Category Archives: Honors Residence Halls

Purdue to Open Residential Honors College in 2013

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Here is some great news from Purdue: they plan to open a residential Honors College in the Fall of 2013. See what Assistant Dean Catharine Patrone has to say about this exciting development at one of the nation’s premier public universities. Purdue honors has a bright future, and not only for engineering students.

May 2, 2012

By RACHEL RAPKIN Assistant Campus Editor

With the University’s plan for an Honors College, students will have the opportunity to live and learn from each other while gaining valuable leadership skills.

In July, the Board of Trustees approved the plan to develop the residential Honors College. The University plans for students to be enrolled by the fall of 2013.

Over the summer, during the third module, assistant dean of the Honors College, Catharine Patrone, said first year students will have a chance to preview the Honors College by enrolling in the Accelerated Summer at Purdue program.

“The students will have the ability to take four honors credits,” she said. “In addition to the Honors course opportunity, extracurricular (events will be provided) to help build the community around them.”

Dennis Savaiano, interim dean of the Honors College, said a task force with around 100 members had been meeting since the fall and had been looking into recommendations for the planning of the curriculum, governance, scholarships and post graduate support.

“They came up with a set of proposals. The (University) Senate reviewed the proposals, ( and on April 24) the Senate passed a resolution endorsing the Honors College and another resolution endorsing the curriculum committee,” Savaiano said.

Patrone said with the approvals of the endorsements from the University Senate, the next step is to officially start creating the Honors College curriculum.

“The University Senate approved the college and the faculty governance structure,” she said. “Each college or school (including the libraries) will have one faculty member elected or appointed … They are going to be assigning and approving the Honors College curricula. The governance committee will begin their work in September.”

According to a Powerpoint from Savaiano to the Academic Affairs Committee during March’s Board of Trustees meeting, the Honors College is looking to incorporate more diversity, complement all the colleges curriculum and enhance student leadership.

“The idea (of the Honors College) was to unify our existing programs and make them more robust and grow them so that perspective students would see a richer opportunity, particularly in a residential model,” Savaiano said.

The residential model is going to be an area where students live and learn together. Savaiano said this could increase student enrollment and possibly encourage upper division students to stay in the residences where they can mentor the lower division, or first year students.

“Building a residential model that is a more robust honors experience was certainly our goal,” he said. “Currently there are about 1,200 honors students at Purdue, and we would like to grow that to 2,000.”

Patrone said there are a large number of students who want to be a part of the Honors College, but the dorms are full and they are leaving the University to find another place where they can be a part of a close knit community.

“Students who are looking for that experience are going to other universities,” Patrone said. “They are choosing to go elsewhere and, sometimes, even out of the state. We hope the Honors College will keep them in Indiana and attract them to Purdue.”

Honors Residence Halls–University of Indiana

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Freshmen students in the Hutton Honors College at Indiana University may live anywhere on campus, but they might prefer to live on honors residential community floors in Briscoe Hall, in the northwest neighborhood; Teter Hall, in the central neighborhood; and Forest Hall, in the southeast neighborhood. All these residence halls are air-conditioned. Living arrangements vary from the traditional, with hall baths in Teter and Forest, to coed living and a selection of room configurations in Briscoe.

With its central location, Teter is the choice of many students. Not far from the School of Education, the Wells Library, several classroom buildings, and the highly-regarded Kelley Business School, Teter is also close to most classes and other campus facilities.

Briscoe is closer to the business school, but farther from other campus facilities. According to some students, Briscoe has something of a party reputation, and is home to a lot of athletes and a high number of business school students. But here’s one honors student’s view:

“I chose to live in an Honors Residential Community in Briscoe, and living there changed my entire college experience; I am surrounded by students like myself who are driven academically, but who are incredibly involved all across campus. I have found my home away from home, and I attribute that feeling to being in the Honors College here at IU.”

Forest Hall is farther away from some classes, to the southeast, but one student reviewer really likes the location:

“I think the SE dorms are probably in one of the best locations on campus because they’re the closest to most of the buildings where your classes will be and there are great places to eat here as well that are way underrated.

Forest is also near the Jacobs School of Music, so a lot of music majors live there. Many international students live there as well.

Hutton Honors College also recommends housing for freshmen in the Living Learning Centers “in Foster International, Collins, Kelley, and the Global Village, but one doesn’t have to be in Hutton to live in these LLC’s, and there are no Honors Residential Community floors located in these.”

Hutton upperclassmen have two additional Honors Residential Community floor choices, one in the New Union Street Center, and the other in Willkie Hall.

Honors Residence Halls–University of Georgia

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In discussing other honors residence halls, we have noted that some universities–and many students–prefer traditional dorms with corridor baths because this arrangement, though not ideally convenient, does afford more socialization than suite-type living.

Myers Hall at the University of Georgia tackles this issue by offering several living options within one residence hall: traditional doubles, suites, and private rooms. Freshmen at UGA are required to live on campus, with few exceptions, so being assigned to a newly-renovated and classically appealing hall such as Myers is a great advantage for 250 entering honors students each year. The Honors program even maintains a satellite office in Myers in order to facilitate participation, registration, and activities for honors students.

In addition to the variety of living arrangements, Myers is in a great location in South Campus, very close to classes and other campus facilities. The hall has in-room temp controls for the air conditioning that is so important for students living through the Georgia heat in early Fall and late Spring. Myers is adjacent to Snelling Dining Hall, a 24-hour facility. And it’s not just the dorm itself that’s appealing. Here’s what a UGA student has to say about the Myers Quad:

“The best part about these halls is Myers Quad. It’s the huge space of lawn shared by the Myers community and is a beautiful multi-purpose space. You can study, play ultimate Frisbee, play basketball, go to a barbecue, have a water fight, or just take a nap on the lawn. It also is a prime tailgate location of game days and in 2008, College Gameday even filmed it’s show from the quad. It’s the perfect college quad and even if you don’t live in Myers, you should find some time to unwind on the quad.”

And all the better if you DO live there!

After freshman year, honors students can live in the East Campus Village, as well as other locations. ECV is basically apartment living, and successful honors students have an edge in applying a place there because GPA is one important factor in assigning priority.

Honors Residence Halls–University of Michigan

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One of the premier universities–public or private–in the nation, the University of Michigan, through its LSA Honors Program, also provides excellent housing opportunities for it students.

Most live in South Quad, one of the best locations on this large campus, with a dining hall, pizzeria, and a cafe. South Quad is near State Street in Ann Arbor, the site of festivals, restaurants, pubs, theaters, bookstores, and many other events and attractions.

About 35 percent of students in South Quad are in honors program, living in contiguous halls. The presence of both honors and non-honors students in the same residence halls allows a broader range of associations on a regular basis, while maintaining the relative peace and quiet in the honors halls. South Quad is a traditional dorm, meaning that baths are shared by all residents of a corridor.

South Quad, despite its name, is actually in central campus, convenient to most classes and facilities, including the student union. It is also the home of the student-run cable TV station, WOLV.

“South Quad was built in 1951 and won an award from the Michigan Society of Architects. At the time, South Quad was a trendsetter in college residence halls,” according to the university housing department. “Although it was originally an all-male residence, South Quad went co-ed in 1964 when half of its male residents traded places with half of Markley Hall’s female residents.”

Honors women also have the opportunity to live in Martha Cook Hall, “a small, traditional, independent house for women in the Central Campus Housing Neighborhood; it features beautiful rooms, traditional events, and a warm community for its residents.”

“Martha Cook is home to 140 first years to graduate women. Located in the heart of central campus, it is only steps away from the Diag, Grad Library, UgLi, Law quad, Michigan Union, Business School and School of Education. Martha Cook opened to female students in the fall of 1915 as the first dormitory on campus, a gift of alumnus William Cook. Over the past century the building has been home to thousands of University of Michigan women, who have left their mark on the building, the University and the world.”

Honors Residence Halls–University of Maryland

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Honors students at Maryland have four possible options for housing: Ellicott, Hagerstown, and La Plata Halls, all a part of the north-central Ellicott housing community, or Anne Arundel Hall, a much smaller dorm located on South Campus. It appears that most honors students may be assigned to Hagerstown Hall.

The Ellicott houses are generally considered to be more centrally located, and they share the North Campus Dining Hall and The Diner, a popular eating spot on campus. Of the three Ellicott houses, only one is air conditioned: La Plata. All have corridor bathrooms shared by all students living on a hall, usually 33 residents.

Anne Arundel only houses just over 100 students in its South Campus location. The hall is air conditioned, and baths are shared by 9 students. Anne Arundel is housed in the most aesthetically pleasing structure.

The honors-related Gemstone program is housed in Ellicott Hall. The Entrepreneurship and Innovations Program and Integrated Life Sciences Program students are in Laplata Hall. Hagerstown Hall is home to the University Honors Program, while some honors offices, conference spaces and team rooms are in La Plata Hall. All three Ellicott dorms are near the campus recreation center.

The Dining Hall is a part of the Ellicott community, and a convenience store is only a few minutes away. Most academic buildings and libraries are less than a 15-minute walk away and the university shuttle makes frequent stops in the community for overall safety and convenience.

Honors Residence Halls–Penn State

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Located in South Campus at Penn State, the two honors halls–Atherton and Simmons–are right by College Avenue, a great location for social activities and the closest residence halls to downtown. On College Avenue, students can find bookstores, theaters, pharmacies, pizza and hamburger joints, restaurants, and pubs.

The two honors halls are south-central on campus, not as close to most classrooms as North and West campus dorms, perhaps, but still a great location. The honors halls are adjacent to the nationally-recognized Schreyer Honors College offices and share the neighborhood with three dining halls, one on site, and many private restaurants.

The halls are traditional, meaning that residents share rooms, mostly doubles, and also share corridor bathrooms. Atherton has a 24/7 computer room that has a printer and 29 computer terminals for student use. The Schreyer Honors College administration offices are also in Atherton. The mail room for both halls is in Simmons. Some students consider Simmons to be the best dorm on the entire Penn State campus. Both halls also have a grand piano.

Each hall has laundry facilities, and Atherton has a TV lounge and a 24-hour study room called the “Zombie Lounge.” Simmons has two TV lounges and a “cultural/coffee house lounge” as well.

Honors Residence Halls–University of Virginia

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You might not know it without some research, but the University of Virginia, which prides itself on its deserved reputation for the excellence of its entire study body, also now provides special honors housing for Echols Scholars in arts and sciences and Rodman Scholars in engineering.

Good housing is especially important for UVA freshmen because they are required to live in campus housing during their first year.

The “New Dorms” on Alderman Road–the name comes from the fact that they were built “recently,” in the 1960s–have been remodeled. The two halls for honor students are Balz-Dobie and Watson-Webb; seven other halls make up the Alderman Road Residence Area.

The two honors halls house about 460 students. Though not as conveniently located as the “Old Dorms” on McCormick Road, the New Dorms have air conditioning; the Old Dorms are smaller and have no AC. The Alderman Road Area is still a good location, however, better than most others outside the Old Dorm area. There is also a commons between the two honors halls.

A UVA official told the campus paper that “the buildings add something to the residential experience.” They are “very rich in spaces that allow for social gathering and in support of academic pursuits,” she said. On the first floor of each building, the paper reports, there are “multiple lounges for private study, multipurpose rooms and a large open lounge that can be partitioned into two smaller spaces, along with laundry and vending areas.”

Rooms are configured so that up to five double bedrooms share a large bath area, so that only 10 or so students are involved versus the 30 or more that sometimes have to share corridor baths. There is a separate study room that allows one or more students to hit the books without disturbing their roommates. Some of the rooms even have balconies.

The New Dorms for honors students have received their share of attention on campus. A student reviewer expresses both the admiration and the jealousy felt by some UVA students:

“I have personally been in [Balz-Dobie] and it is a hotel. The toilets flush up and down (up for #1, down for #2), have motion-sensitive lighting, and beautiful lounges. I believe they are LED-certified buildings, and this statement makes me jealous: ‘The air handler has an energy recovery wheel that captures the heat from exhaust air and recycles it, and the whole precinct is fed by steam from McCormick Road and chilled water from the Aquatic and Fitness Center.’ It’s like the environmentally-friendly version of caviar and Perrier.”

Honors Residence Halls–University of Nebraska

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Watch out for the ghosts. Well, anyway, watch out for the Neihardt student residents who pretend to be ghosts each year around Halloween. Hundreds of people turn out for the Neihardt “ghost tours” each year.

Max Walling, Neihardt’s residence director, told the campus newspaper that the ghost tours are a “long-standing tradition.” Most of their stories, he said, come from a thesis written in 1997 by Jessica Kennedy, titled, “Folklore and Ghost Stories on the University of Nebraska-Lincoln City Campus: A Compilation.” Kennedy wrote all about the campus. She explored the ghosts of the Temple Building, the Lewis-Syford House at 700 N. 16th St. and Selleck Quadrangle. However, many of those stories written in her thesis were from Neihardt.

The last tale, according to the paper, is performed as much as told by Derek Shafer, a senior (in 2010) and biological systems engineering major. “[Shafer] emerged from a coffin in the basement of Neihardt, representing a coffin that was found in Neihardt’s basement by maintenance workers years ago.”

“The residents of Neihardt,” the paper notes, take the ghost tours very much “to heart” when they recite their ghost stories.

Ghosts aside, or above, or wherever they may be, the Neihardt Residence Hall offers a prime location for the 400 honors students who live there. For one thing, the office of the honors program is on the first floor, a handy location for the residents who live on the second, third, and fourth floors. In addition, the nation’s most prominent organization for university honors education, The National Collegiate Honors Council, is also located there.

Below are many more reasons why students enjoy Neihardt:

• Student-to-student staff (RA) ratio is low
• Outstanding leadership opportunities through floor government and hall government
• Neihardt Council recognized as one of the most successful hall governments with active participation in service/philanthropy activities, social activities
• Easy access to Honors program faculty and staff
• Neihardt is full of members of the two most prestigious academic honoraries (Innocents Society, Mortar Board)
• Staff sensitive to high demands placed on Honors students…most of the RA Staff are Honors
• Residents of Neihardt develop lifetime friendships
• Coed
• More students return to Neihardt than any other hall on campus
• Centrally located, convenient to the Nebraska Union, academic buildings, Love Library, faculty offices, Campus Rec fields, basketball, tennis and sand volleyball courts
• Close to downtown Lincoln restuarants, and movie theaters
• Residents love the sinks in the rooms located in the Love, Heppner, Raymond sections of Neihardt
• First floor offers a variety of study environments/locations: Honors computer lab, Honors group study rooms, classrooms in the building. A variety of relaxing study spaces like your living room at home.
• The Sun Room
• Neihardt traditions include camping trip, ghost tours, steak feed, philanthropy auction, professor pizzaz, professor pancakes
• Neihardt has a community kitchen with baking and cooking supplies available for check out at the Neihardt desk
• GFL (Good, Fresh and Local) menu focus of the Cather-Pound-Neihardt Dining Service
• An historic building coupled with state of the art amenities (T-3 internet, Andover access system, Onity room door locks)
• The Lounge – snack shop with a coffee house atmosphere
• Beautiful interior courtyard

For more information, please go to http://housing.unl.edu/halls
/neihardt.shtml.

Honors Residence Halls, Auburn University

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Location, location, location. Most of the coed honors residence halls at Auburn are located in the “Quad,” smack in the center of campus. Not that honors students would need to fall out of bed late and need to make it to class in five minutes…but they could do so if they had to.

Housing is hard to come by at Auburn, but less so for honors students. The honors dorms at the Quad are Harper, Broun, Little, and Teague. These halls are older than the new, apartment-like Village dorms, but, again, it’s the location that makes the Quad honors halls so appealing. Honors students may also be assigned to older dorms on the “Hill.”

Please know that even honors students have to mind the details and the deadlines when it comes to reserving a room at Auburn. Honors students should also know that if they want to live in one of the honors halls, they cannot qualify if they want a roommate who is not in honors.

The official view: “All Quad rooms are configured in suites consisting of two double rooms (two students per room) connected by a bathroom. There are a very limited number of single rooms available. Quad rooms are furnished with an extra long (80”), bunkable twin bed, study desk and chair, chest of drawers, and closet for each resident. Rent includes all utilities including basic T.V. cable and wireless internet service. Washers and dryers are located in a laundry facility centrally located in the Quad Center. Residents receive their mail and packages at the mailroom located in that building as well.”

Students and college sites consider the Village to be among the best college living options in the country, and honors students can choose the Village over the convenience of the Quad. The Village is much newer, somewhat more expensive, but more private with quarters that are essentially apartments. Take it from a resident:

“Auburn’s Village housing is probably the best college living in the country, since instead of just a room, the Village is more like an apartment where one gets their own room. Auburn is expanding the Village dorms in order to house more students.”

Honors Residence Halls, University of Delaware

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The Russell Complex at the University of Delaware features dorms with a “Z-shape” interior so that the two occupants have a diagonal separation between them for extra privacy. Russell is more or less required for freshman honors students (see official description below), but whatever a new student thinks about this requirement or the dorm rooms themselves, the Russell dining hall offers three things that can cheer up tired and stressed out students: pizza, hard ice cream, and omelets.

The word is that Russell is the place on campus where these appealing choices are the best.
Now for the official word:

“Freshmen admitted to the Honors Program are housed together in the Russell Complex on East Campus, a popular location that is a short walk from the University’s Morris Library. East Campus is also home to the Perkins Student Center, the Harrington Fitness Center, the Russell Dining Hall, and the Harrington Computer Site.

“Living in first-year Honors housing is a requirement of the freshman year in Honors, although it is possible to get a waiver of this requirement if you plan to live at home with a parent or guardian and commute to campus. The Honors freshman community is enhanced by Russell Fellows, upper-class Honors peer mentors who choose to continue living with the freshmen. They serve as a resource to help with the adjustment to college life and to plan programs and community building activities both inside and outside the residence halls.”

The Russell Complex houses not only honors freshmen but ROTC students as well. Russell has undergone a fairly recent renovation, and according to students the rooms and grounds are clean. The Resident Assistants and Russell Fellows are good at planning entertaining activities for the whole complex and for individual floors.”

In each double room there is a sleep area and a separate work desk and computer area. The desk measures 42 inches wide and 24 inches deep. Thompson and Lane are other honors dorms. All are located on East Campus, one of the best spots on the scenic but fairly large UD campus. Be aware, however, that Russell is not air-conditioned. Perhaps the best news is that most classes on “the Green” are only five minutes away. And “the Beach,” a popular campus common area, is close to the complex.

The Russell Complex also has a shared kitchen and a “quiet” study room, in addition to the adjacent dining hall.