Raymond Hubscher hoped to be back in the Lower Mainland by now and into his fourth year as a biomedical engineering student at UBC.
However, when the university's winter session (Sept. 3 to Dec. 6) got underway, the Salmon Arm man was still in town, living with family in Canoe while working at RJ Haney Heritage Village and Museum, and feeling frustrated his post-secondary education had to be put on hold due to his inability to secure on-campus housing.
"It’s not the ideal path, so while I’m not in school, that gives me a chance to go to work, earn extra money, pay off a little bit of the (student) loans and save up so I can go to university," said Hubscher. "So it’s not game over. It’s a setback. But I do not believe it’s a setback that should exist for multiple students."
As in previous years, Hubscher applied to UBC Student Housing for a contract for on-campus housing that would span the eight months of his program. He learned in August, however, that he'd not been picked to receive a contract through the random selection process used for mature returning students, and was put on a wait-list. As of Aug. 19, Hubscher was number 512 on the list.
An email to the Observer from UBC Student Housing and Community Services noted there is a year-round housing option offered to continuing UBC students.
"Once a student accepts a contract offer, they can remain in Year Round Residence as long as they are an eligible UBC student and renew their contract each year. To help offset their costs, residents also have the option to sublet during summer months to students who need summer accommodations," explained UBC Student Housing and Community Services associate vice-president Andrew Parr.
Hubscher, however, explained this option isn't affordable or feasible for him. Nor is off-campus housing, which has also been suggested by UBC.
"I apply for student residence every year because I’ve known for a long time that if I don’t get into student residence I can’t afford the rent in Vancouver, not with what I earn during the summer and my student loans combined," said Hubscher. "With my summer earnings and my student loans, I have just enough money to get through the year and my first paycheque for the summer, so if I ended up having to pay more for rent I’d be broke.
"So every year they put me onto the wait-list and every year I have to wait until August to get a room offer and this year they just never had a room."
Parr urged Hubscher to reach out again to Student Housing.
"The situation may have a resolution as the waiting lists can rapidly change at the start of the academic term," said Parr. "While it’s inevitable that some people on the waiting list may not have immediate access, it’s not unusual for spots in residence to open up through September as some students, for a variety of reasons, choose not to attend UBC after all."
Parr noted how since 2010, UBC has invested more than $700 million to build 6,080 new residence beds for students in Vancouver and in the Okanagan.
"The university is by far the largest university-run student housing provider in Canada with 16,003 beds (13,883 in Vancouver, 2,120 in the Okanagan) with a plan to build another 4,800 beds over the next 10 to 15 years," said Parr. "This future growth would see 1,000 replacement beds (provided through upgrades and renovations of existing residences), 3,300 new beds in Vancouver and another 500 new beds on the Okanagan campus. The first of these projects will be a graduate student-focused housing community, further enhancing graduate students’ experience and success at UBC.”
Similar statistics were shared by UBC Student Housing to Hubscher, along with the comment, "Our office is receiving a high volume of calls and emails from students who have the same desire to live in residence and are asking for exceptions to be made for them," and that despite UBC Vancouver being the largest student housing operator in Canada, and one of the largest in North America, "Our supply remains well below our current demand."
Hubscher recognizes there is high demand, and understands the university's policy to prioritize first-year students for on-campus accommodation. However, he takes issue with a system that determines whether or not a returning student and B.C. resident gets housing based on a process of random selection, followed by a waitlist.
"This housing issue, where students are awarded room offers based on random selection and not need, it appears this problem is common to most universities," said Hubscher. "I can’t say for all because I haven’t looked at all universities, but the ones I have looked at, it appears to be the same.
"From the responses I was getting from UBC student residence, they were saying they’re the most capable of housing students in Canada… and if they can’t do it, if they can’t help those whose education is dependent on being in student residence, that tells me there’s a potential provincial and national problem."
Hubscher shared this concern in letters sent to Shuswap MLA Greg Kyllo and North Okanagan-Shuswap MP Mel Arnold.
"With the difficulty in getting affordable residences while attending university, domestic students are faced with not completing their degrees," wrote Hubscher, arguing support for domestic students should be a priority. "The intent here is not to lay blame nor to accuse, but to bring the problem to light so that a solution can be found that will benefit all current and future Canadian students."
Again, all of this is a setback for Hubscher, who is determined to complete his education.
"I'm hoping to be back on campus come January; however, I do recognize there’s a great possibility that it won’t happen. In which case I’d be continuing to work through the winter and the summer and trying to get into housing at UBC again for next fall," said Hubscher, who is also exploring options at other B.C. universities.
