The UM System Board of Curators finalized the plan for a new residence hall to accommodate students’ rising demand to reside on campus.
Since 2001, the Department of Residential Life has worked to address expansion of residence halls at MU through the Residential Life Master Plan. This five-phase plan works to renovate and construct new living areas. The most recently constructed building dates back to the 1960s before the RLMP formed in 2001.
The new residence hall will accommodate the largest growth in enrollment MU has ever seen along with the increase in students interested in living on campus, Residential Life director Frankie Minor said.
“We are trying to increase our capacity now to meet our needs,” he said. “It provides space that we surely need now and in the future.”
According to the Department of Enrollment website, enrollment in fall 2001 was 23,666 students, beginning a 10-year streak of record-breaking enrollment. The fall 2011 enrollment was 31,745 students, and this record could be shattered again in fall 2012.
Incoming freshmen and current students who wish to live on campus use MU’s Residents’ Online Access to Rooms. According to the MU Residential Life Housing Policy, first-time college students less than 20 years of age as of Aug. 15 and are enrolled in more than six credit hours are required to live on campus. Some in the Class of 2016 are still struggling to find a room.
“I’ve looked for a room since the day ROAR permitted me to check for rooms,” incoming freshman Mark Won said.
By this time last year, 90 percent of freshmen had a room, and 100 percent of freshmen had a room on opening day, according to the ROAR video on the Department of Residential Life website.
“Research shows students that live on campus as freshmen do better academically and are more likely to graduate,” said Minor. “Students are recognizing the benefits of staying on campus — convenience, creating community, and doing better academically.”
Residential Life limited the number of returning students able to live on campus to 1,000, turning away another 1,000 students this year. A waiting list for housing consists of 450 returning students, Minor said.
The Virginia Avenue South project, approved at the June 23 Board of Curators’ meeting, has a $28.4 million budget and will house 330 students. The hall will be funded primarily by revenue bonds. The residence hall will consist of 80 percent double rooms and 20 percent single rooms with community-style bathrooms.
“This is not a risky proposition at all,” Minor said. “This will be full when we open it.”
Construction on the residence hall is projected to begin in October 2013 and finish in Spring 2015. It is slated to open in Fall 2015.
The residence hall will be located between College and Virginia avenues north of the newly-constructed Hospital Drive. The residence hall has no formal name at this time.
