up with this program so that students can actually stay on campus without having to commit to a full year of being on campus.”
Commuter students have shown interest in the program, with the office receiving four applications, with eight others started but not completed, as of the time of writing.
Vice President of Student Life Kristell Lowe spoke about one students’ email that stuck with her.
“One email that Ronnie shared with me last week actually really touched me,” Lowe said. “[It] was one student who, in her exact words were, ‘I wanted to thank you for this program. I’ve literally been praying for an opportunity to live on campus, and I’m so excited,’ and mission accomplished. If we’ve made one student excited about it, and we’re giving them an opportunity to do something they cannot afford to do, I’m so excited about it. It was a very moving email. It was very touching.”
With a 70% commuter rate on campus overall, and an even higher percentage in the School of Engineering specifically, Lowe believes that the program is an opportunity for a more unified campus.
“The School of Engineering is almost 80% commuters,” Lowe said. “Factually, some of those students do not set foot on the main campus. They just don’t have the luxury to. So for that reason, we try to bring programming down there, and we arrange for events, for pop up food and pop up surprises, anything we can do to reach them. But the reality is, I think some people who have been crossing paths for maybe a year, two years, would finally get to have the conversations that they haven’t had up to now.”
As for how this compares to what the department expected regarding student interest, Christina MacNair, associate director of Residence Life, says that the office is open to whichever direction the program goes.
“It’s not hurting us to put it out there, and then if it comes to fruition that a lot of students are interested in it, we can build it then into the program and just kind of take it from there, and make it better, and get feedback from them and see what interest there is too,” MacNair said. “Honestly, we were happy with any amount. Or if people came back and they were like, ‘Oh, we don’t like this idea, but we need this,’ I think we’re just in the process of adjusting to what people’s needs and wants are. So we’re pretty open to anything at this point.”
Students who apply into the program will have differently priced options depending on where they hope to live and the meal plan they want to choose.
The most affordable housing option being offered to students is suite-style living, while the most expensive is converting a double room into a single. Students will also be able to choose from a standard or high use dining plan. For on-campus living from November to March with a meal plan, commuter students interested in the program are looking at paying anywhere from $8,492 to $11,407, depending on the options they choose. The cost of this roughly four-month stay is fairly in line with what it costs residential students to live on campus for a regular full-term semester in a double on a standard meal plan, which clocks in at around $9,575 total.
As for the deadline to apply, Genee explained that the office intentionally left out a date for a reason.
“We purposely didn’t put a date,” Genee said. “The most ideal situation is before November 2. So by the end of next week is the ideal point, so that we are prepared and everything. But if someone came in even November 15 and said, ‘I decided I want to live on campus for now until March 13,’ we would work with them.”
The program hopes to not only make life easier for commuters, but to contribute to MU’s campus community and all that comes with it.
“The more the merrier,” Lowe said. “I think also when people are here for a shorter amount of time, and there’s a temporary aspect to it, it does feel a little more special, almost like, the first night of camp, where everybody is excited to be here…so I think it will benefit campus because it’s more people, it’s students that may not have enjoyed it until now, so I’m sure they’ll be excited about it. More people in Lockes, more people roaming around on campus. I mean, nothing but great things can come from that.”
Genee hopes that no matter what the outcome of the program is, students make the decision that’s best for them.
“I believe in the Residence Life experience, and I believe that it’s an important part of your experience going away and living on campus,” Genee said. “Before March 13, if they say to us, ‘I just want to stay here for the rest of the academic year,’ we’ll convert them to a regular license. They’ll just pay whatever money is left over and the fees. But if they decide to leave, that’s fine too. And then if they decide to come back, if we do offer this program next year, they can do that as well. Like I said, the point of the program is to give commuters that option to stay on campus during the inclement weather. And so if that’s their plan, to do that every year, and we’re able to offer it every year, great. If financially it was more of a hesitation to live on campus, this gives them the option to try it out. So I think my hope is really whatever the student wishes to get out of the experience, they get out of the experience.”