2008 Woodie Awards
So far, so good
Co-ed floors, updated decor and more privacy get positive response from residents of Sears
by Shannon Keller
Issue date: 8/28/08
Section: Campus News
Many new faces are being welcomed to the Minnesota State campus this year, but the welcome that has been anticipated perhaps the most is the opening of the new Julia A. Sears Residence Hall.
And as the 2008-09 school year begins and students have moved in, it looks like Sears has been a good addition to the campus.
"After years of asking students what they would like to see in the dorms, I think we have made something they will like," said Director of Residential Life Cindy Janney. "Students helped build things like the closets and desks because of their feedback."
The layout of Sears is very different from the other residence halls on campus. Instead of one large bathroom per floor shared by 50 students, two rooms with two residents each will share their own full "compartmentalized" bathroom. Along with the bathroom bonus, students in Sears have air conditioning, larger windows and higher ceilings, and have more modern colors in their halls and rooms instead of the off-white color in the other buildings.
Janney said the 10-foot- high ceilings have met a positive response because now students can sit up in their lofts without hitting their heads. She indicated the bathrooms have had a great response as well. She said "there is the notion of privacy with the bathrooms because each fixture is separated from each other. So one person could be using the shower and another using the sink without being in the same room."
The Gage Towers and McElroy and Crawford complexes will still hold a majority of the students living on campus, but Sears houses 600 residents with the majority of them being upperclassmen.
"McElroy was hot and small and there was no room for anything," said sophomore Sears resident Rachel Wolfe. "Everything here is better and I'm more organized. I feel more like I'm at home."
Although McElroy does have a few floors that are co-ed, Sears is the only residence hall that has made every floor co-ed. Janney said the reason for doing that was to allow flexibility with placing students in rooms. Now instead of having one floor strictly for one sex and sharing one bathroom, or even being 50/50 on the floor, there can be any number of males and females sharing a floor.
"I like living on a floor with boys and girls," said sophomore Brian Beal. "You get to know people better and faster that way."
Although Sears was built largely with student feedback in mind and the overall student response seems positive, residents indicate several problems still exist.
"There isn't a cafeteria here and we have to go somewhere else on campus to eat," Beal said. "And there isn't one specific parking lot for Sears so we have to park at a few other lots and shuttle back."
Janney realizes not having a designated Sears cafeteria could be difficult for students, especially during the winter, but with so many other options on campus she doesn't see it as a big problem.
"So many students aren't at home when it's dinner time - they are coming back from class or going to class so they will be on campus anyway," she said. "There's the 1812 Café here along with the other cafeterias and on-campus dining, so there will be plenty of eating options."
Janney said she hasn't been able to get a full response from the Sears residents yet since they just moved in last week, but soon she will be asking them questions, talking to the 15 C.A.'s in the building and sending out surveys. After getting the feedback from the students living in the newly renovated Crawford D Hall, construction on halls A and B have begun.
Janney hopes to get good feedback about Sears to put toward more renovation and building projects in the future.
Shannon Keller is a Reporter staff writer
And as the 2008-09 school year begins and students have moved in, it looks like Sears has been a good addition to the campus.
"After years of asking students what they would like to see in the dorms, I think we have made something they will like," said Director of Residential Life Cindy Janney. "Students helped build things like the closets and desks because of their feedback."
The layout of Sears is very different from the other residence halls on campus. Instead of one large bathroom per floor shared by 50 students, two rooms with two residents each will share their own full "compartmentalized" bathroom. Along with the bathroom bonus, students in Sears have air conditioning, larger windows and higher ceilings, and have more modern colors in their halls and rooms instead of the off-white color in the other buildings.
Janney said the 10-foot- high ceilings have met a positive response because now students can sit up in their lofts without hitting their heads. She indicated the bathrooms have had a great response as well. She said "there is the notion of privacy with the bathrooms because each fixture is separated from each other. So one person could be using the shower and another using the sink without being in the same room."
The Gage Towers and McElroy and Crawford complexes will still hold a majority of the students living on campus, but Sears houses 600 residents with the majority of them being upperclassmen.
"McElroy was hot and small and there was no room for anything," said sophomore Sears resident Rachel Wolfe. "Everything here is better and I'm more organized. I feel more like I'm at home."
Although McElroy does have a few floors that are co-ed, Sears is the only residence hall that has made every floor co-ed. Janney said the reason for doing that was to allow flexibility with placing students in rooms. Now instead of having one floor strictly for one sex and sharing one bathroom, or even being 50/50 on the floor, there can be any number of males and females sharing a floor.
"I like living on a floor with boys and girls," said sophomore Brian Beal. "You get to know people better and faster that way."
Although Sears was built largely with student feedback in mind and the overall student response seems positive, residents indicate several problems still exist.
"There isn't a cafeteria here and we have to go somewhere else on campus to eat," Beal said. "And there isn't one specific parking lot for Sears so we have to park at a few other lots and shuttle back."
Janney realizes not having a designated Sears cafeteria could be difficult for students, especially during the winter, but with so many other options on campus she doesn't see it as a big problem.
"So many students aren't at home when it's dinner time - they are coming back from class or going to class so they will be on campus anyway," she said. "There's the 1812 Café here along with the other cafeterias and on-campus dining, so there will be plenty of eating options."
Janney said she hasn't been able to get a full response from the Sears residents yet since they just moved in last week, but soon she will be asking them questions, talking to the 15 C.A.'s in the building and sending out surveys. After getting the feedback from the students living in the newly renovated Crawford D Hall, construction on halls A and B have begun.
Janney hopes to get good feedback about Sears to put toward more renovation and building projects in the future.
Shannon Keller is a Reporter staff writer
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