Building A Better Residence Hall

January 20, 2006 == MEDIA ADVISORY

A college or university dorm room used to be four walls, a bed and some
closet space. High-tech might have been a phone in every room. That's
no longer the case. The residence halls of today offer significantly
more than they did even a couple of decades ago.

And the question for college administrators is what could or should the
residence halls of tomorrow look like?

It's a question Calvin's Henry DeVries will consider in great detail
February 5-8 in Chicago when he joins other campus experts to consider
the next generation of campus housing as part of The 21st Century
Project, a program sponsored by the Association of College and
University Housing Officers - International (ACUHO-I) that will
culminate in the construction of a brand new, state-of-the-art college
residential facility.

This prototype will show how better to accommodate the changing role
residence halls play in the collegiate experience and in higher
education institutions.

"This is not simply a group of people brainstorming a wish list of
ideas," says Sallie Traxler, ACUHO-I executive director. When the
project is complete, there will be tangible evidence of our work and we
fully expect it to serve as a model for the college residence halls to
be built around the world for the next generation."

For his part Calvin's DeVries is looking forward to the weekend of
planning and brainstorming in Chicago and to getting ideas for what
Calvin residence halls of the future might look like.

"Calvin's residence halls are over 35 years old and were designed for a
different generation than today's students," he says. "I'm hoping to
bring back some ideas to improve our current facilities. Also, in our
long-range planning for the college, I envision that any new student
housing will be significantly different from what we now have. This
program will give Calvin access to the latest research and best ideas
from national leaders in student housing. That will be a great asset
when we plan our next student residence."

Contact Henry DeVries at 616-526-6149
For the full story see
http://www.calvin.edu/news/releases/2005_06/residence_hall.htm

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Received on Fri Jan 20 10:08:03 2006