The decrease in the Sophomore Residential Colleges from five to three attracted the attention of many students. However, while other Living and Learning communities are shrinking, the junior and senior Build-A-House program is adding housing locations both on and off campus.
When Nathan Lubich, assistant director of Residence Life, began working with the Build-A-House program in the 2008-09 school year, there were only four participating houses.
Now, as Fairfield prepares to choose housing assignments for the 2012-13 school year, the program has been expanded to include not only the townhouses, but also all other upper-class housing options and even the off-campus beach community.
Lubich commented on the expansion of the program, saying that it was a result of the wider variety of upper class housing offered this year. “Reflecting the fact that we have a lot of new and exciting housing options for both juniors and seniors, we made a very intentional effort this year to highlight the fact that the Build-A-House program was not just for people living in the Townhouses,” said Lubich.
Build-A-House is one of only two Living and Learning options offered to upperclassmen. The other is the Manresa House.
Build-A-House is unique because, unlike other communities, the program allows students to create their own housing themes. According to the Build-A-House application, “Juniors and seniors wishing to live together are asked to identify a theme they are passionate about that benefits our campus community in a positive way.”
Upon acceptance to the program, students receive University funding to plan and implement four programs for the Fairfield community based on their chosen theme.
Another perk which is likely responsible for the growing popularity of the program is the fact that Build-A-House participants receive priority housing. This means that while other juniors and seniors are fighting for position in the lottery process Build-A-House students have already chosen their townhouse or apartment.
Howard Rosas ‘14, applied for the program with several friends. He said, “I am looking forward to getting more involved in something I am interested in. Plus, the opportunity to pick my house early is nice.”
The advantages of the program, combined with the expanded housing options offered by it, seem to be grabbing the attention of rising juniors and seniors. Lubich remarked that the Office of Residence Life “had a great turnout in terms of applications this year.”
Lubich also commented, however, that although the program may be growing in scope and popularity, the number of accepted students is likely to remain constant. “As far as how the Build-A-House program affects housing for juniors and seniors,” he said, “I don’t think we’ll expect anything different … than we’ve seen the past few years as the number of accepted houses is likely to stay consistent with the number accepted the past few years.”
The junior and senior lottery nights are likely to be just as significant and passionate as they have been in past years because of a consistency in the acceptances of the Build-A-House program.
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