Instead of the old padlock keys that have been installed for several years, the departments decided to get brand new key sliders for every front door of the dorms.  According to Key Access Specialist and Assistant Locksmith Clint Barnes, the student’s safety was the number one reason for installing the new key system.

“The largest part of my job is safety,” Barnes said. ““I hold that end very, very high. There is no other way around it. Students have to feel safe. Student safety is number one.”

Residential Assistant Derek Thompson, who stated that he didn’t hear about the new key systems, felt that the lock upgrade might have been a little unnecessary.

“I liked the old ones better,” Thompson said. “They were easier to use. I guess these ones are better for winter weather. We have locks that already worked and I don’t think we really needed them if they were expensive.”

According to Barnes, thousands of dollars were spent to purchase and install the new locks. Last year, the Facilities Department drew up a bid to install the new systems. Barnes also thinks that Residential Life paid for the upgrade.

“I’m pretty sure Residential life paid for it,” Barnes said.

Barnes noted that anytime a department requests for new locks or mechanisms, the department is entitled to pay for it.

“It doesn’t come out of maintenance budget because we don’t have it.”

Griffon Hall Resident Jerrica Brown also felt the new lock upgrade were a meaningless addition to the campus.

“It doesn’t seem like there is a difference,” Brown said. “I think they are really pointless. I think they are wasting money on pointless things that don’t benefit students.”

In edition to the new lock system, the key office has found more efficient ways to insure campus security.  The security is due mainly to students that need or desire access into academic buildings. To achieve access, a form must be signed by the department chair, vice president of the department and dean or director of that department. This form must be filled out every semester.

“Just because you want access into room x,y,z doesn’t mean you are going to get it,” Barnes said.

Barnes also gives a stern warning to students that have access to any academic building about the importance of being responsible of your electronic chip key and not losing it or loaning it out.

“If you loan your chip to somebody, we are going to know about it,” Barnes said. “I can run and audit and tell you exactly who came into that door.”

“I’m really about accountability. I’m really about teachable moments and educational moments,” she said. “So if we say that there are no drugs or alcohol on campus, why are we turning our heads if there is?”

The release of the 2010 Annual Clery Crime Report revealed increases in arrests and referrals for several crimes. Drug law violation referrals increased by 337 percent while arrests increased by 57 percent in the residence halls. Drug arrests on campus increased by 90 percent.

“Drugs and alcohol are probably not a good choice,” Peralez said, “but for many of you, you’re probably going to try it.”

Peralez would rather call those people in and discuss the opportunities that the students are jeopardizing.

“For some it’s scary enough that they stop and you don’t see them again,” she said. “For others, they keep pushing the envelope and finally you’re suspended.”

For the first time last year, Peralez said that all of the Residence Hall Directors had their Master’s degrees. She believes that the increase is due to the maturity level of the RHDs and their willingness to work with students and discover drug problems.

Police Chief Jon Kelley also attributes the increase in referrals to the awareness and education of students by Residential Life and Student Affairs. Despite several increases, Kelley believes that the report still shows that Western’s campus is safe.

“I see no murders and no manslaughters,” Kelley said. “I’m happy about that.”

Kelley said that most of the drug related arrests are for drug paraphernalia or marijuana.

“You’ve got to remember, we live on a college campus,” he said, “and when you live on a college campus those things are going to happen.”

Putting things into perspective, Kelley said that out of the roughly 1000 residential students, Western police only arrested 19 for drug law violations. From 2009 to 2010, the number of liquor law violations went from 20 to 28, or a 40 percent increase.

“I don’t think drug arrests are any more serious than alcohol arrests,” Kelley said. “If you look across the country, alcohol kills more people every year than drugs — alcohol related incidents.”

Mel Klinkner, vice president for financial planning and administration, believes that the report reflects that Western is a safe campus.

“I think we have heightened the awareness of it,” Klinkner said. “I think it’s always difficult to determine what causes the change from year to year. Sometimes you can point to it.”

The largest increase in the report was the increase in referrals, which Klinkner attributes to the education of Student Affairs and Residential Life.

“To me it’s more of students taking ownership in it,” Klinkner said.

Another staggering number is the increase in sexual offenses. In 2010 the number of forcible sexual offenses increased by two, which was zero in 2009.

“There’s a couple of sexual offenses,” Kelley said, “and of course we always want to work on those and refer those people to the areas they need to be referred to for their benefit.”

While the number of forcible sexual offenses has increased, Kelley said that neither of these were offenses by strangers to the victims. Kelley believes that the reason this number is low is because of the proactive enforcement of the other violations.

“We take the drug offenses and alcohol offenses seriously,” Kelley said. “But the majority of crimes that are committed today, those types or crimes, are committed by people who are under the influence of drugs and/or alcohol.”

            Griffon Hall Residence Director Danny Thompson feels that Griffon Hall is almost better than an apartment in that students have more security and better attractions then the average apartment.

“Parents and students looking for a clean, secure living community will not be able to match the amenities and security found in Griffon Hall,” Thompson said. “Griffon Hall has a fitness center, fully functional conference room with audio visual equipment, two 70 inch televisions, furnished rooms, computer stations and 24 hour security camera coverage. Each room has a full size bed, dresser, desk and build in closet.”

According to Thompson, before Griffon Hall was approved, the college took time to provide what students were desiring and suggesting in a residence through out the past few semesters.

“I think Griffon Hall will be very popular for those upper-class students looking for an apartment experience but want to live close to campus,” Thompson said. “Griffon Hall is far above an off campus apartment. Utilities, cable and internet are included along with the laundry and weight room in the building. There is also a community that you just cannot get in an off-campus apartment. Residents will get to know each other and see in other in class and will hopefully build relationships that last beyond the college years.

According to Thompson, Griffon Hall is not quite full, and there are quite a full rooms still available.

“I think once students see the inside they will want to live there, and we will have little problem filling the building,” Thompson said. “At this point, we are almost at capacity and I see no issues in filling the building in the years to come.”

Griffon Hall Residental Assistant Brandon Bernhardt explains his excitement for the new hall.

“Griffon Hall with be a great addition to Missouri Western,” Bernhardt said. “It is an exciting, new opportunity.”  

Juda Residental Assistant Jessica Criss, feels that Griffon Hall will also amaze students, once students move in and see the interior.

“Griffon Hall is still under construction, but what I have seen looks amazing. I think students will be pleased. It’s very unique from the six halls.

These machines are part of Western’s new recycling program. Each building on campus has at least one machine where students can use their ID cards to recycle bottles and cans to earn recycling points. After a certain amount of points are obtained, students will win prizes like restaurant coupons.

SGA President Alison Norris feels that the new recycling program will be the best effort for Western to finally satisfy the wishes of numerous students and staff for a greener campus. According to Norris, there has never been an official recycling program at Missouri Western until now.

“I’m glad we got the recycling program here; it’s definitely time,” Norris said. “We’ve already had a lot of professors thank SGA for the work. They are ecstatic that we finally have recycling on campus.”

The new recycling program began through the Western organization Students in Free Enterprise (SIFE). They wanted Western to take recycling to the next level, so they asked SGA to help fund the dream machine project. SGA decided to help gear the project by funding both the vehicle that picks up the recycling material and the promotional products that are used to advertise with students.

“When SIFE wanted to do this, SGA really wanted to help,” Norris said. “Before this project, Missouri Western only recycled paper. Now, we recycle plastic and aluminum. The majority of other schools with recycling programs recycle all three.”

Norris also feels that the new recycling program will attract more students to the university.

“It shows that we are willing to go green and provide a positive image on our university,” Norris said.

Former President of SIFE and founder of the dream machine project, Vickie Pike, explained that the idea of bringing the project to Western was developed from lots of planning and consulting with big organizations.

“I applied for a grant from Sam’s Club for their Environmental Challenge [to start the project at Western],” Pike said.

According to Pike, SIFE also presented a recycling presentation that clarifies why Missouri Western needed to jump on the project. The dream machine product was first created from established green companies.

“The idea of the Dream Machine is from three companies: Pepsi, Waste Management and Greenopolis. They created the world’s first consumer rewards-based recycling program of its kind and magnitude,” Pike said.

Junior Auroria Jackson, who resided on campus for the summer, has already begun recycling to earn points before the fall semester begins. Jackson feels that once classes get started, students will definitely use the machines.

“It’s a very good idea and they should put more on campus,” Jackson said. “I think that the new program is nice, but it might not work because the machines get full really fast and it takes awhile for them to be emptied.”

For more information regarding the dream machine project, please visit http:www.facebook.com/dreammachine.

Griffon Hall, the name of the new housing department, is just now getting the metal roof tops on, putting the schedule right on track for the process to be finished by the last week of July.

"If everything goes right with the weather, it will be ready by the end of July," Vice President of Financial Planning and Administration Mel Klinkner said. Rain could be the real issue because the windows are just starting to be put in Klinkner added. If it were to rain much the next few weeks, water could get inside the construction and cause delay.

"Let's just hope for no rain," Klinkner said.

Griffon Hall will cost students wishing to live there $3,100 a semester. All of the rooms on campus will see a three percent increase in room and board rates, as the recommendations proposed were passed two weeks ago by the Board of Governors. Juniors and Seniors will be the students living there, with the rest of Western students living in the one of the other residence halls.

Logan, Juda and Beshears will be available to Sophomores, Juniors and Seniors while Leaverton and Vaselakos will be available for Freshman, Sophomores and Juniors. Scanlon Hall will continue to be for first year students.

The new rooms were proposed as an idea in late 2008, hoping to give upperclassmen a chance at better living conditions. The new rooms have advantages over apartment buildings on and off campus many believe.

To start, it is on campus. Students have access to computers, labs, tutoring and food. Also, students won't have to pay for electricity, cable or internet, making this a great opportunity for them.

Esther Peralez, vice president for student affairs, added more reasons for students to live in the new additions.

"It will be a safe and secure environment," Peralez said. "Students may also choose different meal plans. Aramark has promised to keep the lowest rate possible."

Aside from security and lounging, Griffon Hall was built to add more rooms available at Western. Throughout the increase in students, Western began to have a waiting list. By adding Griffon Hall Western will be able to accommodate more students and incoming freshman will choose Western over other campuses because of the availability and space.

"The intent was it gives (students) the opportunity to stay here, live on campus," Klinkner said. "But in the past we began to have a waiting list so we're exciting for it to be complete because we're growing."

Students have already told Peralez and Sean O'Reilly, assistant director of Residential Life, that they express interest in living there. The main reason: a single room apartment. Peralez said that rooms of such are not always offered on other campuses, so by Western able to have this, students are thrilled. Klinkner also mentioned the rooms as a plus.

"(Griffon Hall) is a single room; very much like an apartment feel," Klinkner said.

Griffon Hall will house close to 250 students, helping Western house the most students on campus of all time next semester, where they will be able to have roughly 1,340 students living on campus.

Acting Director of the Office of Residential Life Sean O’Reilly shared his views on how he feels students will react to the new residential halls that will be built.

“I believe that students will want more housing just like it,” O’Reilly said. “While many students want to be independent and have some control over their own space, students living on campus have the advantage of being included in the camaraderie everyone feels when they living with lots of people they know.”

Construction on the new residential halls has already begun and it is expected to be completed next August.

There will be three new residence halls built in one central area, located in the rear of Scanlon Hall. The three new residence halls will be an apartment like suite – four students will share a kitchen and two residents will share a bathroom. The costs of the new residential halls are estimated at $15 million.

Vice President of Student Affairs Dr. Esther Peralez hopes more students will be drawn to Western due to the new residence halls.

“We were losing a lot of our upperclassmen,” Peralez said. “We need more juniors and seniors on campus to be positive role models for the incoming freshmen.”

This is due to the cost of design, construction and furnishing a building such as this is paid for with Auxiliary funds and not university funds, O’Reilly said.

“The cost of building will not have a negative impact on the university budget,” O’Reilly said. “It can positively impact the university by allowing more students to attend each year.”

Residential Assistant Deraan Washington shared her views on the new resident halls.

“I think that the new residence halls will be very beneficial to Missouri Western,” Washington said.

Washington’s experience over the summer made it clear that the new residence halls are needed.

“While working the commons desk over the summer, there were a lot of students who needed housing that we had to turn away because there was no room,” Washington said.

Residential Hall Director of the Suites Marqita Jones hopes that the new halls will bring back students that are no longer on campus due to a waiting list that exceed 100 each fall.

“Hopefully it will bring students who may have moved off campus back,” Jones said.

Jones feels the new resident halls will make student more independent and O’Reilly agrees.

“Off campus housing and apartment complexes offer privacy and a sense of independence,” O’Reilly said. “Many find it a lonely place to live also. Too many people keep to themselves. I get the feeling the new building will fill quickly, and remain full throughout the years.”

Peralez assures students that the new residence halls will not have any effect on the school’s tuition.

This year, the number sets an upward trend for the university at 1,110 residential students as of the fourth week of the semester.

To meet this number Residential Life modified a mojority of the super single suites to fit two residents. Sean O’Reiley, assistant director of residential life, commented on the University’s growth.

“We have seen a slow and steady rise, especially in the last three years,” O’Reiley said. “If you really dig down into the numbers, you see that sophomores, juniors and seniors are returning year after year.”

Since the occupancy numbers have been increasing, administrators are looking to expand the housing facilities on campus. President Robert Vartabedian commented on the growth of Missouri Western and how it will affect campus housing.

“I think, definitely, an expansion is on the table,” Vartabedian said, “It’s not if we’re going to expand; it’s a matter of how and when we’re going to expand.”

To assess the Greek life on campus, the university is having a consultant visit campus. The consultant will look into the possibility of Greek housing. The consultant will be on campus during the first week of November.

“[The consultant will be] also looking at how feasible it is for us to talk in terms of a possible Greek village and, if so, when?” Vartabedian said.

As far as feasibility, the university has 744 acres. The real concern is the budgetary needs of expansion.

“We would just have to do a financial risk assessment if we wanted to do something like that,” Vartabedian said. “We wouldn’t want to do something like that if our need for residential halls has lessened,” Vartabedian said.

The university is currently still deciding what route to take as far as expansion, but they anticipate that it will be complete as late as the fall semester of 2011.

Lately, a number of students and faculty have been having difficulty logging in to their e-mail or accessing the P and O-Drives.

Frequent and extreme activity on one of the Novell servers has been causing it to crash, making the network drives inaccessible until the server reboots.

Library Director Julia Schneider explained some inconveniences of the outages.

“It has affected my staff and some of the technical operations they have to do,” Schneider said. “And, of course, students are affected by it.”

It is during peak usage times that Information Technology Services (ITS) has been experiencing these server outages.

The outages seem to transpire from noon to 1 p.m. and 4 to 7 p.m., the busiest periods of the day, though outages have occurred during other times as well.

Schneider has even noticed outages early in the morning.

“In fact, I think it was yesterday at 8 a.m. that I couldn’t log in,” Schneider said Tuesday.

Network-based drives such as P:, O:, N:, and individual department drives have been affected.
The main indicator of an outage is when network-based drives become inaccessible.
Jason Michael, a student technician who works the night help desk, said ITS has been getting a lot of calls regarding this issue.

“It causes a panic; if a professor has a power point prepared, it affects the class because they can’t get to their data,” Michael said.

Right now, computers are having to support both the Novell and Microsoft Client environments, though ITS is working on switching over to the Windows Client.

“The server has to work extra hard to support both of those,” Michael said.

Amanda Hash, a technician in Lab 2 of the English, Foreign Languages and Journalism department, is frustrated by these outages.

“The P-drive being down and the P-drive server being down is the biggest issue because students can’t get to their homework,” Hash said.

She said this tends to be an issue in most Technical Communication classes.

Schneider made the point that students and faculty are used to fast Internet, so when a page doesn’t come up, people tend to get impatient.

“None of the outages have been super long,” Schneider said. “We’re just so used to having [pages] come up in two seconds. It is aggravating.” Nonetheless, ITS is taking steps to fix the problem.
A Microsoft server and desktop client environment will replace that of the inconsistent and difficult Novell server and desktop. The Microsoft desktop client exchange began last January, and additional disk drives are being purchased to increase the obtainable shared disk drive space. Originally, this project was scheduled to be completed during the upcoming Winter Break, but because of such a regularity of outages, the ITS staff is working diligently to complete this project right away.

Plans may be underway for Logan Hall to be renovated; while some students encourage the change, others are a little skeptical as to what the changes will entail.

Sophomores Marvez Dickerson-Hamilton and Blake Jackson are suite mates in Logan Hall. While Dickerson-Hamilton welcomes the changes, Jackson is not sure that the change is really needed.
“I think Logan is a good dorm,” said Jackson. “The only thing that needs to be replaced are the carpets. I would want the showers to have the same finish as the ones in Juda, but I don’t think that the rooms need to be completely remodeled.”

Logan has not been renovated since it has been built. There have been replacements on some of the parts of certain rooms, but both staff and many students agree that it may be time for a change.
Director of Residential life, Michael Speros said, “Most students are in favor of renovating in general. When it comes down to the particulars, that is when we encounter problems, mainly because we know we will not be able to please all of the students to 100 percent satisfaction.”
It has not yet been decided upon wether or not the rooms will resemble more of Beshears or Juda.
“All I know is that it is a needed renovation,” Dickerson-Hamilton said. “When the renovation takes place I will be sure to reserve my room in Logan. I like the present living arrangements, but when Logan is remodeled it will be better than it is now.”

Speros made it apparent that he and the rest of the staff were not clear on the particulars quite yet, but they are considering many options.

“If Logan is remodeled and it is the same as Juda, I think I would try and live in Beshears,” said Jackson. “The living arrangements that we have now are comfortable. I don’t like the hard floors and stairwells that were added to Juda.”

These were a few of the qualities that Jackson disliked, because it did not give a welcoming feel.

The renovation is almost mandatory due to the fact that there has not been any plumbing done in any of the rooms since Logan was first built.

“When we consider new plumbing, we also take in to consideration what else we can do to suite students more and bring them away from feeling as if they are in an institution,” said Speros.
Many of the options that Speros and the rest of the committee are deciding upon are hardwood, carpet or vinyl floors and different types of furniture. One of the larger matters that is being considered are kitchenettes.

“Although this would be further down the road it is something that we are looking in to,” Speros said.

When the specifics are finished and decided upon, the renovation should take place during the summer of 2008.

All 31 women of the Kappa Beta chapter of Alpha Gamma Delta will share the task of teeter-tottering for 24 hours continuously.
In exchange for their commitment to this cause, the ladies are collecting donations.

The donations will go directly to the Alpha Gamma Delta Foundation which provides for educational programs, diabetes research and sisters-in-need programs.

The mission statement of the organization is:
“The Alpha Gamma Delta Foundation impacts and enriches our communities by providing essential support for education, philanthropy and leadership.”

The message that the women of Alpha Gamma Delta hope to convey to the MWSU community can best be expressed by the theme of the event, according to Lexie Humphry, Alpha Gamma Delta philanthropy coordinator.

“We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give.”

Each member was encouraged to raise a minimum of $50 in order to make the event’s goal of $2000 possible.

Meeting this goal will make them eligible for renewed membership in the Jewel Society, an honor designated to those who fundraise over $2000 in contributions to the Alpha Gamma Delta Foundation annually.

In 2006 Alpha Gamma Delta was one of 61 collegiate chapters recognized by the Jewel Society.

Individuals who donate money will be entered in a door prize drawing where they may potentially win gift certificates from various St. Joseph businesses.

Those interested in donating will have the opportunity to do so directly at the Teeter-totter-a-thon by simply stopping by. All members of Alpha Gamma Delta will continue to accept donations until Nov.4.

The Teeter-totter-a-thon will be held on the west side of Blum Student Union at Missouri Western at 10 a.m. Oct. 18.

Any individuals interested in coming out to support Alpha Gamma Delta are encouraged to do so.

The drawing will be held on the day of the Teeter-totter-thon, and winners will be notified later.

Last year, the number of students who lived in the residence halls was 897. The year before that, which was Western’s first year as a university, the numbers totaled to around 850 students.

This year Western opened the year with only one or two open spaces and had a total tally of 1,064 students in the residence halls.

According to Michael Speros, Western’s Director of Residential Life, this is not a normal change in numbers.

He discussed various things that have changed which may have brought about the increase in students living in the halls.

“The first year requirement implemented last year helped some,” Speros said.

However, this requirement cannot affect students who live in a 50 mile radius of the campus.

Speros cited what he thought could be more reasons for the higher numbers this year.

“Scholarship recipients who were Golden Griffon scholars have to live on campus as well as other(s),” Speros said.

The increased security and casual areas in the buildings have also been a factor in bringing
the numbers up.

In recent years, there have been additions such as cameras and locked doors in the halls to
try to make students feel safe.

“We think having those doors locked, cameras in the halls (and) front desks play a role in people feeling a little bit more secure,” Speros said.

The goal of the recent renovations of some of the residence halls have been to make them
more up-to-date and state of the art.

Two years ago Beshears Hall was renovated and last year Juda Hall was renovated.

With these renovations came a new idea of rooms called “Super Single.” Speros explained how
many students wanted their privacy and own space and this was part of the reason for the Super
Single rooms.

“We took the double space and made it into a single so students can have room just for them and
it has been a reason for some students deciding to stay on campus,” Speros said.

The improved technology is still being put into some of the halls.

Leaverton and Vaselakos halls both had computer labs put in them this year and the Living
and Learning Center will have one put in next week.

Beshears hall has been made into a place where only juniors and 21-year-old students can
live.

“It’s for that group of students that are graduating a little bit older that just want it quiet,” Speros said.

The future of the residence halls should hold more advancement in technology as well as
casual living areas.

As the student housing numbers increase, Western will have to make more residence halls to
compensate.

The center for multicultural engagement’s annual event has been reinvented with a renewed
emphasis on quality over quantity.

According to CME director Taye Triggs, this year’s theme is inspired by Martin Luther King
Junior’s quote, “Everyone can be great, because everyone can serve.”

In previous years, the CME extended their volunteer assistance to any community services
that had an interest.

Unfortunately, the logistics of transporting bus loads of volunteers to multiple locations proved to be too much. Transportation was inefficient and service experiences varied between locations resulting in numbers of volunteers decreasing steadily over the years.

Event coordinators felt that concentrating the efforts of volunteers to only four different options would enhance the experience for volunteers and those that they served.

This year’s projects include working on two Habitat for Humanity Houses, collecting for Food Drives at three local grocers, assisting Mid City Excellence with a garage sale, and a Fall Health Carnival for youths at Pleasant Heights, a low income housing development.

This year working in conjunction with Homecoming will hopefully encourage volunteers to participate. Organizations that submit a list of volunteers that will be checked off the lists when they sign in on at the Big Event. Organizations that achieve complete participation will be credited fifty points.

“I hope that not only does CME reach it’s goal of 150 students, but more importantly, the students receive a meaningful experience from doing this community service project,” Ivory Duncan, CME intern, said.

Students with an interest in serving are to meet in the Blum Union Lobby Saturday at 8 a.m., Oct. 6.

There will be transportation, food and shirts available to all volunteers.

As most students are aware, the cost of a college education seems to rise every year.

If a Western student decides to live on campus next semester they will be reminded of this fact of life when they take a look at their bill.

The price to live in the dorms will increase four percent for the next school year. The increase is the lowest increase in the past five years.

According to Ron Olinger, Vice President of Financial Planning and Administration, the average increase to the price of living on campus has been nine percent in that same five year time span.

An annual increase in prices on campus is basically a given, considering the price of living increases every year.

Director of Residential Living Michael Speros was part of the committee that proposed the slight increase. He felt that increasing the rates was necessary, but they needed to keep the prices low in order to stay competitive.

“The Committee tried to come up with a fair increase, which on the one hand would cover the increase in the cost of living along with rate hikes in utilities, while also keeping in mind our mission of providing an affordable education here at Western,” Speros said. “I thought the increase was fair.”

The four percent increase is estimated to cost students that living in the residential halls an estimated $222 more than they paid this year.

One difference with this year’s annual increase is that it involves the Living Learning Center. This is the first time Western has raised the rent of the LLC since it was introduced in 2005.

Keeping the cost of living on campus in the same range that other schools charge was important to the committee that introduced the raise in rates.

“I believe we are still very competitive with other schools and also offer a wide range of living options, which many schools cannot offer,” Speros said.

Heather Gorham, a sophomore nursing major, has lived in the residence halls for the past two years, but plans on moving out on her own after this semester.

“If they expect to keep us here, they should offer more benefits than ten percent discount on the super singles,” Gorham said. “I don’t regret living in the dorms, it was kind of fun.”

Gorham was not impressed with the conditions of the living halls and felt she could find better conditions off campus.

“If they want keep students on campus they should improve residential living,” Gorham said.

If the Housing numbers drop much lower, it could be time for Western officials to panic.

The cost of living in the residence halls helps pay for many things including upkeep, renovations to the halls and paying for the bond used to build the LLC.

Director of Residential Life Michael Speros said approximately 750 students are currently living in the residence halls, which is about 80 percent of the maximum occupancy.

“If we go any lower (in numbers), we may have to take money out of our reserves (to pay off the bond),” Speros said.

The number of students residing on campus has seen a slight decrease over the last few years, but Speros says that it is not a cause for alarm.

During the fall semester, there were roughly 950 students with a Missouri Western address.

The numbers for spring semester are traditionally lower than those of the fall semester due to students quitting and transferring to different schools.

Students canceling their contracts seem to be an irrelevant issue. There were only 16 students who attempted to void their contracts while continuing their education at Western. Of the 16 attempts to leave, only six students were let out of their contracts.

Ben Reutter, a freshman theater/video major, was one of the six students allowed to cancel his contract and move off campus between semesters. Reutter was not a big fan of
the limited personal space and the restrictions dorm life had to offer.

“I felt shepherded,” Reutter said.

While the housing numbers haven’t had drastic changes, they are still low enough that the university has been brainstorming for ideas to keep students on campus.

One of the major changes that Western has put into place is the renovations to Beshears Hall. Beshears is now a hall for juniors, seniors and students over 21.

The hall was designed for single space living to offer students more personal space, while still enjoying the conveniences of campus.

The computer lab in Vaselakos Hall, affectionately known as V Hall, will be downsized.

The computers from V Hall will be dispersed to all of the residence halls, creating small computer labs for all halls to enjoy.

Another option to keep students on campus that is under consideration is locking students into a fixed rate.

The price for living in the dorms increases by a few percent each year. Western officials are contemplating locking a student into the rate they pay for their first semester. Tentatively, the prices would increase for new students but not for students that have been living on campus.

The university has taken advantage of the low numbers for the semester. Students were moved out of the second floor long wing of V Hall so Western could get a jump-start on renovations.

According to Assistant Residential Director Sean O’Reilly, these inspections are done by residential assistants who go in to the rooms and do a cursory search. They look at the overall condition of the room including the walls, outlets and smoke detectors and any insect or rodent infestation.

O’Reilly stresses that the inspectors are not looking for perfectly clean rooms. He said that this helps prevent more cost to the university and students by identifying problems quicker and fixing them before they become more costly to repair.

He also stresses that the rights and privacy of the students are closely protected during these inspections. The inspections are conducted by two residential assistants, which is
designed to prevent any abuse by a single assistant.

Residential assistants receive specific education and training for the inspections to insure they are conducted properly. They are not allowed to look through the property of the student while conducting the inspections. Although, if there is contraband sitting out in the open, they are allowed to write the student up for violation of the school’s policies.

The penalty for a room in unsatisfactory condition is a write up stating the issue with the room. This is given to the Residential Housing Director for that particular residential building.

The student is given 48 hours to correct any health and safety issues found in their room.

If that student does not correct the issue or has a disagreement with the inspections, it is brought to an informal disposition to decide what corrective and disciplinary action needs to be taken. The residential hall directors have some leeway in what actions should be taken.

With the September inspections completed, O’Reilly said that out of approximately 900 students living on campus, there were 12 violations of the school’s policies and seven rooms in unsatisfactory condition.

“All in all students here at Western did a great job with the inspections,” O’Reilly said.

Residential student’s reactions to inspections are mixed.

Senior Elizabeth Robinson, said that she believes that the inspections serve a good purpose.

“I suppose I approve of these inspections,” Robinson said. “If they were doing them last year there might not have been that fire in the LLC last spring.”

An unattended lit candle, which is a violation of Housing’s policies, caused that fire.

Senior Rachel Bradford has some problems with how the inspections were carried out.

She said that inspection notices were placed up too late.

“I did not appreciate how the whole inspection was done,” Bradford said. “It was not enough time to tidy up my room.”

She also felt like the inspections covered more than health and safety issues.

“I do not think it is the housing’s concern how I live in my personal space, without a roommate, just whether or not it is complying with health and safety issues,” Bradford said. “Clutter is not health nor safety concern.”

Last fall, 725 students lived on campus in the residence halls. This semester 904 students have contracts stating they live on campus. Of those students, 300 are returning and 604 are new to Missouri Western housing. After all the students moved on to campus, there were still 212 beds available.

The increased number of beds was partially made available when Beshears reopened after much needed renovations were made during this past academic year. Numbers also increased this semester after first-year students who are enrolled at Western with nine or more credit hours are required to reside in the residence halls unless they meet the criteria for a waiver. Altogether, 599 students turned in eligible waivers. Four students were military veterans, 54 were married or with dependents, 53 had accumulated more than 30 credit hours at other institutions, 136 were over the age of 21 and 352 students live at home with their parents or guardians.

With new policies in place, Kelly Glynn, the administrative coordinator of housing and residential life said that freshmen coming into the Living Learning Center (LLC) are being very accepting of the policy.

“They recognize more people they have classes with and make new acquaintances because they all live together and are all involved in the same new experiences,” Glynn said.

Allyson Swearingin is a first-time freshman that lives in the LLC. Swearingin said she planned on living on campus before she knew about the first year requirement but has heard other say they are glad they have had this experience.

“I like it a lot because you get yourself out there a little bit more,” Swearingin said. “You see the same people everyday and you know what’s going on more than people who live off campus.”

Glynn said the first year requirement has shown a definite increase in overall on-campus housing numbers.

“I feel like we’re heading in the right direction,” Glynn said. “We still have a lot to do to recruit more students and retain the ones that are already here.”

One policy that has helped the retention rate of on-campus housing has been giving returning students the option to live in a super-single suite. The suites used to house eight students: four rooms with two students in each room. Now, super-single suites still have four rooms with only one student per room. Glynn said Housing wanted upperclassmen to be able to have more privacy and live with just a handful of friends of their choice. This semester, 233 students live in super-single suites.

Sophomores Michaela King and Schardae Dupriest returned to Western this semester and live together in a super-single suite in Logan Hall.

“I like living in the suites because there are less people to deal with,” King said. “You aren’t necessarily forced to live with people you don’t like and you build a close-knit family environment.”

Dupriest agrees: “When you have your own room, you don’t have to clean it or worry about temperature problems with a roommate.”

After students move on to campus, Housing and Residential Life confirm how many students actually checked into their rooms through verification. Before the verification process during the third week of classes, there were 941 students with contracts. After verifying which students checked-in to live on campus, the number decreased to 904 students.

Glynn said this is normal because students will turn in contracts and receive last minute offers to attend somewhere else or decided college life is not for them.

Before verifications last fall, 884 students had placed contracts to live on campus. After students signed to verify they did move into their residence hall, there were only 725. According to Glynn, a difference of only 37 students is good to have.

This semester, 74 seniors, 74 juniors, 113 sophomores, and 643 freshmen live on campus. Upperclassmen had the option of living in any building other than the LLC that is specifically for freshmen. This is the first semester freshmen were unable to live in suite-style housing. Leaverton Hall was used for freshmen overflow as well as to house freshmen football and softball players. Beshears was only available to juniors and seniors and students over 21.

With Beshears now up and ready to open this week, students can be ready to get what they paid for. The rooms have been completely repainted with brand-new shower units placed in the bathrooms. Some of the rooms have had some demolition and the plumbing reworked to make single rooms with single baths available for approximately $300 more. All the window units in the common suit area have also been replaced.

Michael Speros, director of housing, said, “The frames were all one unit and have corroded over the years, so we replaced the glass with a more tempered one to detract the sunlight.”

The suites were built in the early to mid ’70s and though adequate for the time, they have become outdated in more ways than one. This past summer, Western not only renovated Beshears but also changed the window frames and doors to all the suits. The total cost being approximately $200,000 for all three suites to receive new balcony windows, frames and doors. The balcony doors were replaced at the same time giving the residential staff the ability to lock disruptive students out of their balcony.

Speros said that past residents would take university furniture out onto the balconies exposing them to the elements. Also, students would leave garbage out on the balconies which is not only an eye sore but also a health hazard.

“We will assess each incident on a suite by suite basis. Our goal is to have the four to eight persons living there to take ownership of the common space,” Speros said.

With Beshears reopening as a Junior-Senior or 21 and over residence hall, policies have been changed to accommodate this lifestyle. Beshears has been granted overnight visitation policies for the weekends only. This means if a student properly checks a guest into a residence hall, they will be able to stay overnight for the weekend only.

The Assistant Director of Housing, Sean O’Reilly said, “Beshears is a test case. If we can prove this works, and if students respect the policy, then we may expand it to other halls as well, but students need to work with us for this.”

O’Reilly believes balconies and overnight visitation policies are privileges given to students but if you abuse a privilege it can be taken away.

“I think the balconies are a great place to get fresh air, socialize and relax but if a student abuses this privilege they can be locked for a short amount of time or if there are repeat offenders, it can be locked for good,” O’Reilly said.

Upperclassmen and returning students may find it difficult the first few weeks returning to the apartments. While in past years students were able to exit through the side doors, Vaselakos, Leaverton and the Living Learning Center will now have only one entrance through the lobby. Students will have to always have their room keys and student ID on them to enter the buildings. The side doors will be alarmed for emergency exits only.

“This may start off as an inconvenience, but as long as student pay attention and abide by the policies this will increase security and safety for the residents here,” Speros said.

Even students living in the suits will have policy changes. Although doors will not be alarmed, all students will be expected to escort all guests around campus and must carry their keys and ID at all times.

O’Reilly is pleased with the suites being open to only upperclassman. He believes it is nice to have the common space and appropriate for students to choose three to seven friends to live with. Students can decorate as they please while having the safety and security the campus offers.

Suites are still in need of more major repairs, though the renovations to Beshears seemed to have fixed many of the problems. Since Logan was the first residence hall built on campus, it will most likely be the next to receive renovations. Also, the next step is to replace all the stair towers in the suites.

“They are very sturdy and have held up for almost 30 years but the noise can be a distraction,” Speros said.

Western plans on replacing a stair tower each summer starting with summer 2007. Each stair tower estimates approximately $110,000 a piece.

“We were highly selective at picking them, but I believe we got the best out of the pool,” O’Reilly said.

Also this year there will be three new residence hall directors (RHDs). The new RHDs include Stacie Middlebrook, Morgan Noland and Jen Kacere. O’Reilly said Western did a national search to bring in a nice mix of talented people. Middlebrook comes to Western from Memphis, Tenn; Kacere is from Cedar Rapids, Iowa; while Noland is local, from St. Joseph.

“All three have been RAs but are directors for the first time,” O’Reilly said. “They have all gone through two weeks of training with myself and I believe they are highly qualified.”

With a new fully-trained hall director staff moved onto campus, the RAs now receive training of their own with their specific hall director. This training lasted nine days and focused around the main goal set this year by the residential life staff: building community. While in training, the RAs also worked on diversity, customer service, thinking “outside of the box,” programming ideas, as well as how to run the front desks of each building and how to deal with all situations that may arise.

After working with the directors during this training period, senior RA Nancy Diederich said, “The new RHDs are doing a really good job; I’m excited that our staff has become more diverse.”

Director of Housing Michael Speros said last year there was not an assistant director until O’Reilly was hired in late August. Many times Speros would be called away from training, leaving the RAs to learn from each other.

“Sean has done an excellent job and has made a solid RA training program that focuses less on programming and more on community growth,” Speros said.

Thirty-six resident assistants were hired with about half returning from last semester. There are three RAs for Juda Hall, four for Logan Hall, three for Beshears Hall, six for Leaverton Hall, five for Vaselakos Hall, and 15 for the Living Learning Center (LLC). Returning RHD Lindsay Hayden will continue to run the LLC building while Middlebrook will monitor the suites, Noland will run Leaverton, and Kacere will run Vaselakos.

With community being the main goal for residential life, individuals have made their own goals for the year as well.

Middlebrook wants to evoke change when needed wherever possible, even if it is within herself or her staff. Diederich’s goal is to be a strong senior RA, a leader for other RAs, and to keep a healthy balance between school and her job.

Speros has also set goals for the RAs. They are to know every residential student by name by the second week of classes as well as having had at least one conversation with each of them.

“It’s been challenging, but I feel it’s going to be a wonderful year full of changes, excitement, and growth,” Middlebrook said.

O’Reilly has worked 14 years with residential life at five different schools across the country. He said building community is the primary goal of the residential staff as well as the residents. His experience has shown him that community decreases undisciplined behavior and vandalism while increasing retention rates.

“My plan is to build a large RA team as well as have individual hall staff teams. The RAs have been preparing for the communities to open. I teach about philosophy, diversity and counseling available to students either peer, crisis, or academic,” O’Reilly said.

O’Reilly plans to have the RAs prepared for anything they may face this up coming year. He wants the incoming residents to know that the staff cares and will be available to assist with any problems they may have and they are not just enforcers, but reinforcements as well.

The selection process this year consisted of interested students first turning in applications. After the applications were assessed, then there was a two-part interview process.

The first interview was personal. The applicants met one-on-one with a current member of the residential staff.

The second interview was a group interview where students interacted with each other to experience what it would be like to be part of a team of residential assistants.

After the interviews, students who were accepted as RAs were given letters congratulating them. A first for this year, some students were considered alternates in case an accepted student was unable to fulfill the duties of an RA.