ParentNET
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On-Campus Housing: Part 2

Since last week’s article, many of you have been emailing the parent list with a lot of questions regarding on-campus housing. Last week’s article was a reminder that recontracting was taking place, so this week’s article will go a little more in depth to explain to you what each on-campus housing choice has to offer.

DHH
The smallest residence hall, Douglas Houghton Hall, called “DHH,” is one of the most unique residence halls that you will find. Only about 350 students live in this building, so it has a much calmer and quieter atmosphere. The dining hall was also recently renovated. With my experiences of being a tour guide, I have found that older students will chose to stay on-campus and live in DHH because of its convenience (located physically on main campus) and peacefulness. I’m not saying that the other halls can’t be peaceful, I have just noticed with the smaller number of students living in the building, that the atmosphere is much different. DHH also has longer study hours, which ensures adequate study time in the evenings on weekdays.

McNair Hall
McNair Hall is the medium size residence hall with about 600 residents. McNair is physically split into two connected buildings, East and West McNair Hall. Most students chose to live here based on the gorgeous view overlooking the Portage Canal. The dining hall is also fairly new and has more of a restaurant set-up with a nice view. McNair offers a few unique opportunities to live in specialized areas. Students can live in the Computer Science Learning Community (CSLC), the Healthy Living House (HLH) that promotes individual mentoring and a positive living environment, and the International House (I-House) that promotes broadening cultural experiences.

Wadsworth Hall
The largest residence hall, known as “Wads,” houses over 1,000 students. Wadsworth is separated into East and West Wadsworth, and then the East Wing which is known as the Wadsworth Hall Suites. Wadsworth Hall renovation was just completed this past summer, so most students chose to live in this hall because it is essentially brand new. I lived in Wadsworth Hall my freshman year, and I highly recommend it due to social opportunities. I lived in a hall section which did have students who were serious about studying. However, it was nice on the weekends to be able to walk down the hall and find nearly 10 different things to do. Although there are many students that live in Wads, I think it is one of the most fun halls to be a part of.

Wads also has specialized living areas. There is the Community Governed Area (CGA) for residents who are 21 years of age or who are at least in their third year of school. As many of you have already discussed on our email list, there is also the Research Scholars and ROTC living areas. If you would like more information about them, please visit http://www.doe.mtu.edu/rsp/ or http://www.aux.mtu.edu/armyrotc/. There is also First Year Experience (FYE), which is for freshmen only, designed to give freshmen a “dynamic first year at school supported by lots of activities, program and staff.” Lastly, there is also the Forest Resources and Environmental Science Learning Community (FRES). This is for all environmentally-focused degree students.

Opportunities Within the Residence Halls
Of course those of you with older students may already know about most of these living arrangements. However, don’t forget that if your student is looking for new opportunities within the residence halls, there are plenty of them! Your student can get more involved by becoming a Resident Assistant (RA), a student who is in charge of a hall section; a Community Coordinator (CC), who works with community development, programming, academic assistance, facilities management and social development; or a Program Coordinator, who implements and achieves the goals of the Learning Community they work in. Your student could also be a Mentor for any of the specialized living areas. All of these positions are student jobs, and payment is free room and board. Older students can also become OTLs, or Orientation Team Leaders. This is a paid position. OTLs guide groups of students through orientation week.

If your student isn’t necessarily interested in working for Residence Life, they can still become more involved by being a part of the hall government. Each residence hall has their own government. There is the Douglass Houghton Hall Council (DHHC), the McNair Hall Association (MHA), and the Wadsworth Hall Student Association (WHSA). When combined, the government is known as the Inter-Residence Hall Council (IRHC).

Each hall section elects hall officers who help with planning programs and events. Your student could become president, vice-president, treasurer, athletic chair, social chair, or food representative for their hall section. Hall presidents also represent their hall section as members of the hall council of each building.

With all of these options, it’s easy for students to become involved and make a difference where they live. If your student is considering staying in the residence halls for the convenience and social network, then I highly recommend they consider the experience of becoming one of the positions I mentioned above. Your student’s experience in the residence halls is exactly what they make it, so why not take full advantage of everything the halls are worth?

Until next week,

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