Summer Housing Adjustments:

In previous years, students who were admitted to live on campus for the summer were housed in the apartments. This year, however, their only option will be to live in Loyola Hall dorms.

The apartments will instead house those attending campus conferences, who would previously have been housed in the townhouse area that will now be closed due to construction.

“For the next two summers, the townhouses will be off line for the renovations of the basements into garden apartments,” said Deborah Cady, director of Residence Life.

Instead of the kitchenette, living room area, private bathroom and air-conditioning offered in the apartments, students will be left with the limited ammenities offered in a dorm.

FUSA President Hutch Williams ’08 is one student who will be living on campus this summer.

“It’s unfortunate, but the construction on the townhouses is something that has to be done,” said Williams. “It’s the luck of the draw.”

There will also be non-students staying on campus for summer camps and other programs. They will be housed in other buildings on the quad.

Even though housing accomodations have changed, students are still opting to stay on campus during the summer months.

Living in Loyola Hall is also less expensive than the townhouses and apartments, according to Cady.

“The cost for students to live in Loyola Hall is $16.50 per day, which is the residence hall rate, versus $29 per day for the apartments/townhouses rate of last summer,” said Cady.

According to the Fairfield Web site, reasons to request housing include, but are not limited to, taking a class, an approved internship or research with a professor.

To apply for summer residence, students are required to fill out a summer housing request form that includes general contact information, roommate preference and a housing request.

A common reason students stay on campus in the summer is the opportunity to serve as a summer RA, working full time in the Office of Residence Life as well as serving night and weekend responsibilities.

The Office of Residence Life hires 14 RAs who are required to work 35 hours per week in a combination of day, evening and weekend hours.

According to the job description, an RA is an undergraduate student who serves as an integral member of the Residence Life team in managing the day-to-day operations of the summer housing program.

In compensation for their time, RAs are paid $9 per hour and receive free summer housing, which consists of a single room in one of the dorms located on the quad.

While on campus for the summer, the amenities available to students are the RecPlex, the Stag and Jazzman’s Café, while the Barone Campus Center Dining Hall will remain closed.

In addition to the fun students have on campus during the summer, there remains responsibilities to be met.

The responsibilities of summer RAs include attending and participating in all required training programs, assisting the daily operations of all summer residence halls, serving as a resource for summer residents, providing relevant and development programming offerings for residents and assisting with Office of Residence Life initiatives.

According to the Web site, this is a great opportunity for students to develop their organizational and leadership skills while also having an opportunity to meet and work alongside alumni, University officials and partners outside the University.

Some students, however, are not excited about having to live in a dorm for the summer instead of the apartments that housed students in previous summers.

Melissa Guildford ’08, a chemistry major, is staying on campus this summer to do research with Matthew Kubasik, chair of the chemistry department.

“It doesn’t seem fair that we have only a micro-frige and one kitchen to share,” said Guildford.

Despite the disappointment, many students said they will stick it out and remain on campus.

“I would rather have research experience even if I don’t receive better accomodations,” said Guilford.

Other students are living on campus for different reasons.

Galen Vinter ’09, for example, will be living at Fairfield to take part in an off-campus internship on Post Road.

Like Guildford, Vinter has complaints about being housed in a dorm.

“It’s inconvient to live in a dorm as opposed to the ammenities offered in an apartment,” said Vinter.

A common complaint aside from not having their own bathroom or kitchen is the lack of air-conditioning.

“It’s going to be close to impossible to live here without necessities available in an apartment,” said Vinter.