Trustees approve new dorm
By Meisha Baker
Business Manager
The University of Indianapolis Board of Trustees approved a $10 million bond issue to build a new residence hall on the UIndy campus during a February board meeting.
According to University Treasurer and Vice President of Business and Finance Mike Braughton, private colleges and universities get their capital from a tax-exempt bond issue that allows the universities to borrow the money at a lower rate, as opposed to going directly to a bank. The board’s approval will allow the construction of a new residence hall on campus to accommodate the need for more on-campus housing.
“There have been talks [of a new dorm] for the past few years,” said Dean of Students Kory Vitangeli. “We’ve known that there has been a demand for students to live on campus.”
The university’s on-campus housing is currently at maximum capacity. Approximately 85 students have been living in the lounges and basements of the residence halls this school year. With the university’s rapid growth, more expansion is needed to keep students on campus. The new residence hall will especially focus on a particular class of students.
“We knew we needed to do something, and it seemed like the demand was certainly there for upper-class students,” Vitangeli said. “We really want to focus this residence hall on upper-class students and keeping more of them on campus.”
The new residence hall will feature several components based on response from student focus groups.
“There will be mostly single rooms with shared baths. Kind of [a mix] between the apartments and the dorms,” said University President Beverley Pitts.
In addition to more individual space, the focus groups said that students also want a chance to get to know their fellow students. The new hall may also focus on allowing students to get that chance.
“We’ll probably build more community space in the building and less community space in the room, but we are still not 100 percent sure,” Vitangeli said.
At this point, there is no exact location as to where the residence hall will be placed on campus.
“We have several options that we’re looking at,” Braughton said. “There are a couple of places on the south and north side of Hanna Avenue. We’re just presently trying to study all of those options and make a decision.”
As the university begins to move forward in the process and receive materials from the project architects, the Residence Life Office will continue working on getting students’ opinions involved.
The university plans to break ground for the new residence hall by the summer of 2008 and complete the project by fall of 2009.
