Off-Campus Student Union (OCSU) President Paul Cronin must resubmit paperwork to the Undergraduate Student Government (USG) Supreme Court for the group to gain status as an official student organization this semester.
Last semester, Cronin had to resubmit the group's member list, which fell short of the required 20 members, and a new constitution to reflect changes that restructured the executive board. However, he failed to meet the Oct. 10 deadline to be considered by the court last semester.
Cronin said he plans to resubmit the paperwork some time this week. The group now consists of about 25 members and will continue to operate out of the USG office, 223 HUB-Robeson Center, until it can find permanent office space, he said.
USG President Ian Rosenberger said he meets with Cronin regularly to discuss how USG can help OCSU get on its feet. "The one thing we don't want to do is see [OCSU] die," Rosenberger said. "We want to see it continue on after this year."
However, OCSU -- which was originally a platform goal of last year's USG president and vice president -- will not be a permanent department within USG.
"The goal is to be independent," Cronin said. "[OCSU] needs to work very closely with USG because we'll have a lot of joint projects with [Senate] Town Caucus."
Despite the delay in receiving provisional status, OCSU has been working with USG, the Office of Off-Campus Living (OCL) and the Council of Commonwealth Student Governments (CCSG) on various projects including a rental survey, which was recently sent out in an e-mail message to students who live off campus.
The e-mail message generated 2,200 responses within 24 hours, Cronin said. The results will eventually be compiled into a housing guide, he said.
CCSG President Joe Curigliano said the housing guide would allow students to decide which realtors are the most "student friendly."
"Paul's envisionment is to have more of a student input in there," Curigliano said. "Instead of just deciding whether or not to live downtown, you can also see what other students like about [the apartment]."
The results of the rental survey will also be available on the OCSU and OCL Web sites. The OCL recently created a Web site to allow students to search for housing and roommates, www.sa.psu. edu/ocl.
The Web site contains a variety of resources for students living off campus, including information about legal aid offered by the university.
Loretta Redfurn, assistant director of OCL, said she wants the office to be a resource for students who are concerned about their living environments.
"If students want me to see the situations they are in, I will go there and see this," Redfurn said. "I can see if they have mold and mildew. I can see if there is no Internet."
Cronin said the OCSU Web site, which is not available yet, will be an additional resource for students.
"We don't want to reinvent the wheel," Cronin said.
He said the Web site would also include sample bulletin board flyers for students who want to sublet an apartment, roommate agreement forms, employment listings and a list of area utility companies and costs.
