From suites to apartments on campus,
residential life has evolved

Like most freshmen, Laura Ribaudo '03 (ED) spent her first year at UConn sharing a room in a traditional residence hall environment - corridor-style with a large common bathroom. Living in such close quarters was a bonding experience, to be sure, but for her junior and senior years, Ribaudo and her friends opted out of residence hall life and moved off campus. Now entering her first year as a graduate student, Ribaudo says she is thrilled to be back on campus in UConn's new Hilltop Apartments.

Photo: Al Ferreira	Photo: Peter Morenus
Apartment-style options for residence hall living include Hilltop Apartments (left) and Charter Oak Apartments (right).

"Hilltop is bigger than my old apartment, and electricity, heat and air conditioning, phone, cable, and Internet are all included," she notes. Not to mention such perks as a washer and dryer and a full kitchen equipped with a dishwasher and garbage disposal. She even gets her own campus parking space.

"If I had this as an option, I never would have moved off campus," she adds.

More than 11,000 students live on the main campus at UConn, including a whopping 74 percent of the undergraduate population. Such numbers make UConn the public institution with the fifth-largest residential program in the nation and the highest percentage of students living on campus of any public university nationally, according to the Association of College and University Housing Officers International.

Such numbers also create an environment that is special, according to Jason Wesalo, a junior communications major from New Jersey. "One thing I really like is that a lot of people do choose to live on campus," he says. "Because of that you have more of a community feeling at UConn."

While a residence hall is still the standard for most first- and second-year students, many of UConn's juniors and seniors now leave the shared bedrooms, long hallways, and community bathrooms behind - without having to leave campus.

UConn's first residential suites (featuring two double rooms, a living room area, and a bathroom for four students) were created in 1996, when South Campus was rebuilt. But the revolution in housing took a major step forward two years ago, when the Hilltop Apartments and Hilltop Suites opened with single bedrooms for each student. Nearly 1,000 juniors, seniors, and graduate students can choose from among suites, efficiency apartments, two-bedroom apartments, and four-bedroom apartments, all on campus with amenities galore.

This fall, the new Charter Oak Suites and Apartments opened to offer similar living environments to an additional 1,000 students. Charter Oak features its own convenience store, as well as a community center with a study lounge - something specifically requested by students.

The options don't end there. Husky Village is a cluster of six buildings that are now home to UConn's Greek organizations. Forget your old notions of the free standing fraternity or sorority house, says Wesalo, who lives with 14 others in Alpha Epsilon Pi. Think townhouse-style living with a full kitchen, laundry facilities, and a large, comfortable common room. "There's lots of room to hang out, and it has a homey kind of feel," he says.

Photo: Bridget Gorman

(Above) Students preparing a meal in the kitchen of a new on-campus apartment. (Below) Husky Village, right, is the new housing complex for UConn's Greek fraternity and sorority communities.

Photo: Peter Morenus

Even with a full spectrum of residential options, traditional rooms appear to be a good introduction to college life for younger undergraduates, including those who later choose less traditional housing options. Sarah Brockway '05 (CLAS), who has an apartment at Hilltop this year and is glad for the privacy of her own bedroom, lived in newly renovated Northwest, the former alumni quad, as a first-year student. She says she enjoyed having a roommate and living on a long hall with a community bathroom because the environment fostered close friendships. "Everyone would have their doors open all the time. That's the way you'd meet people," she says.

Most alumni identify with this traditional on campus living experience, but even the older UConn residence halls have evolved. Today's rooms are wired with a full telecommunications package - Internet connections, voicemail, and cable TV lines. In addition to upgrading buildings with sprinkler systems, air conditioning, and the like, there is recognition that there is more activity beyond eating, sleeping and studying. For example, the renovation two summers ago of Buckley - a residence favored by music and theater majors because of its proximity to most of their classroom buildings - included the addition of a music practice room. Part of the renovation of Alumni included the addition of an outdoor basketball court with lights. Other residence halls incorporate computer labs and recreation rooms.

Meanwhile, more and more residences offer UConn students the opportunity to live in special interest communities.

A few years ago, Northwest became a community designed exclusively for freshmen, with programming focused on helping first-year students make the most of their college experience. Now Towers and North Campus also offer freshman enclaves, while other affinity or academically centered housing clusters include the Honors Program, the Women in Science and Engineering (WISE) Community, the Pre-Pharmacy Community, and the Multicultural Awareness Community.

Carole Henry, executive director of residential life, notes that changes in UConn's campus living program have been driven in large part by input from students. "We have tried to give them what they ask for," she says.

Today's undergraduates want more privacy and more community - more single rooms and more gathering spaces - all at the same time.

Vice Provost for Enrollment Management Dolan Evanovich says the revolution in campus housing is happening across the country. "Nationally the marketplace has changed," he says. "The expectation levels have changed." For UConn in particular, he notes, the issue of improving residential facilities is closely linked to the University's transformation into a first-choice school: "To attract the students that we want, we have to offer the highest quality living and learning experience."

If the 28 percent increase in admission applications UConn experienced last year, and the waiting list of 300 enrolled students who want to move in to new accommodations are any indication, the University is succeeding on that point.

Pizza prepared in wood-fired ovens.

A Belgian waffle bar. Sizzling stir-fry stations. International cuisine. Rotisserie chicken.

Welcome to the food realities of today's UConn students. They want options, and they have them. Less than 20 years ago the University's food service was characterized by small kitchens in the residence halls and meals served family-style. Students could eat only in their assigned dining room on weekdays, and when regular meals weren't served on weekends, they fended for themselves.

Photos: Peter Morenus

(Above) Students move through the line at the Towers Dining Hall. (Below) The wood-fired brick oven at Towers.

Contrast that with today's continuous daily food service with dining halls open in-between scheduled meals and service late into the night, grab-and-go options including grinder sandwiches and pizza slices, and a variety of meal plans offering access not only to all 10 campus dining halls but also to campus coffee bars and snack bars.

Junior Sarah Brockway notes that students rely on the convenience of the system that allows them to eat wherever and whenever they wish. For example, at lunchtime she often chooses the dining hall that is closest to her classrooms on a given day. She says, "I'll eat wherever I am during the day."

What is being served also makes a difference, though. Last year, she and her friends became fond of cream of broccoli soup. "Sometimes we'd migrate to wherever that was being served," she says.

Since 1999, the South Campus dining hall has been offering marketplace-style food options and what director of dining services Gerald Weller calls "in your face food preparation." South is still known for its many stations offering different kinds of food, but now other dining halls also have oversized woks, grille stations, and small-batch cooking that's fresh and interesting. UConn's newest dining facility in the Towers community features a wood-fired pizza oven. It also features a kosher kitchen supported by a gift from Morris Trachten '48 (BUS).

Weller says that Dining Services is working to meet the needs of today's students. He points out that there are more vegetarians and vegans (those who eat no animal products), more students with cultural preferences, and even more students with food allergies than ever before. He also just likes to give them what they want, such as a popular menu item called Rice Krispy Chicken. And homemade bagels. And make-your-own-taco dinners. And theme nights such as "Strawberry Festival."

In fact, there's so much good food around in so many settings that it can be overwhelming. Says Jason Wesalo '05, "When my parents come up, they are blown away by all the dining options I have."