Facilities focus of BOV’s Student Affairs meeting

Photo by Andrew Shurtleff

First-class facilities like the new John Paul Jones Arena now under construction on Massie Road, “are only part of the Athletic Department’s long-term plan,” said director Craig Littlepage. “U.Va. is also pursuing championships, top recruits and a 100 percent graduation rate.”

By Virginia E. Carter

A new office to help students with off-Grounds housing decisions, renovated space in Newcomb Hall and an update on the John Paul Jones Arena were on the agenda for the Board of Visitors’ Committee on Student Affairs and Athletics when members met Jan. 16 in Richmond.
Marisa Nelson from the College of Arts & Sciences and Gregory Moore from the School of Architecture reported on their efforts as representatives to Student Council to create an Off-Grounds Housing Office for the benefit of students.

“The task of finding off-Grounds housing at the University is a difficult and time-consuming one for the entire student body and especially for first-years,” said Nelson, referring to the pressure some first-years experience to sign leases for second-year housing off Grounds within weeks of entering the University.

To inform students of the many housing options available, the office will restructure the annual Housing Fair, give dorm talks to answer students’ questions and concerns, publish an off-Grounds housing handbook and provide a program to help match roommates. In addition, the office will create a student database and Web site with information on housing choices, and it will help students with housing issues by working closely with University Mediation Services and Student Legal Services. Moore said they hope to locate the office centrally and have it operational by late spring.

“This is an excellent initiative. I’m sure it will be a huge help,” said Tom Farrell, vice rector of the board and chairman of the Student Affairs and Athletics Committee.

In a sub-report on housing issues, Leonard Sandridge, executive vice president and chief operating officer, spoke about the University’s long-range housing needs, which will include rehabilitation of housing built in the 1970s and construction of new student housing. Instead of segregating faculty, staff, graduate students and undergraduates in the future, Sandridge suggested exploring the concept of building housing communities replicating apartment living where faculty, staff and students would be neighbors.

“We think a new type of housing environment more like apartment-living may better meet the needs and expectations of some students in the future,” Sandridge said.

Bill Ashby, associate dean of students and director of Newcomb Hall, reported on renovations to support student groups, which now number 536.

Recent changes in Newcomb have focused on enhancing existing space to include state-of-the-art technology and to provide the flexibility to serve as many students as possible, Ashby said.

Newcomb now has a new Student Activities Center on the building’s first floor, which is open to all student groups, and has two meeting rooms, computers, a photocopier, a mailbox for each group, and various supplies and workspace available during the day and late into the evening.

Newcomb’s third-floor Informal Lounge will soon feature a diversity resource center, expected to open Feb. 20, that will accommodate casual social gatherings and small performances, and will contain resources and materials related to diversity. The space is envisioned as an open, safe and welcoming place where differences can be explored.
Also, this summer, the third-floor meeting rooms in Newcomb Hall will be updated with new technology, fresh paint and other aesthetic improvements. In the fall, the Forum — a flexible performance and rehearsal space — is expected to open in the new Observatory Hill dining facility. By early 2005, students will see an updated lobby outside Newcomb Theater.

Director of Athletics Craig Littlepage reported on construction of the John Paul Jones Arena, which is scheduled to open in 2006. Littlepage said audiovisual and technological features of the new basketball arena and multipurpose center will be top-rate and that fans can expect a full array of “blinking lights, instant replays and pop-ups.”

In other business, the committee approved changes to the Student Activity Fee Statement of Purpose and Funding Guidelines.