The Department of Residence (DOR) has announced several plans to upgrade the residence life facilities at UNI. This includes converting 30 percent of UNI’s housing inventory into suite style apartments, new cafeterias, general maintenance and improved accessibility.

According to David Peerman, director of residence facilities, this conversion to suite style apartments was to better meet the needs and expectations of second and third year students.

“Modernization of Lawther Hall is the first step in developing suite-style accommodations on the UNI campus,” Peerman said. “When Lawther Hall re-opens in August 2017, the facility will provide housing for approximately 400 students who will reside in single and suite-style rooms with private and semi-private bathrooms.”

Renovations at Lawther will also include improved ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) accessibility into and within the facility: an elevator, air conditioning and a fire suppression system.

While there is no immediate need for expansion at UNI, there are several projects planned for future student residents. This includes upgrading Campbell Hall with a design similar to that of Lawther Hall and razing the Hillside Jennings apartments to enhance and expand UNI’s housing inventory.

Campbell Hall and the Hillside Jennings Apartments are the next areas of focus due to the high level of deferred maintenance relative to these facilities. However, the DOR has stated that the plans for these areas are still in the early stages and would possibly come to completion over the next several years.

Rachael Fix, junior political communication major, is a resident of Campbell Hall. She expressed concern over the added costs proposed renovations might cause.

“I feel that if it causes an unnecessary raise in my tuition, which I think it would, I don’t believe it should be done,” Fix said. “As anyone in Campbell will tell you, this is a pretty close knit community in a building that I don’t see any reason for renovating.

“If they want to renovate it, new windows and doors would be the only thing that I see as really necessary. But if it’s being done as a way to charge for higher costing apartment housing when there’s already a dorm hall that provides that, I don’t think it’s the smartest thing to do.”

The DOR currently has a total housing capacity of 5,257 students with eight traditional halls, two apartment style residence halls and one traditional apartment complex with 4,386 occupants (FY15). Occupants include 93 percent of freshmen, 55 percent of sophomores, 28 percent of juniors, 17 percent of seniors, grad students and faculty.

The university had recently announced an increase in enrollment the past two years, but the DOR is not currently looking into any expansion projects to increase the housing capacity at UNI.

Nicholas Rafanello, director of residence life, stressed that although space has been limited due to construction, there is still plenty of on-campus housing opportunities available for students

“UNI does not have a shortage of housing for either incoming or current students,” Rafanello said. “Space has been limited due to Lawther Hall being closed for renovations the past two years, but we do not have a shortage of housing on campus. In fact, we have some space available now if there are students still in need of housing on campus.”

The university has several projects planned within the DOR this coming year. According to Peerman, the DOR will begin updating the Noehren restrooms, continue to upgrade the residence hall wireless network and replace the roof at the Rialto dining center, among other projects.

The current construction underway in the Noehren and Panther Village parking lot is for the purpose of a storm water management project, which is expected to be completed this fall. This will more effectively manage water coming from the west side of Hudson road and the Noehren and Hagemann parking lots.

Peerman also said that, as part of the Schindler renovation, the DOR will be replacing the former Apple Cart with an improved food service venue. Peerman specified in his statement that he was focused on maintaining the safety and security of the residents while continuing to improve the facilities to better meet students’ needs.

As for what’s next for resident life, Rafanello shared some of his goals and plans.

“Residence Life, and the Department of Residence as a whole, continues to work towards building inclusive and engaging communities across all of our residence halls, striving to create a feeling of ‘home’ for all of our residents,” Rafanello said.

“Additionally, we continue to enhance and expand Living Learning Communities through partnerships with academic departments across campus,” Rafanello said. “Combined with a motivated professional and student-staff team, these meaningful programmatic opportunities for students are really what differentiates UNI’s housing from other housing available to students.”