Being a student comes with its own assortment of challenges that can be increased by living off-campus. Sonoma State’s Transfer and Advising Center has recently found another one you would not immediately think of, which is a lack of available microwaves. 

Students that live on-campus all have a microwave at their disposal at any time in their dorm, but for off-campus students, it’s not so easy. The Transfer and Advising Center was seeking out information to create a flyer that would lay out where to find microwaves on campus for transfer and off-campus students. After looking into this, they found that there were only two public microwaves on campus, both of which are located in the Student Center. 

Recognizing that commuting is a strain on time management, transfer advisor Veronica Gonzalez said, “as a past commuter student myself, I recognized that this resource could be beneficial for students who need to be resourceful with their time.”

Gonzalez also noted that “we have seen a trend of commuters these past few years so it is possible that in the past there was no need for additional utilities.”

There is no doubt with the recent years of the pandemic and the persistence of online instruction, a greater number of students at SSU have opted to live off-campus and are missing out on some core benefits of on-campus living. 

The rising cost of living on campus is also probably a contributing factor. Since the 2019-2020 school year, the housing rates for a Beaujolais single dorm room went up by over $200 a month. In 2019-2020 it was $1,533 a month and it is now $1,755 a month for the 2023-2024 academic year. 

Fourth-year sociology major David Rodriguez-Mellin said, “honestly I think like 90% of [the average student’s] diet is microwavable food so the school should probably fix this problem as soon as they can.” He added, “I think that’s messed up that we don’t have enough microwaves. The school should have as many microwaves as students need.” 

An anonymous student source that moved from on-campus housing to off-campus said “It got to a certain point where I didn’t see much of a reason to stay on-campus when I could live somewhere just a few blocks away and save a bunch of money. I also get way less hassle now than I did from RA’s living at Sonoma.” 

With the cost of living being a major reason why students live off-campus, lower-income students are more likely to be affected. 

If a student has a full-time or even part-time school schedule, they are likely to attend more than one class a day, so it becomes a necessity to eat something between classes. 

Though the two currently available public microwaves on campus might be enough to adequately service students, SSU is a fairly large school, so if a student has to stop at the Student Center before a class on the other side of campus, the walking commute time can be a detriment to their schedule. 

At the current moment, it is not apparent if the lack of on-campus microwaves is a major issue for Seawolves. Gonzalez said, “in the future I believe we could inquire if students would want additional utilities and find campus partners who may be open to supporting the cause.”