Give me freedom!

A flashback to me freshman year: I get a $5,000 scholarship! That is awesome! What do you mean that only covers room and board? Present day me: what do you mean my scholarship doesn’t cover my room and board?
Next year room and board at Piedmont College will cost $6000. At this point in time I can see no advantage to remaining a resident student just to keep a scholarship that is officially costing me money. I was completely okay with living on campus and following rules that I do not agree with because I was living for free. Now that the Presidential Scholarship that I receive from Piedmont will no longer cover room and board I just do not see the advantage of me living on campus.
By moving off campus I will free myself from overtly Christian rules that are enforced on the Piedmont campus. For example: I will be able to whoever I want in my room at anytime of the night and day, I, as a person of legal age, will be able to keep alcohol in my refrigerator and I will be able to whatever kitchen appliances in my room that I choose and be concerned with the fear that my stuff will be taken.
I think that Piedmont would benefit from allowing upperclassmen to move off campus and still keep their scholarships. Piedmont is quickly running out of dorm space and by allowing seniors to move off campus the dorm space issue would be cleared up. I know of at least a half dozen seniors who are being forced to live in freshman dorms next year under the new dorm guidelines. This would be a good way to give the seniors here at Piedmont an advantage over students who have not been at Piedmont as long as them, because as of right now seniority at Piedmont means that you are closer to graduation than your fellow students.

Better than some, worse than most.

I moved off campus a couple of years ago because Piedmont saw fit to saddle me with a scholarship that did not even cover the cost of my room/board and "required" meal plan. Not only that, Piedmont also saw fit to have "health and safety" inspections whenever; including when I am not in my own room. Once again, Piedmont is raising tuition and costs across the board while there is hardly any consideration to help off-set these rising prices with increased money in scholarships.

Piedmont, as far as rules while living on campus, isn't entirely bad. You can actually have visitation hours with members of the opposite sex (just take a ride down Highway 17 towards Toccoa Falls College, and you'll find you can't do that PERIOD.) There are still opportunities for students to live in a room by themselves and, when I lived on campus, I was able to live where the RD's and RA's were not Nazi-like in their approach to handling the life inside the dorms. However, where we are better than some, we tend to show up worse than most.

Our cafeteria food (not the workers, I do actually like the workers) is, quite frankly, a joke. The price students pay for the required meal plan is atrocious for the quality of food bought and served. If the school sees fit to charge so much for a meal plan (last time I lived on campus, it was $1000 per SEMESTER) then why do they not consider serving much better food? I've never seen a steak offered for dinner...yet they charge steak prices for Hamburger Helper taste.

On top of the cost of books, a meal plan, room and board and rising tuition, there appears to be no new help for students of the future at Piedmont College. While the cost of everything seems to rise annually, the amount of help money offered remains the same. It is time the school offered more scholarship money to students as the cost of living on campus increases. It would be the fair thing to do.

Stuck Here

Piedmont College has many regulations regarding student housing on campus. These rules bind and hinder students in many of the decisions that should be made by the student. Students that receive any form of scholarship money from the school are required to live on campus and participate in a meal plan. Because of this many students are forced to live on campus because of not being able to pay the rising tuition costs.
Athletes and people who are under the age of 21 are also required to live on campus. This rule is robbing students of an option to get life experience by living on their own. The meal plan is also mandatory and the only option for students to eat on campus. This rule is taking options as well because if a student wants to eat they have one option on campus. Another policy of Piedmont College is dorm room visitation. At Piedmont, all opposite gender guests are to visit between 12 pm and 12 am. While some students find this outrageous and strict, I must remind them of two of the surrounding college’s visitation policies. At North Georgia Tech, ALL visitors must be out by 10 pm and at Taccoa Fall College no person of the opposite sex is allowed in the dorms. So in comparison to surrounding schools Piedmont is almost lenient. In conclusion, while the scholarship students are stuck at Piedmont College, they should take advantage of what visitation rights they have.

College Adults

Imagine that you are an 18 year-old person lying in your bed. Next to you is your significant other. The time is about 2 a.m. and there is a knock on the door. The person at the door pushes their way threw and proceeds to throw your significant other out and give you a slip telling you that you must report to a hearing for punishment. Does this sound slightly odd to you? It does to me, but unfortunately visitation hours, and many other restrictions, are placed on Piedmont College students living on campus.

Piedmont College requires that its students receiving major scholarships live on campus. It also requires that all athletes, those under 21 and not living in a surrounding county with parents or guardians, and certain others live on campus.

I know that Piedmont has concerns invested in its students; however I feel that if the college is going to require students to live here they should provide a situation where adults can act like adults. This, to me, means not having visitation hours, not requiring students to have a meal plan, allowing students the ability to cook in their rooms, and not making students subjects to random room searches.

The meal plan is the thing that really does not make sense to me. I believe students should be allowed to cook in their rooms and not have to have the meals plans. Now there is the side of the argument that this is a fire hazard and Piedmont needs to protect its buildings; however I feel that if they are going to require students to live on campus this is a trade-off they should be willing to make. I know many people, including myself, that would probably not eat in the cafeteria if they did not have to pay for anyways.

The argument has been made, as to the reasoning behind keeping students on campus, that a school as small as Piedmont needs to have its students on campus to create a “tight knit” environment. This “small town atmosphere” is claimed to be a necessity for such a small school. My argument to this is my experience with the Piedmont College Theatre department. Many of its students are commuting students, but you will be hard pressed to find a closer knitted group of students on campus.

One friend of mine that lived on campus at West Virginia University comes to mind as I think about this topic. As I discussed Piedmont’s dorm policies with him, he was shocked by how strict the rules and regulations were. And, in fact, when I went the WVU for a visit I was very impressed with the freedom allotted to their students.

Overall my opinion is that if a person is going to be required to live on campus, then that person, presumable being more then 18 years of age, should be allotted the rights and freedoms of any adult living on their own. I believe that if a person is responsible enough to leave home and start college, they should be responsible enough to be trusted with their own lives. One of the ideas behind a college education is to prepare a person for life outside an educational environment. How is a student supposed to learn to live in the real world, when their college regulates so much of their life? Piedmont College should not be baby-sitting and/or enforcing regulations on its students.

on-campus?

At Piedmont College, it does not matter if you are 18, 21, or any other age, you may have to live on campus, and therefore under strict rule. Unfortunately, the only sure way to not have to live on campus is to not take any scholarships from the school. That's right, for most of the big dollar scholarships that are given out by the school and by alumni, one requirement is that the recipient must live on campus. This year, room and board is $2500 a semester. There is a sort of unwritten code between students, if your scholarship is not above room and board, you might as well live off campus.
In addition to requiring residence for scholarships, Piedmont requires it for all athletes. This way the school and the coaches can keep control of the athletes to see that they do not get into any trouble. Athletes are said to represent Piedmont on the fields, and therefore Piedmont does not want to look badly as a reflection of these players.
Compared to Atlanta area public schools, Piedmont is not too harsh. Some schools require students to live on campus just because they are freshmen. Compared to other private schools in the South East, Piedmont is a little strict. Many of the other private schools in the area do not require students to live on campus, even if they are receiving large amounts of scholarship.
Although this issue has been around for a while, it is only recently began to become an irritation to some students because of changes that are going into effect next semester. Starting next year, sophomores and some juniors will have roommates, where traditionally, this has never happened. The cost of room and board are expected to increase with the increase of tuition. Resident students cannot learn to live in the real world since they are required to abide by so many rules.

Piedmont College Campus Life

Students under the age of 21 that do not live in the counties surrounding Piedmont are required to live on campus. They are also required to pay for Piedmont's meal plan and also must adhere to Piedmont's no tobacco and no alcohol policies. Is this right? That is the question many students are always asking themselves and other students. In my opinion no it isn't, but if things were different it wouldn't change my life. I would still live here on campus and live by the rules of the college, probably still complaining about the rules.
I personally believe that students should have the choice of where they live, but around Piedmont there aren't that many off campus places to live. So if students don't sign up to live on campus there is no guarantee that they would have a place to live. Maybe Piedmont is doing us a favor. No one seems to be looking at this situation that way. Even if Piedmont is doing us a favor, why must we pay for the meal plan? This semester the dining hall has made some changes and has been better, but should every student who lives on campus have to pay for it? I don't think so, students should have their own choice of what food they pay for. As far as the tobacco and alcohol policies I think the school has the right to make their own policies for students involving tobacco and alcohol. I don't think many people at this school have much of a right to complain about school policies because they chose to come to this school knowing the policies before hand.

Rules and Regulations...what did you expect?

My expectation for campus life is living like an adult. To me, this means making my own decisions, being responsible for myself, meeting new people, having fun, and having the convenience of recourses available just a short walk away. This is the reason I have never lived on the Piedmont College campus.
Students who are required to live on campus at Piedmont College are students under the age of 21 who do not live with spouses, parents, grandparents, legal guardians, within the surrounding counties, and all athletes. These rules are similar to the rules at North Georgia College and State University in Dahlonega. At NGCSU it is students under the age of 23. Maybe Piedmont is not that bad.
Because I have lived on my own even before I began my college career in 2004 at the age of 19, I felt I could not comply with the rules and regulation of Piedmont College. Therefore, I chose to live off campus. Students who choose Piedmont for athletics, academics, or any other reason made their decision knowing about the rules. Piedmont is a small private college, rules and regulations are to be expected.