Project Proposal: Innovate Student Housing

by designing a pilot program to create affordable, adequate, and sustainable student housing opportunities in the face of the complex and persistent domain-specific problem of the escalating housing crisis

Hackathon Project Pitch

The housing inventory in Albuquerque offers zero affordable, uncrowded, longterm opportunities for students at UNM. Over 41 percent of UNM students are experiencing housing challenges that are affecting their health and academic success. Speaking with them it was made clear: there is a desperate and immediate need for an innovation in student housing and a renovation of the housing business model.

Consider the AirBnB model: vetted community members use and pay for an app to generate extra income by offering all or part of their housing as adequate short-term accommodations for vetted tourists.

The student housing app, LocalLobos, created through government and corporate funding, is being built to quickly vet and connect community members who can offer adequate and affordable longterm accommodations to UNM students immediately.

The final version of LocalLobos will be a subscription based profit model where students have access to resources while providing protections for hosts: host concerns and student housing, food, and healthcare needs can all be managed and met from within the app.

The revenue of LocalLobos business model and further government support will fund the accessory dwelling unit, designed specifically for students, to be hosted in the backyards of community members. Sales of these units, in combination with the LocalLobos app, will create a surge of student-friendly housing inventory and increase the rates of student health and academic success while generating income for community members.

The continued iteration and module development of these units and the app is a sustainable and scalable business model to tackle the problems of student housing.

I'm a student leader and innovator that has the vision and determination to see this project through. I have experienced the challenges of housing, food, healthcare and want to solve those problems for current and future students.

Primary Task

I need to add the following skills to the team as soon as possible: a business development mentor, web-app builders, health personnel and researchers, engineers, architects, legal, finance, sales, event organizers, marketing, networkers, advocates - anyone who wants to help create and maintain student-friendly housing!

The Problem

Despite the student housing opportunities available on and off campus, [UNM’s 2020 Student Basic Needs Report] concluded that more than 41% of their total student population is housing insecure: they lack affordable, adequate, and sustainable housing opportunities. College could again be a place for students to maximize their potential, but the housing problem creates more problems: long-term negative impacts on student wellbeing and personal development. Society has also been impacted by the housing crisis.

Housing affordability is a historic and persistent problem because adequate shelter is a necessity for human survival. The existing global housing economy requires domain-specific understanding to identify the root of the housing insecurity problem as a sequence: this understanding makes clear the need and opportunity to create a new system of housing that is adequate and affordable for students.

Modeling the Problem Sequence of Student Housing

From a project planning perspective it makes sense to depict the problem as a sequence.

For the project proposal, the problem of student housing insecurity is sequenced using the [Kepner-Tregoe Problem Model]:

This helps to illustrate the problem sequence, but leaves some work to find the true root of the problem.

5+1 Whys: The Real Root Cause of Student Housing Problems

While nearly every city in America has a Department of Homeless Services, none have a Department of Student Housing Placement - the clearest sign that our society has normalized the student housing crisis into everyday life.

It is irrational to expect housing insecure students to secure their own housing and maintain peak academic performance at the same time, but we have been experiencing the housing crisis as a nation for over 100 years and have seen little innovation to solve the problem.

Imagine a future where students are healthier because they no longer struggle to meet their basic needs and can focus their attention on achieving their full potential to benefit society.

The [5 Whys Process] can help peel away the layers and show the root of the problem.

1. Why is the student housing insecurity rate so high at UNM?

For the same reason the global student housing insecurity rate is high: a lack of affordable and adequate housing options for students.

2. Why is there a lack of affordable and adequate housing options for students?

The housing economy sells and rents adequate housing at a premium, making adequate housing unaffordable for students.

3. Why does the housing economy sell and rent adequate housing at a premium?

In the global economy, housing is seen as an investment or commodity rather than a human right or social good, so the rules of supply and demand apply without question; this phenomenon can be explained by [the economic law that states] "when demand increases and the supply stays, prices will go upwards."

4. Why is housing is seen as an economic commodity rather than a human right?

Economically, the housing economy, or real estate market, represents around [45%] of all the value of all global assets and are managed by financial institutions that exist to grow the financial returns of their investors and shareholders. In America, real estate is by far the most significant store of wealth, representing more than 3.5 times the total global GDP. To make housing an enforceable human right overnight would theoretically bankrupt the country and its ruling class.

Socially, housing is seen as a status symbol, made most evident by the terms "landlord" and "homeless"; in terms of social design and infrastructure, there has been no innovation to the housing model as it currently exists in over a hundred years.

5. Why has there been no innovation to the housing model as it currently exists in over a hundred years?

Innovating the existing housing model on a global scale would disrupt global finance operations and cause a cascade of unrecoverable economic disturbances worldwide. There have been small pockets of change to the global housing model, like the birth of affordable housing systems called "co-ops" in the [1920's], but that was over 100 years ago and they are typically inadequate; co-op housing is generally not available to students with few exceptions (like UC Berkley) and, because co-ops use contemporary housing structures, they still suffer the challenges of land and structure maintenance costs that make these programs unsustainable.

6. Why do affordable housing co-ops use housing structures that are unsustainable?

A sustainable housing system, that is both adequate and affordable, has yet to be invented - let alone made available for distribution.

5+1 Whys Reflection: To increase the rate of UNM student housing security we must create a new culture of student housing that is accessible, adequate, and affordable by inventing a sustainable housing system that can be distributed - finally putting an end to this century old problem.

Stakeholders

The high rate of UNM students with housing challenges is a problem for UNM, students, and the community.

Stakeholders: UNM

Following the [UNM’s 2020 Student Basic Needs Report] of over 32 percent of UNM students experiencing food insecurity, UNM put support into programs, like their [Campus Food Pantry], to provide immediate relief.

While this may help reduce the rate of student food insecurity at UNM, this does nothing to reduce the rate of student housing insecurity. Unfortunately, both on and off campus student housing rates have increased steadily since the release of the report.

e.g. Waitlisted short-term student housing for $1500/mo.

Students continue to suffer the high-prices and inadequacies of available on and off campus student housing options, leaving them little time and energy to advocate for support and meaningful change.

The community is divided, as those who would support affordable and adequate housing for students are busy trying to secure their own housing. In fact, there are less community members that actually own property and they are being forced to move away for the same reasons UNM students remain housing insecure at such a high rate. At this rate, the community will soon reflect the statistics of [2018 San Fransisco]: the poorest 5% in the city earning less than $650 per month and the bottom 5% of rent over $1500 per month.

The 1946 Truman Commission on Higher Education Reform conducted a research study that concluded the total costs associated with a college education should be completely free, including meals, healthcare, and housing for the entire length of study and between terms. The technology production of these students would create a social surplus that would otherwise not exist, and it has.

With respect to UNM and the community, the primary stakeholder design focus should be meeting the basic needs of students in a long-term and sustainable way by creating a new housing system that exists beyond of the reach of the real estate market. UNM and the community are invited and encouraged to contribute to this endeavor, but the fact student housing insecurity continues to be a persistent problem is proof that meaningful change can only come from student action.

Stakeholders: Students With Housing Challenges

A survey of UNM students and faculty with housing challenges concluded the following:

there is an lack of affordable and uncrowded housing opportunities in the city;

to pay for unaffordable housing students will work jobs at the cost of grades and health;

students also spend less on food to save money for high rents, leading to poor nutrition;

personal security while traveling to and on campus is also a challenge;

there is no long-term leasing and moving frequently is highly disruptive and unhealthy;

there are no higher education scholarships that cover the full cost of "room and board";

graduate programs and internships do not support "room and board" costs;

housing challenges, like commuting distance, make it harder for students get medical care;

Reflection & Revised Problem Statement

The vision is to make existing student housing structures (like houses, apartments, and dorms) culturally and economically obsolete in favor of a new housing system that is sustainable, adequate, and affordable. UNM students are more likely to suffer from housing insecurity than the broader population of the state, making UNM a sensible starting point for design, production & eventually distribution of the new housing system. The dream is to reduce the global cost of housing to net zero, but we are a far way off still.

There is a need to create a student organization dedicated to the creation of a new model of housing to reduce the over 41 percent rate of UNM student housing insecurity to zero. With the successful implementation of a new model of housing, students will finally stop struggling to meet their basic needs and will be able to focus their attention on achieving greater things that benefit society.

The Plan: Make Progress

Housing security is a health problem and UNM is great at innovating healthcare solutions, so a plan that involves working at and with UNM to reduce the rate of student housing insecurity makes sense. My goal is to design a student housing prototype that maximizes student health for a pilot student housing program through UNM not only to reduce the rate of student housing insecurity, but to also increase the chances of success.

Like any student led endeavor on campus, there are steps to complete the process:

1. Research and Build Support

2. Identify Partners and Stakeholders

3. Build Relationships with Partners and Stakeholders

4. Create a Project Proposal (Grant Writing)

5. Sustain the Organization

A strategic plan is necessary to create and operate a new model of student housing. To develop this plan, we must survey collaborators to build an informed and useful virtual prototype housing unit for use in the pilot student housing model. Once a physical housing unit prototype is built and tested we can move on to building and operating the cluster of units as a pilot student housing program. Over time we will collect data and iterate the model to create templates for other campuses to create their own pilot student housing programs and generate impact reports for investors, like UNM.

Revised Hackathon Project Pitch

The first three steps of this plan will be completed at the [UNM Healthcare Hackathon] in late March 2022. If our team wins we will be awarded funding ($10,000) to build a physical housing unit based on our virtual prototype developed for use in the pilot student housing program. Realistically, this project phase is too large in scope to complete in a weekend and our team may not be awarded funded, but participation in the event will bring awareness to the project and hopefully be the start of a supportive and collaborative relationship between UNM entities.

It would be best to narrow scope and pitch only the affordable student housing app, ASH, and recruit a team connecting through shared values.

I am currently in a grant writing class where our final project is to write a project proposal, the fourth step. This proposal (in progress) also outlines how step five, sustaining the organization, will be accomplished.

Writing this post has made clear that solving the complex and persistent problem of student housing insecurity isn't going to be easy - but it is a meaningful and worthwhile pursuit!

Let's start with a strong team and get to work.

-Tony