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SALT LAKE CITY — Similar to the state itself, the University of Utah is growing and doing so quickly.
The student body in October totaled 34,424 strong and that number shouldn't be declining — or even remaining the same — anytime soon.
At his inauguration in March, U. President Taylor Randall shared his plans to grow enrollment to 40,000 students over the next seven years and "dispel the perception of the U. as a commuter campus."
So, with increased growth, where do all the students go?
Joining other housing initiatives on campus, the U. announced last week the launch of the Home Away from Home pilot program, which pairs students at the U. with alumni living around the university.
With a waitlist that was around 3,000 students at the beginning of the spring and is now down to around 600, Bethany Hardwig, director of special projects at the office of alumni relations, said that this program is about "meeting the needs of future growth."
"About 60% of our alumni live in the Salt Lake Valley and are regularly looking for ways to continue to be involved in the life of students on campus and this felt like a really unique way to dovetail both of those needs and be ready to respond to future growth at the university," Hardwig said.
During the pilot semester this fall and spring, the program will place 100 sophomores, juniors and seniors in alumni homes with the hope of expansion in the future. Students will pay $5,000 per semester.
"There are, I believe, at least one cheaper option in on-campus housing but a lot more, more expensive options for on-campus housing," Hardwig said, noting that the U. is "not really competing with on-campus housing, we're competing with off-campus housing."
Housing rates for the 2022-23 academic year show that for dormitory style options, which are typically reserved for first-year students, prices range from $3,847 to $4,659 for a single room during the fall semester. These rates don't include a meal plan, which ranges from $2,075 to $5,020 for the academic year.
Hardwig also said the U. is taking safety measures, especially after the safety of on-campus housing at the university has come into question, with Randall acknowledging in a statement Tuesday numerous "shortcomings" that included "a delay by former members of our housing services staff in notifying the University of Utah Police Department of indications of intimate partner violence; a deficiency in our housing services employees' training; and insufficient and unprofessional internal communication," after Zhifan Dong, 19, of Anyan, China, a U. student, was found unresponsive in a Salt Lake hotel after being injected with drugs purchased by her boyfriend off the dark web, according to police. She died, while her boyfriend, Haoyu Wang, 26, has been charged with murder.
"The safety protocols that we're putting in place are exactly the same on the side of the student as they are on the host," Hardwig said. "Both parties will have a national background check and three nonrelated references and those have to exist before they're even put into this portal."
This isn't just about finding spaces for bodies; it's about making connections.
–Bethany Hardwig, director of special projects at the U.'s office of alumni relations
Once accepted into the portal, students and alumni can then connect with prospective matches on the Forever Utah Alumni Network to chat, where both parties can decide if it feels like a good fit before moving forward, the university said in a statement.
"Though we can never ensure absolute safety, we can do our best to make sure that we are working in conjunction with our offices of risk management and general counsel to ensure that we are doing everything we can to ensure as much safety and as much access to resources as possible," Hardwig said.
So far, there is a lot of preliminary interest from alumni looking to host a student, Hardwig said.
She added that there are about 100 alumni on a potential list of hosts waiting to get vetted and screened.
"We want this to be an advantageous situation for all involved," Hardwig said in a statement. "We want the students matched with the right alum for their situation, and vice versa. This isn't just about finding spaces for bodies; it's about making connections."
If you are an alum, a member of the faculty or on staff at the university and interested in opening your home to a student in the coming fall semester, you can fill out a survey here.
"I'm probably the most excited to see how it grows," Hardwig said. "One of the exciting things about a pilot program is that we are not locked into, either the ways it can grow or change."
