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The representatives at the December 12 meeting of the Resident Hall Association, known as RHA, got an inside peek into the changes coming to Pacific for next year and beyond.
Silvina Sousa, the Associate Director of Housing and Greek Life, and Dan Shipp, the Assistant Vice President of Leadership and Recreation, addressed the parliamentary body.
Sousa announced changes to the process of housing signups for the 2007-2008 school year. In past years, only a few days were allocated for the entire housing signups process. This year, the two days have been expanded to two weeks.
Straddling spring break, the housing process should become a more relaxing endeavor instead of a panicked rush to pick a room.
The week from March 5 to March 9 will be for same room signups. A person wishing to remain in the same room for the next academic year is allowed to reserve his spot. Exceptions to this are in the freshmen dorms of Southwest, John B., Carter, Ritter, Eiselin, and Wemyss. This phase one operation allows the Housing and Greek Life office to use spring break determining the available space for the rest of the student body.
Upon returning from break, students who are signing up for open space have the week of March 19 through March 22 to do so. Appointments will be determined by units accredited, those with the most going first on Monday or Tuesday.
Mail notifications, digital and paper, will be dispersed to students during the next few months. The theme for next year will be “Catch the Wave,” featuring a surfer on the outside of the letters.
In addition, the Residential Learning Communities will again be John B., Carter, Southwest, Ritter, Eiselen, and Wemyss, the freshmenreserved communities. Housing will again not be guaranteed to students who have 56 units or more at the end of the Spring 2007 semester. Those students are available to sign up for Monagan Hall, the Townhouses, the McCaffrey Center, and Manor Hall. Brookside, once again, is reserved for pharmacy, dental, and graduate students. Dan Shipp gave detailed previews of the University Center.
“We want to make this box inhabitable,” said Shipp. He said the center will be more encompassing. Right now the McCaffrey Center is the student center with limited venues and space, Shipp said. The McCaffrey Center will yield to the new University Center with more uses for organization meetings, workshops, and academic powwows.
Shipp helped walk RHA through the $30 million project. He said the features of the center were created with student input.
Upon entering the ground floor of the center, visiters will find themselves in the lobby and information center of the campus. To the left will be the dining facility and servery.
Shipp emphasized the new features for student dining. It will become more of a social center, where students can come and go as they please. Shipp estimated that the dining hall, to be renamed the Pacific Commons, will be open on average 17-18 hours a day.
“We’re not just replicating the space we have,” Shipp said. That means the hall won’t consist entirely of large round tables. Themed venues, such as a Taquieria Station and Salad and Sandwich Station, will be added. Diners will also have the option of eating outside on an exterior deck. Televisions will be inside the center. The Barnes and Noble Bookstore will move into the center with over 3,700 square feet of room. A coffee shop, run by Calaveras Coffee Company, will fit right next door to the store.
On the opposite side of the first floor will be a 6,000 square foot event center for performances and events. The second floor consists of six new conference rooms.
“That’s a big deal to student groups,” Shipp said. The current Redwood Room will be located upstairs with a new name: The River Room. The anticipated pub also rests on the second floor and is similar to the Static Attic with a stage and an 82 inch drop down screen.
“This is common especially in California schools,” Shipp said. Television will be available to watch on the screen for an ultimate viewing experience.
“It really gives our creative staff a little room to flex some muscles,” said Shipp. The University Center is scheduled to be done by late spring of 2008 with full use by August, 2008.
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