Saint Augustine’s University is planning a number of housing improvements for the 2016-2017 school year, according to Dr. Ronald Brown, the Vice President for Enrollment Management and Student Services.
“The overall goal is to improve housing for students and to increase the opportunity to have informal activities,” Dr. Brown said.
Work will start this summer, he said. Most of the Falk Crest apartments, the dorms that currently are for upperclassmen who have maintained a good GPA, will be shut down for renovation. The only building that will remain up and running is Building D. Students had to be moved out of Falk Crest this year due to weak floors and other structural problems.
The university plans to move students who would have lived in Falk Crest to nearby off-campus student housing, Dr. Brown said. University officials have not yet finalized the details, but they hope to partner with the Wolf Creek Apartments. As for transportation, students will have the benefit of riding a shuttle bus to and from campus.
Plans to open a student center in Baker Hall have changed. Instead, the student center will be housed in the Martin Luther King Jr. building. The center will be located on the second floor near the newly renovated grill, and will have the same type of amenities originally planned for Boyer, such as billiards tables, card tables and games, Dr. Brown said.
Lynch Hall, the dormitory that housed football players and other male students and was shut down in the spring of 2015 due to some needed repairs, will reopen in the fall. Repairs are not completed, but students will move into the areas of the dorm where repairs are completed.
Boyer Hall, which became co-ed this past academic year, will remain co-ed this upcoming year.
The changes have not been made widely known but those who have heard about them are reacting positively.
“I am excited about the new housing changes for this upcoming academic year,” said LaQuasia Jackson, a senior majoring in Journalism and Mass Communications. “This is my last year at Saint Aug, so I hope to be a residence assistant for my last year.”
— Adonica Stewart