Troy

Just about every college and university offers a summer term, often for students who want to make up needed credits or who want to graduate faster. Now, though, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute is building on that tradition by instituting a mandatory summer session for students who have completed their sophomore years.

Known as “The Arch,” the summer session aims to bring a heightened academic focus to students halfway through their undergraduate careers. Courses range from biostatistics to computer programming to data visualization and electrical circuitry and engineering project management. RPI officials stress that putting the entire rising junior class being together in the usually-quiet summer will have its advantages. But it has also riled up fraternities and sororities since the students must remain in the dorms during the program, rather than living – and paying – fees to the Greek organizations.

“As the only cohort on campus during their summer semester, rising juniors will have enhanced access to the university's world-class research facilities, undivided attention from members of the faculty and administration, and the ability to take in the area's many seasonal offerings,” according to an announcement of the program’s full start. They’ve had trial runs of smaller groups during the past two years.

Tuition, room, and board are the same as they would be for a traditional semester, the school said. The total varies depending on which housing and meal plan options are picked.

They've had trial runs of smaller groups during the past two years.

The second part of the program entails junior year – in which students will take their first or second semester away from campus, either at an internship or conducting a personal research or other such project. That’s seen as a potential advantage, especially for those looking to attend graduate school or enter the job market, which is already quite good for those coming out of RPI’s well-known science and engineering programs.

Additionally, the Arch represents a growing trend in higher education in which schools are viewing their dormitories as potential income sources that all-too-often lie dormant during the summer session.

“It’s a sunk cost,” college consultant Bryan Alexander wrote in an email. A sunk cost describes an expense that has already been incurred such as the price of building a dormitory.

Alexander noted that some schools are using their dorms to host specialized training programs for hospitals or local K-12 school systems.

In Vancouver, Canada, the University of British Columbia has built new dorms that can be rented out like apartments during the summer.

At Plymouth State College in New Hampshire, their new dorms will serve as a hotel during summer. They also instituted a policy in which students need to be 21 and have 64 credits to live off campus.

Despite that trend, Greek supporters and landlords aren’t happy about the move.

“I can't speak for all of us as Greeks, but I do believe the loss of revenue is a major concern for our houses. Implementing the Arch program and rolling out new guidelines for the Greek Community at the same time has surely been stressful this semester,” Grace Gionta wrote in an email.

The new guidelines entailed sharply limiting conditions in which alcohol can be served and plans to push back the Greek recruiting period into the second semester. Both of those moves will reduce the number of people who join the organizations, say fraternity and sorority members.

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“They are shifting that revenue away from the Greeks and shifting it back to the school," said Brian Leitten, an alumni and supporter of Greek life.

“There is no benefit to the students. It’s a money grab for school,” said Keith Cunningham, who owns two houses that he rents out to students. Landlords around RPI typically rent for a whole year with students subleasing or staying on campus during the summer. But this will make them to change that.

“The university is forcing them on the campus for the summer,” added another landlord, Brian Zuchelkowski.

While RPI is looking to use the dorms, some schools are taking an opposite tack, by selling off unneeded real estate, noted Alexander.

Fisher College, a small Boston school sold a building it owned in the city’s pricey Back Bay neighborhood in 2017, bringing in $22.5 million. And Boston University in 2016 sold a theater and two buildings for $25 million, with the money going toward a new performance space. At Oberlin College in Ohio, one of many recommendations in a lengthy review of the school’s workings calls for the reduce the “footprint by roughly 20 percent to bring it in line with peer institutions.”

Noting that some buildings are expensive to maintain, the suggestion entailed “Eliminating the most costly and inefficient facilities over time.”

rkarlin@timesunion.com 518 454 5758 @RickKarlinTU