November Newsletter 2015
Looking Forward
Housing & Residence Life
RA & APM Spring Selection: Happy November! Can you believe we are Housing is looking for great student leaders over halfway through the semester? Take a to be Resident Assistants or Academic Peer Mentors. Applications for the 2016-17 school look at some of the fun things coming up! year open Nov. 18th and are due by Jan. 25th. Info sessions begin in Dec. If you know Progress on Gooding 2nd Floor: any interested and qualified students please Exciting progress is being made in the encourage them to attend an info session Gooding Wing of Wallace Residence and apply. Center. By the end of the week painting, lighting, plumbing, and carpet on the 2nd floor is expected to be complete.The team is Thanksgiving Break: The holiday season is upon us! Nov. 26 is a even getting a jump start on Gooding 3rd University Holiday and we are closed to the floor renovations, refreshing paint in the public Nov. 27. Staying in town? Join the lounge, foyer, and hallway. Thanksgiving Dinner at Bob's Place from 11 am-2 pm on Nov. 25. RSVP to uipresrsvp@uidaho.edu by Nov. 19, or to volunteer email Kevin.Maines@sodexo.com. Farewell Tom George: Join us for a send-off reception for Tom on Thursday Nov. 19, 3:30-4:30pm in C26. We are sad to see him go, but we wish Tom the best with his new job in Boise.
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Cram Jam: Late Night Breakfast: Dec. 13, 9-11pm You're invited! Housing & Residence Life and Vandals Dining will be hosting Cram Jam, a student appreciation event on the eve of Finals week. We are looking for volunteers to help greet students and serve breakfast as they prepare for Finals. If interested in volunteering please email Courtney at chatton@uidaho.edu to sign up for a time slot. New Logos for Housing Vehicles Housing continues to invest in our fleet and increase presence on campus by proudly displaying our new logos. All new vehicles will feature our new branding.
Leadershop Skate Event
Looking Back Homecoming 2015: The Housing office looked incredibly transformed for “A Hero’s Homecoming.” We were able to recognize our heroes of housing: the military members, firemen, and emergency responder personnel currently living with Housing & Residence Life. RHA’s participation in the Homecoming Parade was also quite "heroic" (pictured below). Congratulations to RHA for winning 1st place in the non-Greek division of Homecoming Week. Office Decorations
Tower Trick-or-Treat: This year's Tower Trick-or-Treat participation was record breaking! 1,031 people attended the 2 hour event on Halloween. A big thanks to Morgan and her team for putting together an incredible event for families of the Moscow community.
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RHA before the parade
Children trick-or-treating in the Tower
Custodial & Maintenance Excellence APPA is an organization dedicated to providing excellence in today’s educational environment. The APPA custodial benchmark is what we use to evaluate the cleanliness of our Residence Halls. Our goal is to keep our APPA scores below 2. All of our buildings are collectively meeting this notable standard. Congratulations on the great work to our entire custodial team! Because of your hard work our students are enjoying exceptionally clean and comfortable living. Maintenance also continues to meet high standards to better the students' lives who live with us. Our maintenance staff has held on to an impressive 24 hour response rate to all Richards in-room work requests. Thank you to the team, and keep up the great Anastacia work!
Thanks to all who attended our Halloween Pot Luck! Congrats to Corey on winning "Most Likely to Scare the Dog."
Humans of Housing Alexia Lovelady Alexia (Lexi) Lovelady joined the Housing team in May 2015, and in June became a Custodial Services Supervisor. Outside of work Lexi can be found practicing with the Rolling Hills Derby Dames. Lexi joined the local roller derby league about two months ago, but having played basketball and softball in high school she is no stranger to athletics. The Derby Dames’ season finished up last month, but the practice doesn’t stop. Catch Lexi and the team in their upcoming bouts starting in March, many of which will be played at Gladish Community Center in Pullman.
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Recruitment & Retention The recruitment season is well underway. Between Vandal Kickoff, and two Envision Idaho events, we have had a total of 686 students plus their families visit campus for event days this semester. Housing also hosted a "Live Here Another Year" Launch Party for current students, and we look forward to our LLC Open House on Dec. 9. Numbers are looking good, as we currently have 405 returning students and 64 new students signed up for Housing. Our goal is to reach 600 returning and 1200 new. Please remember 2016-17 Wallace community changes. 3 wings will be dedicated to First-Year students, and Stevenson wing will be reserved for only Upper-Level students, all co-ed.
Highlights from the Director - Dee Dee Kanikkeberg Wallace Residence Center Remodel Update A slight modification has been made to next summer’s construction plan. 10 instead of 12 floors will be renovated. The decision was made in part to reduce the amount of risk associated. The remaining 2 floors will be completed during the 16-17 academic year by our in house team. Summer 2016 McConnell Hall has been designated as the summer housing building. Early work has also begun with conference clients, including sorority & fraternity recruitment. Room & Board Rates A small rental rate raise is being recommended for apartments. Residence hall rates are proposed to remain flat while dining rates will increase slightly. Budget Status Update As of our last income statement, housing labor and operational expenses are both tracking up slightly. However because of our lower occupancy, overall revenue is down slightly. We will remain cautious as we move forward into next semester. WRC Courtyard Funding has been authorized for the long awaited Wallace Courtyard Design project. Original designs have been in place since 2012, but due to the substantial cost the project has been delayed. There is hope that it will be completed with next summer’s refresh.
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Thanks to all team members who are working towards our mission of Changing Student Lives. Have a great fall break!