If you build it, they will come: 6 trends to build by, from campus innovators in higher ed housing. (Special Report: Campus Housing).

Welcome to the new realities of campus housing. There are more students on campus than ever before, and they're looking for all sorts of amenities--that is, if you want to keep them there. According to college housing consultant and author Jim Grimm, the number of students living on campus has now topped 3 million, up from 2.7 million five years ago. And he should know: As the former housing director for the University of Florida and the co-author of Campus Housing Construction (May 2003, ACUHO-I), he's witnessed a number of emerging trends. At U of Florida, for instance, 90 percent of freshmen come to campus never having shared a bedroom, and it's much the same on campuses across the country, he notes. It's no surprise then, that incoming students are looking for privacy. These same kids have been raised during a time of great abundance in America: They're used to seeing condo complexes with pools and workout rooms in their communities; they're accustomed to Internet access on a 24/7 basis, and having a safe place to study and hang out with friends--but that's only for starters.

Six housing trends are now driving the college admissions market, and becoming true differentiators for campuses looking for a competitive edge, say the experts in this space. How many are on your initiative list?

TREND: PRIVATIZE 

For years, housing departments have been relying on off-campus contractors and companies to build dorms or maintain necessary onsite auxiliary services. What they haven't done until fairly recently is privatize--that is, turn to an outside partner to build and maintain an entire housing operation.

Joe Buck, VP of Student Affairs at Armstrong Atlantic State University (GA), is one campus official who has seen privatization as the perfect solution for his housing challenges. His was a commuter campus until just last year, when the need to build more student housing suddenly arose.

"We needed units for students coming in from out of town," explains Buck, but unfortunately, AASU had no housing department.

Buck's solution was to hire a private firm, University Housing Services (www.uhsi.com), to build AASU's Compass Point dormitory via a $9 million bond issue, and maintain the facility year-round. About 5 percent of the university's 6,100 students now live on campus in two- and four-bedroom units. Each unit is designed for shared kitchens, living rooms, and common areas. All units have cable TV, and every room sports an Internet hookup. Compass Point also provides gated parking.

According to the agreement, University Housing keeps management personnel on the site at all times so that students have someone to turn to when an appliance needs repair or if there are more serious concerns. Students pay $375 per month to live in the new dorm, and, just like apartment dwellers, they sign a 12-month lease. University Housing manages the payments and realizes the benefit from any profit.

With an experienced housing partner to speed the process, the entire Compass Point project took one year of planning time, says Buck, who was involved in troubleshooting any problems that arose along the way. He also had to clear a few legal hurdles to complete the project. But it was the lifting of Georgia's one-year restriction on the terms of leasing for university housing that opened up the incentive for private firms to do business with IHEs, Buck explains. He then jumped on the idea of bringing privatized services to Armstrong. His instincts were good; the waiting list for Compass Point grows daily. Still, shut-out students have reason to be hopeful: The school is giving its privatized housing partner the go-ahead to build units for 290 more students.--JMA

TREND: LIVE AND LEARN

The residential learning community movement is an old trend reborn; one that hearkens back to a short-lived program at the University of Wisconsin in the 1920s. Now, however, living/learning communities are springing up in the most interesting places.

By launching 17 residential learning communities in 2000--communities that range from majors-based dorms, to those related to the arts, wellness, and the environment--Syracuse University (NY) has gone where major private research universities have rarely dared to go: The school--which, all-told, will be offering 29 living/learning communities in fall 2003--is making classroom space available in select dorms. Behind the move is the desire (now experienced by a number of IHEs) to move dorm life from Party Central to one that fosters more academic pursuits and enhances the undergraduate learning experience. But campus administrators are anticipating another benefit:

"Certainly, residential learning communities are really designed to improve student learning," says Sandra Hurd, faculty coordinator for Learning Communities at Syracuse, "but you hope that your recruitment and retention go up as a result of that."

And while Syracuse has not yet examined retention data, data collected from other schools participating in learning communities does show that retention rates increase. Creating Learning Communities, a Practical Guide to Winning Support, Organizing for Change, and Implementing Programs (Jodi Levine and Nancy Shapiro, Jossey-Bass, 1999) reveals that in the fall of 1996, learning community participants at Temple University (PA) were retained at a rate 5 percent higher than a comparison group of non-participants. And students enrolled in Freshman Interest Groups (co-enrolled in three courses, and living together) at the University of Missouri-Columbia in 1995 demonstrated a 12 percent higher retention rate than non-participants.

At Syracuse, instead of building new dorms, officials aligned the living/ learning communities with dorms that already featured academic space, or enough space to be converted into classrooms. The cost to create a classroom for 20 to 35 people at the university ranged from $80,000 to $120,000, and included installation of HVAC systems. But it cost another $50,000 to $60,000 to add technology to the classrooms, to meet the needs of the particular learning communities. And according to a spokesperson for the National Learning Communities Project (www.learningcommons.evergreen.edu), which is funded by the Pew Charitable Trusts and promotes learning community efforts nationwide, there are other costs to consider as well:

* Start-up costs for meetings about the initiative, and external consultation

* Marketing to advisers and prospective students

* Altered course enrollment configurations (learning communities alter course structures, and some courses can be more costly than others because of class size and team teaching)

* Assessment resources (studies and data to demonstrate success or failure of programs)

While naysayers imply that residential learning communities cut down on diversity by nature of their homogeneity, Hurd argues that there is a great deal of diversity in such communities; it's just not as readily discernable. She points out that when students from rural and urban environments, and varying religious and socioeconomic backgrounds are brought together on a floor to intentionally forge a close-knit learning community, there's a lot they can learn from one another.

Interestingly, at Syracuse, students in residential learning communities tend to become RAs, start student organizations, and apply for the tour-guide ambassador group, Hurd reports. They're also more likely to engage in community service in high numbers.

"Compared to students not in such communities, students who live in learning communities spend more time studying, studying with other people, and talking about their academics outside of the classroom," she says. "This is exactly what we were going for: In these residence halls, students are spending more time on academics."--NR

TREND: SAFE AND SECURE

Going to school in the big city (in this case, Boston) can seem like the most exciting thing on earth to the average 18-year-old. Parents, however, have a somewhat different perspective--one that verges on unadulterated panic. After all, cities are big, bad, dangerous places.

Understanding parental fears (and the very real safety issues attached to city living), Marc Robillard, Boston University's housing director, has seriously embedded security into the blueprint of the university's newest dorm, the 18-story high-rise 10 Buick Street. During the design phase of the structure (nicknamed "Student Village" because of its apartment-type setup with private bedrooms for each of the 817 residents), Robillard incorporated a mix of digital technology and security personnel to cover all needs. His aim: Protect the students, but maintain the hominess.

So, 24/7, a security guard stationed in the lobby greets residents and visitors. The $300 to $400 daily expense is worth it, says Robillard, because even though front door access is controlled by a student ID card system, a guard's watchful gaze prevents tailgating--the practice of swiping-in non-residents. The low-tech but necessary security measure is augmented by 32 well-placed, state-of-the art digital cameras ($400 a pop). Cameras monitor every exit, the six elevators, lobby, and laundry room. Video and audio data is stored on a digital recorder (the two used at 10 Buick Street cost $16,000). The camera system is part of the overall C*Cure One Plus system for dormitories (www.swhouse.com), which also records all access information, and alerts the guard if a door has been propped open or an alarm has been set off.

The vigilant surveillance helps curtail any vandalism, and also keeps students honest. Older camera systems relied on video alone, and stored all material on tape recorded by VCR. The new system not only provides digital audio (allowing Robillard to listen to as well as look at any recorded incident), but also has an easy-to-use setup, says the housing chief. Robillard and his staff can pinpoint the precise timeframe of any incident, copy a snippet, and quickly send it on-line to the campus police or to an administrator. There are no bulky tapes to review and store, and battery-powered backup even makes sure that students can access the dorm if the server goes down.--JMA

TREND: GO GREEN

Mention green construction and most higher ed administrators roll their eyes. Oh, not because green buildings aren't a nice idea, mind you, they are. And they're certainly politically correct. But they don't do a whole lot for the institutional bottom line, detractors usually argue.

Douglas Orr Jr., president of Warren Wilson College (NC), and Larry Modlin, VP of Business there, would beg to differ. Their Ecodorm, which will open this August and house 36 students, will not only be a "learning laboratory" (and, come fall, a highlight on the campus tour, says Orr), but it will be a real money-saver, as well.

Already, far more than 36 students have expressed interest in living in the school's nifty green experiment. They are students with a mindset toward conserving energy and caring for the earth, says Modlin, but the lucky residents of the Ecodorm (an equitable blend of upper- and lower-classmen) will be selected by lottery. The EcoDorm will no doubt be a conversation piece for years to come--after all, who could resist comment on the dorm's money-saving composting toilets, designed to augment student-managed vegetable gardens and landscaping?

Yet fertilizer's not the whole story here. The $1.5 million dorm, which is being constructed partly by student work teams interested in learning more about architecture and the environment, includes a number of features designed to cut heating and electricity bills. A radiant floor heating system will keep the 10,000 square-foot space comfortable during the winter for an estimated one-third the cost to heat a similar-sized building via conventional means. Other features, such as solar hot-water collectors that will preheat water before it comes into the boiler, and photovoltaic panels that will convert the sun's energy into electricity, will reduce the overall natural gas bill for the dorm from thousands to a mere $400 during the months of November, December, and January combined. (By comparison, traditional electrical heat would cost $2,865 for that three-month period, says Modlin.) In addition, the ventilation system is designed to keep the building cool in hot weather without using energy-guzzling air-conditioner units.

Even though the Ecodorm has yet to open, the green lessons have already begun. Granted, some lessons have been more unexpected than others: For example, the Ecodorm design team hatched the plan to collect rain water to help flush those state-of-the-art commodes. The team found a used railroad-car holding tank that it bought for only $4,000. However, no one anticipated the amount of trouble it would be to secure the tank in the ground. The effort to dig a 15-foot hole, bury the tank, and strap and cement it in, wound up costing an unbudgeted $15,000.

Still, Orr and Modlin don't regret the initiative; they're proud that Warren Wilson has taken on the project. Changing laws, and a shifting consciousness about the environment, are driving more housing directors to look at green construction. "I see environmentally friendly dorms appearing as a topic at more and more national meetings," says Orr. He may be chairing some of those "green" sessions before he knows it.--JMA

TREND: PRIVACY

Colby College (ME) sees a high percentage of students studying abroad junior year, and administrators noted something curious upon their return: an increasing number were moving off campus.

"Once you've been to Paris and you come back to Waterville, Maine, you don't necessarily want to live in an 8' x 10' double room," says Dean of Students Janice Armo Kassman. Still, officials at Colby--as at other colleges and universities--would like to keep seniors on campus to mentor underclassmen. ("When you have a neighbor on one side who has just come back from junior year in Nepal and one on the other side who is working on his senior scholars project in Physics, you figure out quickly what college is all about," says Kassman.) Keeping seniors on campus also sidesteps friction in the town-gown relationship, she adds.

So colleges are luring seniors back to campus with apartment-like residence halls, which satisfy students' desire for more privacy and independence. And Colby has been right on top of the trend. As part of a major $45 million renovation project, suites featuring multiple single bedrooms, common living areas, and a bathroom were made available in every residence hall at the college. Then in 1997, the school opened the Anthony Mitchell Schupf Hall with the help of Boston-based architects CBT/Childes Bertman Tseckares, Inc. (www.cbtarchitects.com). The $5.7 million, 56,789-square-foot residence hall accommodates 140 beds. Underclassmen are housed in 14-person suites that share living space and bathrooms. Seniors live in "pods" containing four single bedrooms, a living room, and private bath. Yet students are not left completely to their own devices: The building has a residence-hall staff member, and residents must abide by party regulations.

The AMS hall was so successful at bringing seniors back to campus that two years later, Colby opened the Alfond Senior Apartment Complex. The $5.8 million complex--43,526 square feet and 107 beds--affords an even greater level of privacy and autonomy, and is exclusively for seniors. Alfond is organized as a series of four-person clusters and six-person duplexes; all rooms are single occupancy. Each suite shares living, kitchen, and dining facilities, and importantly (at least, to the residents), there are no residence hall staff members and no party restrictions.

One indicator that seniors are now staying on campus is the throng of 300 students vying annually for the 107 beds in the new residence facility. "Alfond is seen as a real motivator for underclassmen too, because it gives them something to aspire to when they're seniors," Kassman says.--NR

TREND: LUXURY

Picture this: Students splashing about in lagoon-style pools with hot tubs, playing basketball and sand volleyball on lighted courts, and exercising in state-of-the-art fitness facilities complete with tanning beds. Afterward, they catch the latest flick at a surround-sound movie theater.

Is this the latest hot spot for spring break? Nope--it's what some student living communities now look like, on campuses across the country where administrators are going beyond offering privacy, in order to keep students living on campus. Administrators at schools like Wingate University (NC) believe the social interaction built into luxury-living communities is helping to re-establish their commitment to residential education.

Before Wingate developed its new luxury-living community, some of the school's residence halls had become outdated, and most students had come to prefer living off campus. In an effort to lure them back, the university tore down three of the older suite-style residence halts, and in August 2000, opened Jefferson Hall, a $12 million apartment community located in the heart of the 365-acre Wingate campus. Jefferson, designed and constructed by Dallas-based JPI (www.jpi.com), boasts amenities such as an outdoor pool, volleyball court, game room, fitness center, and clubhouse. The complex, housing a total of 128 apartments and 408 beds, is divided into six buildings--two consisting of two bedroom/two bath apartments, and four featuring four bedroom/two bath apartments.

Once administrators decided to build Jefferson, they also implemented a four-year residency requirement for undergrads. Residential numbers have doubled since '98: As of fall 2002, 1,013 students were living on campus. While officials have yet to confirm a direct correlation between luxury living and enrollment/retention, applications to the school have risen, as has retention.

"Jefferson Hall has become a selling tool," says Glenda Bebber, assistant dean of Students and director of Residence Life. "When enrollees arrive on campus, some say they chose to come here because they saw our facilities."

Do the amenities distract students from academics? "We've had a few parents upset about the 'luxury' of Jefferson, and they've asked that their child be moved to another dorm facility," Bebber says. "But the school does have two other more traditional apartment communities for students."

To decide who will tire in Jefferson Hall, administrators factor in the number of credit hours earned, GPA, and number of semesters attended. "Students assemble in groups of two or four at sign-up; we take the group academic average," Bebber says. "We use a formula that rewords academic achievement."--NR