In our frequent reviews of honors residence halls, we come across a wide variety of room configurations, with the most typical being the traditional shared double with corridor baths or a combination of traditional rooms with some suite-style rooms that allow four students in two adjoining rooms to share a common bath.

But the Global Scholars Hall at the University of Oregon offers not only these basic options but an amazing six additional options.  The hall will soon have its own dining facility, the Freshmarket Cafe, offering sushi, pasta, rice bows, deli sandwiches, special expresso drinks, and fresh produce.

The Clark Honors College at U of O ranked 24th out of 50 in Overall Excellence and 23rd in Honors Factors in our recent book, A Review of Fifty Public University Honors Programs.  The Global Scholars Hall was not yet open at the time of publication, and if it had been open, the Clark Honors College would have ranked even higher with a stronger score for housing.

Home to students in the Clark Honors College, College Scholars, and global language scholars studying Mandarin Chinese, Japanese, French, Spanish, or German.  Students in these groups must apply through their program for a place in the Global Scholars Hall.  There are classrooms and study facilities in the hall, which even has its own librarian.

Here are the room options in the 450-student hall:

1. Traditional double with in-room sink;

2. Enhanced single with in-room sink;

3. Double with its own bath;

4. Triple with three sets of furniture, in-room sink, and no private bath (the least expensive option);

5. Single with its own bath;

6. Four-person suite, featuring two double rooms with a shared bath between them;

7. Six-person suite with one bath, with a private hallway, common living area and furniture, and three double rooms;

8. Two-person suite with bath, where each student has a single room and both students share one bath.

The Global Scholars Hall is open for Fall 2012, but we include it as “new” for 2013 as well.