Construction continues for new residence hall
With 2012-2013 housing sign-ups rapidly approaching, Wilhelm Construction and Blackburn Architects continue progress on the University of Indianapolis’ newest residence hall, Roberts Hall.
According to Associate Vice President for Student Affairs and Dean of Students Kory Vitangeli, Roberts Hall is still scheduled to open in August.
“Roberts is coming along, and it’s on schedule,” Vitangeli said. “We have been really fortunate with the nice weather.”
Roberts Hall will be the first residence hall on campus to feature both single and double rooms.
Vitangeli said the Office of Residence Life decided to have double rooms because that allows more occupancy. Roberts Hall will have 170 spaces available for upperclassmen.
“We know that double rooms continue to remain popular, and we didn’t feel like we could fill another dorm of all single rooms,” she said. “There’s also an upgraded cost with the single rooms, so we felt having the combination of doubles and singles allows the affordability to live on campus and also increases the number of spaces.”
UIndy’s newest residence hall will be priced at $3,080 for a single room and $2,475 for a double room.
Roberts Hall also will include several amenities. It will feature a workout facility in the building, two-story atriums and multiple lounges.
Vitangeli said the Office of Residence Life reached out to a number of students, with events like Dinner with the Dean, to gain insight from students to see what features they wanted in the residence hall.
“The middle of the building is going to have large lobbies and community spaces just like East [Hall] does,” Vitangeli said. “One of the things we knew was [that] students really like Central, but they really miss that middle community space.”
Alex Taylor, a sophomore resident assistant and international relations major, said he is excited about Roberts Hall opening in the fall.
“It will definitely enhance the university,” Taylor said. “Most of the RAs hope to be placed in that building [Roberts Hall] because it’s so new.”
To prepare students for online housing sign-ups, the Office of Residence Life hosted information sessions at each dorm last week.
They also had tables set up outside the dining hall for students to get more information.
“We tried to do a better job this year on getting the [housing] information out,” Vitangeli said. “We’ve done mailbox stuffing, we’ve done flyers on door and we have big posters [around campus].”
Because there will be a new residence hall in August, residence life also will undergo some changes.
During the 2012-2013 school year, upperclassmen no longer will be allowed to live in Warren, Cory Bretz or Cravens Halls. These residence halls will be reserved for freshmen.
Vitangeli said there has been a demand over the years for upperclassmen to be in facilities different from traditional residence halls.
“We knew we had to build additional housing on campus,” Vitangeli said. “Once we were going to add Roberts [Hall], that allowed us the opportunity to have some intentional communities just for first year students.”
Sophomores and juniors can begin signing up for Roberts, East, New and Central Halls on Feb. 27 or Feb. 28. Current freshmen will be allowed to sign up on Feb. 29.
Sign-up for Campus Apartments will be available on March 4 for a four-person group, March 6 for a three-person group and March 7 for a two-person group. Students will be allowed to sign up any time from 7 a.m. to midnight on these dates.
