The Optimist
  • Home
  • About
    • Advertise
    • Policies
    • Staff Contacts
    • Jobs
  • News
  • Sports
  • Opinion
    • Columns
    • Editorials
  • Multimedia
    • Photo Galleries
    • Videos
  • Features
  • Print Edition
    • The Pessimist
    • Special Projects
  • Police Log
  • Classifieds
You are here: Home / News / Growing class sizes prompt underclassman housing plans

Growing class sizes prompt underclassman housing plans

February 27, 2015 by Rachel Fritz

With the continuous growth of the student population, underclassman housing arrangements could see change, but not anytime soon.

Bob Strader, director of residence life education and housing, said plans are in place to accommodate the growing class sizes.

In 2012, some of the incoming freshman women were relocated to Sikes Hall, a sophomore residence hall, to accommodate the influx of students. Last year, Barret Hall was transformed into an all women’s hall, though it housed men and women the year before. And this year, freshman men were moved into Edwards Hall for similar reasons.

Though this is untraditional, it doesn’t affect the underclassman on-campus experience.

“I don’t think it matters where underclassmen live as long as they have an opportunity to form relationships and build community,” said Kholo Theledi, who was a resident assistant in Sikes Hall two years ago.

These changes seem to be the result of an overflow of students, but that’s not the case.

“There’s enough spots overall, but sometimes the freshman class of men would be a little larger, maybe the women’s would be a little larger or maybe it’s our sophomore class that’s a little larger,” Strader said.

Last year, there were more than 100 empty spots open in residence halls proving that the relocation of students is done to utilize space efficiently.

“We’ve always had a cushion,” Strader said. “There was a cushion in other halls, there just wasn’t enough room in those halls.”

However, plans are in place should student numbers exceed the number of spots available.

Strader said the first step would be to turn to their partners at University Park Apartments.

“We’d look at adjusting some of our numbers in that direction, because UP is not part of on-campus housing, but it’s on campus,” he said. “We’ve not been that close yet to where we’ve had to look at that as an option.”

Theledi, an ACU graduate from Pretoria, South Africa, said living off campus may not be ideal for new students.

“The dorms make relationship building a little easier, so if people can live in dorms, they should do it,” she said.

There are also plans to expand residence halls, but funding takes that option off the table for now.

“There are several different kind of expansion plans that we have considered that would all take some major funding that we don’t have,” Strader said. “But there are some actual plans drawn up for renovation of Gardner to where it can house more.”

For now, the university is utilizing its resources to accommodate the fluctuating class sizes.

“There’s always adjustments that ACU could make,” Strader said. “We’re always going to try to do what’s best for students. What we have the resources to do and what we think is best for students is what we’ll do.”

Growth is inevitable, and with the transition to Div. I, more students will be attracted to the university.

But, Strader also said next fall could potentially present a challenge.

“We don’t think we’ll go over this year, but if we do, that’d be good,” he said. “We’ll find a way.”

Filed Under: News Tagged With: Residence Halls, Student Life

Other News:

  • Provost adopts new policy for emeriti faculty

  • Demolition begins on Sherrod residential apartments

  • ACU Gives exceeds goal, raises over $919,000

About Rachel Fritz

You are here: Home / News / Growing class sizes prompt underclassman housing plans

Other News:

  • Provost adopts new policy for emeriti faculty

  • Demolition begins on Sherrod residential apartments

  • ACU Gives exceeds goal, raises over $919,000

Follow us online

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Optimist on Twitter

acuoptimist The Optimist @acuoptimist ·
2 Dec

BREAKING: The internet is now up and running after a short campus-wide outage.

Reply on Twitter 1863647460322640102 Retweet on Twitter 1863647460322640102 Like on Twitter 1863647460322640102 1 Twitter 1863647460322640102
acuoptimist The Optimist @acuoptimist ·
7 Nov

The Optimist and ACUTV partnered together to produce a 3-hour live election show on Tuesday night. A team of 25 students worked for weeks preparing while doing research and interviews with guests like Dr. Phil Schubert and Rep. Stan Lambert.

Reply on Twitter 1854352279605817812 Retweet on Twitter 1854352279605817812 2 Like on Twitter 1854352279605817812 9 Twitter 1854352279605817812

Optimist on Facebook

The Optimist

10 months ago

The Optimist

Video

View on Facebook
· Share

Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share on Linked In Share by Email

The Optimist

1 years ago

The Optimist
"Ending my college education early was always the plan for me, but the things that I have been able to see, experience and examine about ACU’s community were not. I have found immense growth in ACU over the past three and a half years, but ACU still has a long road to climb if it wants to keep catering to students as the world changes around them." To read more of this article visit acuoptimist ... See MoreSee Less

Photo

View on Facebook
· Share

Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share on Linked In Share by Email

Videos

Optimist Newscast Feb. 28, 2024

Our top stories today include a recap of The Musical Comedy Murders of 1940, the ... [Read More…]

  • Optimist Newscast Feb. 21, 2024
  • Optimist Newscast Feb. 14, 2024
  • Optimist Newscast Jan. 24, 2024

Latest Photos

1
2
3
4
5
PrevNext
  • Home
  • About
    • Contact
    • Subscribe
    • Policies
    • Advertising Policy
    • Letters to the Editor and Reader Comments
  • News
  • Sports
  • Opinion
    • Columns
    • Editorials
  • Multimedia
    • Videos
    • Photo Galleries
  • Features
  • Advertise
    • Paid Advertisement
  • Police Log

© 2025 ACU Optimist · All Rights Reserved