News

New dorm in the works

Facilities and Residence Life staff are currently in the planning phase of constructing a new residence hall on campus. In early October, the University awarded the architectural contract to Bohlin Cywinski Jackson, the same firm that designed Weyerhaeuser Hall.

The proposed building will house 100 to 125 students and will be geared towards accommodating upperclassmen. The projected site for the residence hall sits in the South quad parking lot area, between Regester and the new health sciences center. Many aspects of the project are still provisional while Facilities waits for word from the Board of Trustees, which may alter or deny the proposal when they meet between Oct. 27 and 29.

“I don’t want to put the cart before the horse, but I think we have the ability to create something really exciting,” said Shane Daetwiler, Director of Residence Life. While the aesthetic style of the hall will take after the Tudor-Gothic architecture of the campus, the plans for the interior avoid the layout of a traditional corridor dormitory, with tentative plans for single rooms and a first floor of public space. Mr. Daetwiler plans to visit other residential colleges in the coming weeks to research how they approach housing for upperclassmen.

The idea for the new building goes hand in hand with the University leadership’s overarching effort to create a more residential college.  The building, which current projections predict will be constructed by August 2013, would arrive alongside a requirement that incoming students live on campus for their first two years.  The idea for this requirement stems from  a goal of increasing retention rates and better supporting students.  Currently, just over 60 percent of students live on campus, and the university plan is to eventually reach 85 percent.

The difficulty of creating a more residential campus is rooted in the University’s inability to expand geographically due to the surrounding neighborhoods.

The live-on requirement will necessitate changes to the current housing lottery system and make theme houses and on-campus houses even more desirable.

More information about the specifics of the new residence hall will become available as the project develops, but the Residential Programming Committee, responsible for the design phase of the project, will include input from Residence Life and Facilities faculty as well as students and specialist groups.