ROSS STUDENT HOUSING STANDARDS REDUCED. LIKE A JAIL

Students are expressing disappointment at the apparent ‘mandatory’ arrangement which gives them no leeway to find competitive lodging on their own.

According to irate students, the university is requiring “all full-time students enrolled in the Medical Sciences 4- or 5-semester curriculum, to reside in RUSM on-campus housing, located at the Villages at Coverley”.

This was not the case when they attended the school based in Dominica said the irate returning student, livid at the change of process.

Investigations revealed that some students were either not willing to pay the price being asked or simply wanted to live elsewhere on island and had therefore applied for housing exemption but were not approved and told that “there is not an appeals process”.



Some students had raised concerns about the pricing while a handful of them had applied for “housing exemption”, meaning they would prefer to rent accommodation elsewhere so they could have the full “island experience” while living amongst regular residents ‘like we did in Dominica’.


According to concerned students, who wished not to be identified, living arrangements in Dominica were different, and on-campus housing could go from US$450 to over US$650 per month per student, while off-campus rent could reach over US$800. Each student had the option of renting solo.

The students said they simply felt “entrapped”, explaining that they were initially told that living at the Villages at Coverley was not mandatory, but this later changed.

“After all our [proposed] hosts submitted all their very personal information that Ross asked for to house us – citizenship proof, passport information – then they denied everyone,” the students complained.




They said since raising the concern about accommodation costs and not being able to freely choose where to live, the university has been less than accommodating.

“Not only are we not given the choice, but this also hurts the rental property owners of the area that will not benefit from students being able to use their properties to accommodate their personal lifestyle,” the student added.

“I don’t think Ross can dictate where US, Barbados or other nationals can live. They kept changing the rules, got our hopes up then denied nearly 100 per cent.”