Northwest Missouri State University - Tower Yearbook (Maryville, MO)

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Katie Baldon, Mali Sedlak, Amy Andrews and Abby Galbraith sit in their apartment living room playing family feud, I think these buildings are nicer than anything you would find off campus. Galbraith said, photo by Mike Dye Phase II plans include a building structure more aesthetically pleasing to campus. The plans began with demolishing Perrin and Hudson Halls to build freshmen housing similiar to South Complex, phoio by Mike Dye UIB Ui P PM. Sp T N t JB ' T . phase II O DESIGNED BV | HiTOMI KOWMA

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Student Life w e were living our legacy as the University began celebrating a centennial of legacies already lived. We began the year with Rush and Homecoming starting earlier than usual. While fraternity and sorority members ushered in new actives, pledge numbers were down from previous years. Themed Bobby Goes South, Homecoming floats and dancing clowns took a new route for the parade skimming the east end of campus in front of Roberta Hall. Residence halls took part by decorating lounges and winning second place in the Competitive Float Competition. Phase I finished only days before we arrived on campus, and we began shaping a new campus legacy in the Tower Suites and Forest Village Apartments. We appreciated the Station ' s 24-hour C3 store and convenience of the shorter walk for coffee and late night snacks. As elections grew closer, well-known liberal activist Michael Moore visited campus and discussed the importance of voting by bribing students to vote in the Nov. 2 election with Ramen Noodles. We chose to live by his advice and voted in high numbers at the University ' s first on campus polling site. It was a year of firsts, as Fall Freeze entertained students, Rent came to campus and keg tags became law. New experiences and legacies began to evolve. €Ua£U living legacy Student Life '

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Vlaster plan progresses Focus on community living phases in new system. ' ' V Megan Heuer All empty Perrin Hall and Hiulson Hall stuoddt-solalooii llu ' t-ast side i r campus while a refurbished convention center buzzed with activity. I ' nivorsirv Regents unanimously approved the Phase 11 plan Sept. 22 to create residcTitial housing tor treshnien students. How do we transition students from mom and dad ' s house to graduating from college, and what do we need to do? That ' s where we ■.|)ent about 18 months in weekly meetings, almost painful. The process look a while, but we know where we ' re going. Assistant Director of Kesidential Life Matl B;iker said. With Phase I completed and the Forest Village Apartments and Tower Suites occupied, accommodating the transition process in freshmen housing was next on the agenda of the 15-year, Residential Life Master Plan. Vice President of Finance Ray Courter said sometimes, no matter how hardthcyworked. the current facilities overwhelmed their ability to maintain an environment of a living and learning atmosphere. Baker explained how the architectural models of the new housing fit with the programming model of each group of students. Freshmen learning centers supported an atmosphere with almost twice the number of resident assistants, stricter policies and more programs to get freshmen out of their rooms and acquainted with college living. The Tower Suites, which housed sophomores and juniors, allowed more freedoms. Suites included privatized bathrooms. rela.xed policies and coed floors. Bedrooms housed two beds with lofting bunking options and a small living area. The Forest Village Apartments taught students to work with r( )om mates to pay gas and electric bills and live in a real world situation. Each apartment had four bedrooms, nvo bathrooms and a living area attached to a kitchen. ' We want the upperclass halls to be different. We warn freshmen to do their laundry on the first floor with pef)] le they don ' t know standing next to them. Baker said. Wewantthem to sit and watch their laundry or use the pingpong table next door, where it ' s their job to sit and talk 1(1 people thev wouldn ' t talk to otherwise. Originally, the Master Plan included renovating Hudson and Perrin Halls. After researching the cost. Baker said the difference in remodehng and rel)uildingwas very small. One million dollars difference, which you know you ' re actually I hinking. that ' sa lot of money. ' but it ' s .3 percent difference, Baker said. According to Courter. the entire Phase II plan cost $29.5 million, ( instriution accounted for $27.5 million including architect, engineer and other professional fees. The cost of construction also included tearing down the old buildings and furnishing the new facilities. Until freshmen moved in. the University borrowed $2 million to issue revenue bonds to I lav t he debt. Courter said the idea was to have a self-supporting structure where the actual residents ' cost of living covered the monthly pavinents •-o tuition would not be raised. The bathrooms of riio newly built apartments accomodate two of the four roommates. The apartment buildings contained two bathrooms, one kitchen, a living room and four rooms unlike the suitesk. which have two. pholo by Mike Dye Baker said the stall working on the project did lUJl want to de()end on the number of campus residents increasing because of new facilities. Hudson housed 500 and Perrin 186. Therefore, only 498 beds were planned for the new building so the self-supporting idea worked. Courter studied pages of spreadsheets to determine the cost. The committee presented the plan to the Board of Regents in stages. First, an overall plan was presented to the Board. Then, the Regent president sat down with architects and the planning team to be involved in more of the process. Abinder and PowerPoint presentation were also prepared I ' or the Regents to absorb over two meetings and a retreat. The challenge there is, as you might suspect, if you did a class presentation on a topic that you really spent a lot of time researching and understanding, how do you condense it down into a 20 minute class presentation. Courter said. Courter said the PowerPoint was refined so it had a story that tracked the team ' s philosophical purpose, residential life living learning input, design and financial print ipals. The pros and cons between remodeling and building new were weighed also. Demolition of the existing Hudson and Perrin Builchngs was scheduled to begin January 2005. Beginning with removal of asbestos, the two builchngs were expected to be down by the beginning of June to start construction on the new model. Courter said it was gratitying to see the approval of the students and Regents of the plan they worked on for so long. The outcome has been just so heartwarming because people could really grasp the points and the logic that we were following. Courter said. We ' ve gone over this with students. Student Senate. PiH A and others, and boy, they also feel very positive about what this means, Courter said. And they can reflect on when they were freshmen and what their experience was like in Hudson and Perrin. which sometimes it ' s crowded and hot and gang showers and stools don ' t work. The next part of Phase II was scheduled to start in 2007. It included remodeling or rebuilding Franken or Phillips depending on need. Residential Life staff began planning Phase 11 before Pha.se I finished and understood the need to be flexible in the future of the Master Plan because changes would occur. Fifteen years sounds like a long time, but I ' m sort of awestruck by the fact that we ' re already on Phase II, and 1 feel like we haven ' t been in Phase I that long when in fact, we have, and they ' re occupied, the apartments and suites. Courter said. Time slips by so (juickly with the vision that a lot of our staff has had lookingout to the future, especially residential people. And we give them high praise for looking ahead and having the vision to try and take the institution alongthe path ofthinking about where we ' re headed. I think that ' s really protnuiid for the organization for the betterment of our students. Continued page 10 phase II Student Life