Southeast to be pet-friendly in the fall

Southeast Missouri State University has recently unveiled a new policy allowing on-campus students to live with their pets in Myers Hall dormitory during a one-year pilot program, beginning fall 2018.

Students interested in having their pets as companions on campus must have necessary paperwork completed and be moved in two weeks prior to classes beginning, Myers Hall resident advisor Rachel Rigney confirmed Thursday. She resides in Myers Hall with her 6-month-old, orange Tabby cat, Ollie.

Ollie made the move from Rigney's home state of Kentucky, and before moving to Myers Hall, Rigney said she lived in Greek housing, acting as an RA there.

"I think [Ollie] will be good. I had RA training all last week, for like 12 hours a day, and he did fine," she said.

And the registration process for getting an on-campus pet approved was "pretty easy," according to Rigney.

"There were a few things that surprised me, like the renters' insurance," she said. "It was relatively easy. I submitted the paperwork, and then he was approved. I just had to pay the deposit and he was basically good to go."

Rigney said with Ollie on campus with her, she is "just happier."

"Depending on how this year goes, I could see them expanding it," she said. "I do think we might have more applications within the next few weeks, or people wanting to move."

Rigney said she likes the way the program is set up, with it being tailored more for personal pets one has had for a while, and doesn't see it as "a way that I can go to the Humane Society and adopt a cat I have no attachment with and bring it here."

"There are restrictions and requirements; it has to know you," she said.

Sophomore Ivie Walker, originally from Branson, Missouri, now lives in Myers Hall with her 1-and-a-half-year-old Pomeranian dog, Marc�o.

She said having a pet on campus is something her parents warned her about, because "it's a huge responsibility."

"There's no more just hanging out and doing whatever you want," Walker said.

Walker's dog has been behaving "pretty good" since the move, she said. But the one thing Walker was most concerned with, she said, was Marc�o barking, but that hasn't been an issue according to her suitemates.

"The move was really simple," Walker said. "We set up his crate, he went in his crate, and just chilled out while we set stuff up."

She said so few schools have a similar policy and considers it to be "progressive" for Southeast to allow pets in its dormitories.

Southeast director of residence life Kendra Skinner said the new pet-friendly community came about as faculty were discussing new opportunities for student housing and trying to identify something "unique."

"We really pride ourselves on the diversity of housing options that we offer," Skinner said.

There are many other universities around the country that have been pet-friendly for quite some time, according to Skinner. She said Southeast looked closely at similar policies and procedures of those schools and modeled its program likewise.

"It's just a new opportunity for our students to look at living on campus a little bit differently, and bringing one more comfort from home along with them here," Skinner said.

An outside area for the pets, Skinner said, is accessible from the first floor of Myers Hall and is located between Vandiver Hall, Myers Hall and the University Center.

Skinner said Myers Hall was chosen for the "test phase" of the new community because it contains rooms with tile flooring, as opposed to carpet; so cleaning would be "much easier." And flooring replacement plans for Myers Hall common areas and hallways were already in the works, she explained.

She confirmed there currently are three pet-owning students with completed paperwork to be allowed at Myers Hall, but there have been "a number of" other students who have made the initial inquiry.

"We've already begun to talk a little bit about maybe extending it to see how a full year of marketing and information to students, if that would change anything," she said.

Depending on how the preliminary phase goes, Skinner said there could be a potential to expand the program.

Southeast Missouri State University pet-friendly community procedures and animal registration forms can be found online at semo.edu/residencelife/livelearn/pet-friendly.html.