It’s been two years since Brian Wilson decided to move away from the safe haven of MSU residence halls.
Although the advertising senior said he’s enjoyed living off-campus so far, the first year away from campus has been very difficult for him.
“I’m just starting to learn how to utilize the benefits of living off-campus,” Wilson said. “(Students) have a voice in the community as well. They can take positions in the city of East Lansing. A lot of students don’t know that. I didn’t.”
The Student Life Department has produced a Web site to make things easier for students who are pondering the idea of moving off-campus, the ELmanac, located at www.ELmanac.msu.edu.
The Web site includes information about getting started, answers to frequently asked questions about moving off-campus and points to help students decide whether off-campus housing is right for the individual student.
As a student designer for the Web site, Wilson has played an integral part in its creation.
“I was in charge of taking what (the department) wanted in their minds and putting it on the screen,” Wilson said. “As a student who lives off-campus myself, it’s already come in handy on a couple of occasions. We’ve still been trying to tweak it and make it the best we can.”
The Web site has been up since this fall, but department officials say publicizing it earlier would have been premature. The department will continue to make improvements and additions to the Web site in coming months.
Cathy Neuman, associate director of Student Life, said the department will be trying to form student focus groups to add content to the Web site in February.
“We’re trying to get a number of focus groups together of ordinary students, not necessarily student leaders,” Neuman said. “We want them to give us some feedback about what’s missing and what they’d like to see on it.”
The university is beginning to focus more attention on students who live away from campus, she said.
“The main reason it was developed is so we could start serving students who live off-campus more effectively,” she said. “I think we could have always done more to service them more. We try, but we need to do more.”
Associate Director of Student Life Shelia Higgs-Burkhalter said the Web site will help raise questions students haven’t considered, like how they will get to campus and whether they are following regulations.
“Dealing with students in transition is part of my job,” Higgs-Burkhalter said. “We’re just trying to help navigate them through that process.”
East Lansing Mayor Mark Meadows said the Web site could be an excellent resource for students. The city also produces “Off the Beaten Path,” a guide for students moving off-campus.
“I would like the city to be involved in that,” Meadow said. “I’d say that the information contained in “Off the Beaten Path” is critical information for anyone moving off-campus. We’d like to make sure this Web site had the same information.”
