Talking Stick - May/June 2019 - 59

 28  CONTINUED

FACILITIES * Playing to Your Strengths

State University (NSU) in Aberdeen,
South Dakota. "They want what the
upperclassmen have and think that
maybe the other freshmen need [freshmen housing], but not them." NSU
recently took major steps in improving
on-campus housing by building three
new residence halls, which feature
amenities that set them apart in their
region, including a game cleaning
room to serve the needs of students
who like to fish and hunt. "With our
recent construction we have included
students in the design phase," Sabolo
explains. With all three new halls
now online, applications to live in
on-campus student housing increased
20 percent, and the university can note
in their marketing efforts that 50 percent of its housing is new or renovated.

Out with the Old,
in with the Renewed
Constructing new buildings to compete with the appeal of new private
housing can come with a hefty price
tag, which is why some institutions are
turning to updating and modernizing
their current housing stock. Nowhere
is that currently more evident than at
Penn State University in University
Park, where a historic transformation
is underway. This multi-phased plan
includes renovation of 14 residence
halls built in the 1960s and the addition of two new halls to their East Halls
Neighborhood. This section of campus is home to nearly 5,000 first-year
students, making it one of the largest
on-campus student housing complexes
in the country. With a focus on student
success, the university added study

lounges and collaborative spaces to
foster social interactions and academic
collaboration throughout the halls,
features that were not as widely considered in the original housing. Open
locker-room style bathrooms have been
renovated to provide more privacy by
sectioning them into individual stalls, a
feature that is considered increasingly
important in meeting the privacy needs
of first-year students.
Another popular alternative to new
construction is utilizing a public-private partnership (P3). Although this
delivery method has its challenges, it
can also have the benefit of bringing
the housing to market more quickly in
certain situations, making on-campus
housing more competitive sooner. A
2017 report from the consulting firm
EY-Parthenon shows just how attractive these partnerships have been in
recent years, as the value of P3 higher
education student housing projects
sharply increased from $1.2 billion in
2014 to $3.1 billion in 2016. This trend
is expected to continue its upward
trajectory as universities continue to
look for budget-conscious options with
quick turnaround.

Selling Your Strengths
in a Crowded Market
While focusing on student success has
been a main point that institutions
drive home when marketing their
housing, it's not the only strategy.
"Representatives will travel to all major
recruitment events organized through
admissions" in order to extend their
reach early since the decision can
come down to the right timing,

Duggan explains. Texas Tech has
started signing up students months
in advance of the next academic year
in order to grab their attention before
they begin exploring the idea of living
off campus. Connecting well with parents and focusing on benefits that are
often most important to them - such
as price point, convenience, safety,
services, better grades, and shorter
time to graduation - can also get
them on board earlier, Duggan says.
Understanding that affordability and
financial assistance can often be the
determining factor for students with a
tighter budget, the university has also
started offering more than $200,000
in competitive scholarships for students returning to live on campus.
Over the last ten years, Texas Tech
has invested more than $147 million
in new construction and $100 million in improving existing halls. "We
opened a new building in 2012, 2014,
and 2017; each was very different from
the one before it," explains Duggan.
"We build to meet the current and
future needs of the campus and our
students." This forward-thinking
approach to residence halls, which
requires student engagement at every
level, has paid off for Texas Tech, the
University of Wisconsin-Madison,
and Northern State University. Private
off-campus housing will continue
to offer attractive features as trends
change, but there's one competitive
edge that will remain in the court of
institutions, and that's the opportunity
for greater student success facilitated
by innovative housing design. ■

READ ON . . .

Clay Phillips is a principal with Mackey
Mitchell Architects in Lawrence, Kansas.

For more details, see Carl Whitaker, Purdue University Leads for Scheduled
Supply in 2019 (https://www.realpage.com/analytics/purdue-universityleads-scheduled-supply-2019/), Julia Bunch, More Beds per Student on
Campuses with Living Requirements (https://www.realpage.com/analytics/
more-beds-per-student-campuses-living-requirements/), and EY-Parthenon,
Public-Private Partnerships in Public Education (2017).

 clay_p@mackeymitchell.com

Carl Gromatzky is a principal with
Barnes Gromatzky Kosarek Architects
in Austin, Texas.
 cgromatzky@bgkarchitects.com

MAY + JUNE 2019

59


https://www.realpage.com/analytics/purdue-universityleads-scheduled-supply-2019/ https://www.realpage.com/analytics/purdue-universityleads-scheduled-supply-2019/ https://www.realpage.com/analytics/more-beds-per-student-campuses-living-requirements/ https://www.realpage.com/analytics/more-beds-per-student-campuses-living-requirements/

Talking Stick - May/June 2019

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

Talking Stick - May/June 2019
Vision
Just In
Calendar
Facilities
Business Operations
Special Focus
The Super-Visor
Secret Service
Conversations
Transitions
Your ACUHO-I
New Members
Snapshot
Talking Stick - May/June 2019 - BB1
Talking Stick - May/June 2019 - BB2
Talking Stick - May/June 2019 - Talking Stick - May/June 2019
Talking Stick - May/June 2019 - Cover2
Talking Stick - May/June 2019 - 1
Talking Stick - May/June 2019 - 2
Talking Stick - May/June 2019 - 3
Talking Stick - May/June 2019 - 4
Talking Stick - May/June 2019 - 5
Talking Stick - May/June 2019 - 6
Talking Stick - May/June 2019 - 7
Talking Stick - May/June 2019 - Vision
Talking Stick - May/June 2019 - 9
Talking Stick - May/June 2019 - Just In
Talking Stick - May/June 2019 - 11
Talking Stick - May/June 2019 - 12
Talking Stick - May/June 2019 - 13
Talking Stick - May/June 2019 - 14
Talking Stick - May/June 2019 - 15
Talking Stick - May/June 2019 - 16
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Talking Stick - May/June 2019 - 20
Talking Stick - May/June 2019 - 21
Talking Stick - May/June 2019 - 22
Talking Stick - May/June 2019 - 23
Talking Stick - May/June 2019 - 24
Talking Stick - May/June 2019 - Calendar
Talking Stick - May/June 2019 - Facilities
Talking Stick - May/June 2019 - 27
Talking Stick - May/June 2019 - 28
Talking Stick - May/June 2019 - 29
Talking Stick - May/June 2019 - Business Operations
Talking Stick - May/June 2019 - 31
Talking Stick - May/June 2019 - 32
Talking Stick - May/June 2019 - 33
Talking Stick - May/June 2019 - Special Focus
Talking Stick - May/June 2019 - 35
Talking Stick - May/June 2019 - 36
Talking Stick - May/June 2019 - 37
Talking Stick - May/June 2019 - The Super-Visor
Talking Stick - May/June 2019 - 39
Talking Stick - May/June 2019 - 40
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Talking Stick - May/June 2019 - 42
Talking Stick - May/June 2019 - 43
Talking Stick - May/June 2019 - 44
Talking Stick - May/June 2019 - 45
Talking Stick - May/June 2019 - Secret Service
Talking Stick - May/June 2019 - 47
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Talking Stick - May/June 2019 - 54
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Talking Stick - May/June 2019 - Conversations
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Talking Stick - May/June 2019 - 58
Talking Stick - May/June 2019 - 59
Talking Stick - May/June 2019 - 60
Talking Stick - May/June 2019 - 61
Talking Stick - May/June 2019 - 62
Talking Stick - May/June 2019 - 63
Talking Stick - May/June 2019 - 64
Talking Stick - May/June 2019 - Transitions
Talking Stick - May/June 2019 - Your ACUHO-I
Talking Stick - May/June 2019 - New Members
Talking Stick - May/June 2019 - Snapshot
Talking Stick - May/June 2019 - Cover3
Talking Stick - May/June 2019 - Cover4
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