Talking Stick - May/June 2019 - 27

Meeting the Unique Needs
of Students
RealPage, a leading provider of data
analytics to the real estate industry,
estimates that developers will be
delivering some 47,000 new beds in
the U.S. this year, an increase from
43,000 beds in 2018. With aging
residence halls, growing enrollment,
and an influx of capital in the private
market, the growth of private off-campus housing is not surprising. In fact,
a survey of 175 higher education institutions tracked by RealPage revealed
that there are only enough on-campus
beds for about 21.5 percent of students,
on average. In response to this competition, some schools like the University
of Wisconsin-Madison and Texas Tech
University in Lubbock are maintaining
or increasing on-campus occupancy by
utilizing a multi-faceted approach that
starts with focusing on occupants and
designing spaces for success.
"Certainly, the needs of freshmen
are focused on finding connections
and navigating new academic challenges," says Brian Ward, director
of communications and residential
operations at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. "Our facilities, staff,
dining, and programs are specifically
developed with the goal of student
success in mind." As the profession
agrees, creating a sense of community is important to student success,
and strong communities can directly
correlate to better grades and earlier
graduation. And during this time
of growing student debt, the idea of
having one less year in college is an attractive selling point that many schools
are leveraging.
Recently completed residence halls
at Texas Tech have embraced the concept of designing for the unique needs
of the student demographics. Completed in 2017, Honors Hall was designed
to provide first-year honors students
with a living environment that fosters
student housing networks and support systems that can help residents
succeed at a higher level. Arranged in

several living-learning communities,
Honors Hall includes many amenities
that cannot be replicated off campus,
such as a classroom and comfortable
gathering spaces that allow residents
direct access to professors for impromptu conversations. Designed by
Barnes Gromatzky Kosarek Architects
(BGKA) and Mackey Mitchell Architects (MMA) as part of The Whiting-Turning Contracting Company's
design-build team, the hall is designed
in a pod-style layout that includes multiple living units sharing centralized
lounge spaces and a large bathroom.
This arrangement helps build a sense
of community in a more intimate
cluster and allows students to choose
how much they engage with their hall
mates. The various paths of navigation
from units to the shared spaces create
opportunities for engagement between

residents more frequently than does
traditional hallway-structured housing.
In comparison, Texas Tech's
455-bed West Village Residence Hall,
also by the BGKA|MMA team, was
designed with the needs of upper-division and graduate students in mind.
Intimate study rooms and spacious
apartments cater to the priority of
privacy for older students. "For many
of the halls geared towards returning students, we have fewer staff
members because the students don't
need or want the assistance firstyear students may require," explains
Sean Duggan, managing director of
student housing. "If they choose to
return, they get first choice of suites
and apartments that provide more privacy with more convenience, services,
and support, at a cheaper price than
the off-campus market."

. . . THE PREVALENCE OF ATTRACTIVE PRIVATE HOUSING
DIRECTLY ACROSS THE STREET FROM CAMPUS - MANY
TIMES JUST FEET AWAY - HAS MADE THE SELLING POINT
OF LOCATION A CHALLENGE FOR INSTITUTIONS.
PHOTO COURTESY OF MACKEY MITCHELL ARCHITECTS

Penn State University, McKean Hall: The renovated 1960s residence hall now features interactive
spaces to build community among residents.

MAY + JUNE 2019

Talking Stick - May/June 2019

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Talking Stick - May/June 2019