A study commissioned by the Department of Resident Life shows that more than three quarters of students living on campus support mixed-sex housing on-campus.

However, Resident Life officials caution that despite the student interest, the process of bringing mix-sex housing to the university could take years. While the option is popular among small, liberal arts colleges or private institutions, it is unprecedented for a public institution of this size, officials said.

The study, presented to RHA leaders last night, comes after more than five years of debate in the organization about student interest on the issue. It found that 77 percent of students are in favor of men and women either sharing apartments and bathrooms, sharing apartments with separate bathrooms or living next door to one another in dorms. RHA leaders will vote on their stance toward mixed-sex housing next month.

If the RHA passes a resolution recommending mixed-sex housing, it will only be the beginning of a process that could take more than a year. The Department of Resident Life, the University Senate and university President Dan Mote would have to approve the proposition before the Board of Regents would have final say on the policy.

Regents, however, have expressed apprehension toward the issue.

“I’m not sure the campus is the proper setting for that,” Chairman Cliff Kendall said. “If a couple wanted to live together they would certainly have plenty of options off campus.”

Resident Life Director of Assessment and Research Joann Prosser echoed these sentiments, cautioning senators about the feasibility of changing the university’s housing policies.

Prosser said RHA leaders should take into account the sizable minority – mainly of females – that opposes rooming with the opposite sex to insure its concerns are still considered in the process.

“It’s not as simple as the majority of the students are interested in this, we should move forward,” Prosser, who conducted the study, said at last night’s meeting.

Additionally, mixed-sex housing could open a host of issues that could force students into choosing between living with a member of the opposite gender and living on campus at all, Prosser said.

This policy could also add an element on uncertainty to the university’s ballooning waitlist, said Resident Life Director of Assignments Scott Young. He said officials would no longer be able to predict how many beds for needed for men and how many for women, likening the balance of rooms to moving targets.

“I don’t know if it would have an impact on the wait list, but it would certainly change the way we do business,” he said. “Anytime you have a moving target, it would certainly create some challenges.”

The most popular option among students had members of the opposite sex sharing an apartment or suite with separate bathrooms. This scenario would most likely be implemented in select South Campus Commons or in University Courtyard apartments because they are the only campus options that could accommodate these conditions, Assistant to the Director of Resident Life Mike Glowacki said.

Still, a fifth of women and a tenth of men said they would refuse this living arrangement.

But group leaders see offering mixed-sex housing as a simple matter.

“If it’s something students want, we should try to provide it,” the RHA committee chair Karen Isenhart said.

RHA leaders first proposed the idea for a study to Resident Life officials last year because of increased student interest on the subject. The department spent last spring surveying more than 1,000 students about their living preferences.

Contact reporter Ben Slivnick at slivnickdbk@gmail.com.