The students living in Cal Poly’s newest housing facility enjoy more than just the modest comforts of a traditional residence hall; they truly have a whole village. The nine four- and five-story buildings of the Poly Canyon Village complex fill up more than 1.4 million square feet and span 30 acres, housing 2,670 students in one of the largest student housing developments in America.

The 618 apartment-style units house four to six residents in mostly private bedrooms. The apartments surround a retail plaza that includes well-known dining facilities and vendors for bagels, coffee and smoothies. Other services include a post office, a copy center, and a dry cleaner. There is also a community center within the village that offers a swimming pool, study rooms, a knowledge center, a conference room, a music practice room, a sand volleyball court, basketball courts, and a billiards lounge.

The complex is the largest LEED certified student housing community nationwide, achieving the Gold level through a wide range of green features. The use of drought tolerant, native plants reduces irrigation use and bioswale landscape elements mitigate surface water runoff. The building includes low flow, high efficiency plumbing fixtures and low VOC products. Over 90 percent of construction waste was recycled and over 40 percent of the building materials were sourced regionally.  Also, in addition to two parking garages, Cal Poly officials also opted to include covered bike storage and accessible pedestrian pathways to encourage alternate transportation.

Editor’s Note: Spotlight is a recurring feature in this blog as well as Talking Stick magazine that focuses on newly-opened residence halls. Whether it is through design, construction, programs, or features, we look to put the spotlight on those deserving halls. To submit a hall from your campus, e-mail talkingstick@acuho-i.org.

I regularly get requests for an ACUHO-I sanctioned square footage for a residence hall room or suite, or a recommended square footage for each student.

We don’t offer such advice; residential spaces and the institutions that offer them are so diverse, it would be a mammoth task to do so. However, there are some resources that can help you make informed decisions.

The MGT/ACUHO-I Construction Survey is a biennial study on members’ construction projects and plans. It can be found on the ACUHO-I library homepage, in the black bar across the top. (If you are requested for a time zone to enter the catalog, supply one, then enter as a guest, no login required.)

While you’re in the catalog, search “construction” to find member presentations on the subject.

Also, American School & University magazine conducts an annual residence hall construction report. It includes the average square footage per student (including common areas).

If you have any questions, feel free to write me: emily@acuho-i.org.

There are 1200 community colleges in the United States; about a quarter have housing, and that number is growing. In the late 90s, there were only about 60 community colleges with housing. Institutions’ reasons for building housing include a need for a more cohesive student life and campus vibrancy; expensive or limited local housing options or a widespread student body. Some community colleges draw students from many miles away, and commuting isn’t practical for them.  Are there any community colleges reading this blog? Do you have housing? If so, why? If not, do you plan on building?

The concept got an additional endorsement from United States’ Energy Secretary Steven Chu when he appeared on the television program, The Daily Show.

So, do you know what’s happening on your rooftops? Share suggestions and plans in the comment section.

Some institutions have noticed a greater percentage of their applicants are in the younger age group. These students often want more of the “student life” opportunities that they would get at a four-year institution, and some community colleges are responding, according to an article in Inside HigherEd. We already have heard about community colleges building residence halls; now there’s at least one building a student center, to better facilitate student group meetings, study groups and the like. The construction was inspired by the administration’s conversations with students regarding what would improve their experience at the school. Student centers are not unheard of at community colleges, but they aren’t common, either.

Hard work, dedication to the project and a common vision helped, but there was also serendipity and opportunity involved. The trick wasn’t the specific circumstances, but recognizing a benefit when it presented itself.

A Duke student’s graduate thesis, based on the concept of a sustainable residence hall, attracted the attention of a member of Duke’s Board of Visitors, who also sat on the board of Home Depot. This happy circumstance set the planning process in motion. The Smart Home came for free, but it won’t stay free. There’s a lot of new and experimental technology in it with which the facilities department will have to familiarize themselves. The appliances were donated, which is great, but that also means they didn’t come with warranties.

The home also includes two laboratories where residents can innovate further. Their first innovation? It concerns an issue that is heavy on the hearts of all college students: beer theft. Students developed a thumb-print identification censor for kegs. Many smart projects have come out of the Smart Home, or are in process. Students have been toying with ways to improve the home’s function, appearance and utility. A list is available on the Smart Home’s website.

Hall, Thompson and Duncan advised session attendees to do what works best for their schools and what is most sustainable for them, rather than aiming for a specificLEED rating.  As The Chronicle of Higher Education reported last year, sometimes the LEED rating has its own financial and environmental costs. They acknowledged that the Duke Smart Home could not be easily replicated elsewhere. The important thing is to know the resources and technology available, and be open to opportunities.

New York University

In this lot.

See? It’ll be in that narrow, 60-foot-wide area just behind the streetlight, between the tan building and the dark brown building. The campus will occupy a 75,000 square foot building (to be constructed) and will be known to the acronym-happy as NYU-D.C. The campus will include five floors of student living space and classroom space. The living area will house 200 students, whose classes will be through the College of Arts & Sciences. History, journalism, politics, art history and economics will be the initial offerings when the campus opens in the fall of 2012. Nesting all the functions for daytime learning and nighttime living was quite a trick for the architects, according to a story in the Washington Business Journal: “It was like putting a little Swiss watch together, but we got it to work,” said architect Laurence Caudle.

Among the intended projects listed in the official release from the school, was a new residence hall on the university’s Crookston campus. The article also discusses how the University of West Florida is taking advantage of additional changes in tax law that will open more funding options for their much-needed new residence hall; receiving a $15 million loan that would not have been possible just three months ago.

The Chronicle of Higher Education

As with other elements of the declining economy, the effects can cascade. The US Department of Education uses financial data to determine institutions’ eligibility for federal student aid. Some of the debt swaps institutions made to hedge against rising interest rates on their debts have now become problematic, and unless interest rates change considerably by June, these transactions will have to be labeled liabilities in year-end financial statements.