Baylor to build new style of student housing_60203

Posted: 5/30/03

Baylor to build new style of student housing

WACO–Baylor University broke ground May 16 on a $33 million, 212,000-square-foot student housing complex.

The North Village Residential Community is the first housing facility constructed on campus since 1967. It is scheduled to open in fall 2004.

Adding more on-campus housing is the second imperative of Baylor 2012, the university's 10-year strategic plan.

The university intends to house at least 50 percent of undergraduates on campus by 2012. Currently, freshmen are required to live on campus, and most other students live off-campus.

“By increasing the number of students who remain on campus during their college careers, we can foster a sense of community within the Baylor family and build a true learning environment inside and outside the classroom,” said President Robert Sloan.

North Village will be built between the new Dutton Avenue office and parking facility and the Rogers Engineering and Computer Science Building. Three more residential villages are planned at Baylor during the next 10 years.

In North Village, 180 of the 600 beds will be reserved for engineering and computer science students, who must apply and be admitted to the designated center for living and learning.

The remaining beds will be available for upperclassmen from other academic disciplines.

“This unique living-learning environment will foster a balance between serious intellectual pursuits and social interaction both in the classroom and living room, as well as encourage close interaction with classmates and with professors,” said Benjamin Kelley, dean of the School of Engineering and Computer Science.

Although the living-learning centers concept has been implemented previously at schools such as the University of Maryland, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and Ohio State University, Baylor's residential community will be the first of its kind in Texas.

Over the next five years, Baylor hopes to have living-learning centers for students interested in international affairs, leadership, arts and sciences, and fostering a civil society. In most instances, the centers will require students to enroll in at least one common course, often will require a special admission process and may require additional expectations.