EDITOR KRISTIAN TREVENA

| THURSDAY, MARCH 12, 2020 |

THE VOICE 3

Campusnews

Student satisfaction dips

Creating student housing takes time

Several factors are being considered before residence comes to campus

= By DANAUCA DORY

he demand for student

housing at Langara is being

explored as a part of the college's 2025 Strategic Plan. The steps to get there are more compli- cated than students think.

The plan, which is currently in its draft state, is an outline for how the college intends to grow over the next five years. One of these goals is to see the feasibility of on and off campus housing for students.

Viktor Sokha, vice-president of administration and finance at Langara, said while options are being explored to bring student housing to campus in the future, it is still early to have a concrete plan.

“We recognize that housing affordability is a challenging issue

in Metro Vancouver,” Sokha said in

“We recognize that housing affordability is a challenging issue in Metro Vancouver.”

— VIKTOR SOKHA, VICE-PRESIDENT | OF ADMINSTATION AND FINANCE AT _| LANGARA

an emailed statement to The Voice, “We are also evaluating the feasi- bility of other potential housing supports for students in the future, with a range of possible partners, but it is early in that process.”

Jenelle Davies, national execu- tive representative for the B.C. Federation of Students, said providing housing on campuses may be more complicated than students realize, as student housing doesn’t fall under the B.C. Resi- dential Tenancy Act.

“Students aren't actually covered under the tenancy agreements, because you're not considered a renter,” Davies said. “You're sort of at the whim of what the insti- tution is doing for housing at that point in time.”

One factor listed in the plan is Langara’s plan is to consult with Musqueam, as the college sits on unceded Musqueam territory.

An estimated 23,000 students attend Langara annually, accord- ing to the school website.

Nursing student Tahlia Velay- Mah said she knows housing on campus won't happen any time soon, but thinks it will be a prom- ising option for students.

“There’s gonna be a lot of red tape to get through. But I think that it would be beneficial long- term to kind of get the ball rolling.”

Other factors being considered in Langara's plan include consult- ing with the City of Vancouver and other potential partners.

According to the plan, the college is aiming to have a feasi-

bility assessment complete by 2025.

Recent survey results show slow decline from 2016 to

REGISTRAR & ENROLMENT SERVI‘

Registrar & Enrolment

Services:

Advising Appointment Check-In

A person waits at the Registrar & Enrolment Services office at Langara. Rui YANG XU PHOTO

= By RUIYANG XU

oshua Poole went to college

in Alberta before transferring

to Langara. He finds that it’s

been a better experience here than he’s had in other schools.

Poole, a second-year computer science student, said other colleges and universities had class sizes that were too large and intimidating.

“So many people, so many classes, and Langara is nice for that —that it's just smaller,” Poole said.

While Poole has been satisfied with his time at Langara, recent reports from the school have shown that while the college still has a rela- tively high level of satisfied students,

= ByJESSICA A. FROUD

ancouverites are rushing out \ / to buy COVID-19 emer- gency supplies — much more than earthquakes kits despite being the high ongoing risk of the “big one” hitting the West Coast. Businesses across Metro Vancou- ver have been sold out of surgi- cal face masks, hand sanitizer and rubbing alcohol for weeks. Many don’t have a date for when they will be back in stock. Cheryl Petkau, owner of Krasicki

the level has declined over the last year.

Over the past few years, overall student satisfaction has been slowly dipping to 86.8 per cent in 2019 from 93.8 per cent in 2016, accord- ing to Langara’s 2020 Strategic Plan.

The latest B.C. Student Outcome Survey shows that 96 per cent of students were satisfied with the qual- ity of instruction at Langara College, 92 per cent with their education and 91 per cent felt prepared for further studies, according to the Langara website.

In comparison, in the 2018/2019 school year, UBC had a 94 per cent student satisfaction rate. In 2019, SFU sat at 82 per cent.

people. But if an earthquake hits, it will be a heck of a lot more people than that.”

As of publication, B.C. has 46 confirmed COVID-19 cases, and one death, according to Dr. Bonnie Henry, B.C.'s provincial health offi- cer.

According to PreparedBC, there is a one in three chance of a damag- ing earthquake occurring within the province over the next 50 years.

Steven Taylor, an expert in the psychology of pandemics at UBC, said people shouldn't buy items because they think they have to.

& Ward, an emer- “The risk gency preparedness [~ . “| of earth- store in Vancouver, "The worst thing we quakes in said emergencies like . h . Vancouver is earthquakes should can do Y1g tnow 1s fairly low in be the focus. These : comparison days, products that act out of panic. to getting customers believe — STEVEN TAYLOR, UBC PROFESSOR, COVID- will help them fight PSYCHIATRY DEPT. 19,” Taylor

off COVID-19 arein high demand.

“We will be bringing in boxes of masks from the back door and people will be waiting for us saying they will buy them all,” Petkau said. “Once COVID-19 is finished it will have taken out about half a dozen

said. “It will be a self-fulfilling prophecy if the stores run out of inventory and I believe most already have. The worst thing we can do right now is act out of panic.”

Isabel Wood, a staff worker at Krasicki & Ward, said people

According to Langara’s 2020 stra- tegic plan, the college has a target of 100 per cent student satisfaction.

Ben Cecil, Langara’s provost and vice-president of academics and students, said in order to make sure the college continues to provide rele- vant programs, the survey results are vital.

“We use the metrics of student satisfaction, transfer rates, and graduate satisfaction to measure our performance annually,” he said. “The overwhelming majority of our students are satisfied with the services, supports and education they receive at Langara.”

For Arjun Cartagena-Senanayake, a first-year biology student, finan-

2019

cial concerns are the dominant worry for him and how his tuition fees are being spent by the college.

“If the school focuses its resources on things that don't benefit a major- ity of students, it’s not improving their experience,” Cartagena-Sena- nayake said. “You're putting in like a lot of money into the system, but you're not really getting as much out,”

Despite student satisfaction drop- ping, students like Poole are appre- ciative of the effort Langara is putting to ensure students are happy.

“It seems like the school is taking good steps from what I've noticed to work with the students and make sure they're as happy as they can be.”

SCHOOLS AT A GLANCE 2018/2019 SATISFACTION

86.8%

Langara student satisfaction in 2019

94%

UBC Vancouver student satisfaction in 2018/19

SFU student satisfaction in 2019

SOURCES: LANGARA CA, UBCCA_SFUCA

Businessnews

Investing in emergency supplies

Sales for virus products soar while earthquake kits ignored

SORRY ALL MASKS

A Superstore on Marine Drive is sold out of face masks. Many stores across Metro Vancouver have been sold out for weeks. vessica 4 FROUD PHOTO

purchase items based on current concerns.

“People tend to put earthquake fears on the back burner because it isn't in the news as much as things like COVID-19,” Wood said. “When there was an earthquake in Haida Gwaii, we were running out of earthquake kits because it was on people’s minds.”

First-year professional photogra- phy student Sarah Flemming said her family has been trying to find hand sanitizers with no success.

“My mom was trying to find hand sanitizer here in Vancouver but it was totally sold out,” Flemming said. “Our family went to Victoria over the weekend and couldn't find any there either.”