The Bona Venture

Issue date: 3/12/10 Section: News

Image courtesy of Byron Morgan

Starting next semester, students past their freshman year, including graduate students, will be eligible to live in Shay Hall's suites, Chris Brown, coordinator of residential education and housing, said.

"We've reconfigured the way freshman housing will work," Brown said. "There's been kind of a change behind the buildings that will be offered to freshmen, and then the buildings that will be offered to upperclassmen."

Shay will not be the only residence hall that will experience a change next year, Brown said.

For the 2010 year, Robinson and Falconio halls will be totally filled with freshmen, along with Loughlen Hall and one floor of Doyle Hall, Brown said.

Areas in Robinson and Falconio Halls for the last several years have had a mixture of students in all grades.

Additionally, the upperclassmen spaces that used to be in Rob/Fal and Doyle's fourth floor are all getting moved to Shay so that it becomes an upperclassmen building, Brown said.

Independence is what upperclassmen typically seek, Brown said, and the Shay suites will accommodate them better.

"It doesn't have quite all of the amenities and independence an apartment offers," he said. "But it has more amenities and more independence, and when you look at that level of independence, I think its more appropriate for upperclassmen."

The Shay suites consist of two large double rooms connected by a private bathroom.

Michelle McKernan, class of 2012 president and housing committee member, noted Shay's location as fitting for upperclassmen.

"The university has decided to change to Shay rooms because they are the nicest dorms on campus," McKernan wrote in an e-mail. "Our committee decided that it was a prime location too because you are right near the Hickey Dining Hall. You are also connected to another suite of people, so it is not just one room."

The process the university went through to make the change was more involved than most years. Since it was a large structural change, more people were involved, Brown said.

"On a year-to-year basis, it's a much smaller process," he said. "We work with admissions and enrollment to look at how many incoming freshmen we are expecting and how many upperclassmen we are expecting to continue on."

The First Year Experience Program (FYE) housing and residence life and admissions and enrollment have all been involved in the change of living.

Shay was not renovated into the suite style to be a freshman dorm, but FYE, and the idea of exclusive freshman housing started the same year, and Shay/Lo became classified as freshmen housing, Brown said.

This is the first year upperclassmen have been able to live in the Shay suites since the renovation.

Pat Dugan, who will be a junior in the fall, said he is excited at the opportunity to live in Shay.

"My first choice would be townhouses, but if that doesn't work out, I would be more than happy to live in Shay," he said.

e-mail: mayersm@sbu.edu

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