Registration for sophomore housing will begin Tuesday at 9:30 p.m. in the Royce and Pam Money Student Recreation and Wellness Center. Smith-Adams Hall will remain open next year as an Honors dorm for sophomores and Res Life has instituted a new program to allow rising sophomores to bypass the lottery process.
The university had planned to shut down Smith-Adams Hall in fall 2012 as part of the budget realignment. But the projected number of sophomores next year is higher than expected, the hall will remain open as an honors-focused residence hall, said Dr. Jean-Noel Thompson, president for student life and dean of students.
The residence hall won’t be exclusively for Honors College students. Honors students can bring a non-Honors roommate or hall mate with them. Dr. John Delony, assistant dean for Residence Life Education and Housing, said the halls are projected to house about half of the current residents and will cost less than living in other sophomore dorms.
“We’re pricing this pilot at freshman rates,” Delony said. “That pricing applies whether the student wants to live alone or with a roommate.”
Freshman housing rates for the 2012-13 school year will be $1,805. Sophomore rates will be $2,025.
Dr. Stephen Johnson, dean of the Honors College, said the possibility of an Honors dorm had been discussed within the college for several years and when the opportunity became available, the college wanted to start the university’s first Honors dorm next semester.
“It was one of the things we circled in the summer that we really wanted to work toward and the opportunity presented itself; it was the right time with the right conditions and student interest is high,” Johnson said. “Not all of our students have signed up, but a large amount have.”
Johnson said students signed up on Wednesday after Chapel in Zellner Hall. Interested students who haven’t signed up yet should contact the Honors College for availability at (325) 674-2728.
Res Life is also introducing intentional living communities, a program to allow groups of students the opportunity to bypass the housing lottery system.
“It’s based on this idea of taking groups of people who want to commit to living a certain way intentionally around kind of idea or topic; it can be whatever passion project they have in mind like service to others or something else like that,” Delony said. “They will submit a proposal to be reviewed by staff and faculty, and if they’re approved they will have their pick of residence halls.”
For more information on sophomore housing registration, visit http://www.acu.edu/campusoffices/residencelife.
