Theme Houses Add to Housing Possibilities
Other Residence Changes: New Apartments, Green Initiatives
Ultimate Frisbee players, gamers and other Alma College students will have new homes this upcoming academic year.
Changes in Alma’s small housing include theme houses for the Chapel, Ultimate Frisbee, Otaku and Gamers, Explore/Mentor PLUS, and Exercise and Health Science, whose residents will work on green initiatives.
Dave Blandford, director of Campus Life, says the Student Life Committee chose these themes in order to meet student need. A group of three to five students live in each house, giving them the opportunity to live with those who share similar interests or academic pursuits.
A theme house has been created for ultimate Frisbee players.
“We have a lot of student groups, but not a lot of room for student groups to have their own space somewhere on campus, so this is a great solution,” he says. “It provides some pretty neat living spaces for upperclassmen.”
Theme houses must have a mission statement, specific goals, a house manager and a faculty or staff advisor. Along with good judicial standing, residents must have sophomore or above status and a minimum grade point average of 2.5.
In addition to maintaining the property, residents also must meet programming requirements by providing two campus-wide programs each year and one in-house program each month.
By planning and publicizing these programs, Blandford says he hopes residents learn to work cooperatively as a group.
“Through contribution to the different activities on campus, we hope each house will become a living and learning environment,” he says. “While recognizing that they have this really special place to live, it’s important for students to stay connected to campus by giving back.”
Apartment-style Residences Increase
Other housing changes include the purchase of a set of apartments on Wright Avenue, which will add 60 new beds this fall. With this addition, roughly 120 of Alma’s 1,250 beds will be apartment-style living.
“Apartment-style living is one of students’ biggest demands,” says Blandford. “They like being on campus and like being part of the community, but they want options. As a residential college, our goal is to keep as many students as we can on campus, but we want to provide upperclassmen with some options they don’t have as first-year students.”
Meanwhile, changes in the residence halls are green in nature. Twelve of the 100 spots in Carey and Bonbright are now available to students interested in dedicating themselves to green initiatives.
Recommended guidelines for these spots include a maximum of one trash bag of waste per week per room and 15-minute showers, among other measures focused on sustainability.
“Carey and Bonbright were chosen because we can easily measure the buildings’ electricity usage against Nisbet and Brazell,” says Blandford. “I think it’ll be a good experience for the 12 students who live there, and hopefully, it’s something we’ll be able to expand in the future.”
Posted: Mon, May 9th, 2011 at 1:23PM
