October Newsletter 2015
Housing & Residence Life Looking Forward Happy October! Fall is a fun and beautiful time on campus. Take a look at some of the exciting things coming up! A Hero’s Homecoming: Oct. 18-25th You’re invited for a week of celebration and Vandal traditions! The Housing Office is participating in the Department Decorating Contest. Stop by the main office Mon. Oct 19th to help with final touches, or Oct. 20th to check out our take on “A Hero’s Homecoming.” Staff Potluck: Oct. 30th, 12-1pm Housing & Residence Life would like to invite you to a Haunted Housing Potluck in C-26! Prizes for “Best Tasting Dish,” “Most Holiday Inspired Dish,” “Most Confusing Costume,” and “Most Likely to Scare the Dog Costume” will be awarded. Sign-up to bring a dish in the Housing Office and Basement breakrooms. Costumes encouraged!
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Tower Trick-or-Treat: Oct. 31st, 2-4pm This thirty yearlong Housing tradition invites local families to trick-or-treat at the doors of students rooms. Morgan and the Tower staff are hard at work to make this year’s event the best one yet. Housing staff is invited to volunteer to give out candy and support the community. Oktoberfest: Oct. 31th 5-7pm Students are invited to dress up and celebrate Halloween in the LLCs with pumpkin carving, a haunted house, and more. Thanks to Bart and his staff for putting together a great event for students! University Apartments Trick-or-Treat: Oct. 31st, 6-7pm The University Apartments invite the community to a trick-or-treat event in the South Hill and South Hill Vista areas. Scott and his team have worked hard to put this event together for the children in the apartment community!
Looking Back Paint the Palouse Recap The 26th Annual Paint the Palouse was a huge success with over 300 volunteers. The homeowners loved their newly painted houses and were very happy to have gotten to know some of our students and staff. It’s great to see Vandals giving back to the Moscow community. A big thank you to Jill Powell and our Area Assistants for organizing the event: Anna Arend, Katrina Alverez, Keegan Hedge, Ryan Kennelly, and Stephanie Rosen, and thanks to all the Housing staff who participated. We couldn’t have done it without you!
MAP-Works MAP-Works is a proven student retention and success system which allows us to see which first year students need attention and resources before it’s too late. The survey concluded early this month with an 82% residence hall response rate. The ResLife team is busy following up with students. This year was also the first time the University at large used this intervention mechanism for other first year students. More summary data about our students will be shared in the coming weeks.
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Leadershop Skate Event
Welcome to Housing!
Did you know we have 4 new members in the Housing family? From left to right: David welcomed baby Ellie, Neil welcomed baby Eleanor, Cassandra welcomed baby Landon, and Lovely welcomed baby Nibras.
Humans of Housing Chris Peterson Not only is Cris Peterson an outstanding Maintenance Craftsman, but he’s also the violinist, mandolinist, and electric guitarist for Moscow’s popular band Daniel Mark Faller & The Working Poor. The band is 2 and a half years old, however Cris has played in bands since he was 19, including a time when he toured the country. Daniel Mark Faller & The Working Poor plays gigs all over the region, including Seattle, Walla Walla, Boise, Lewiston, Clarkston, and the greater Moscow area. Coming up you can find Cris and the band at Tom Grainey’s in Boise on Nov. 7th and at Sapolid Cellars in Walla Walla on Nov. 20.
Anastacia Richards
Highlights from the Director - Dee Dee Kanikkeberg EBI This is our annual resident satisfaction survey that we have been conducting for nearly 20 years. It measures student satisfaction for every aspect of our department. We are currently refining the launch dates which should be towards the end of October. Please not, this is one of the single most important benchmarks as a department. Wallace Construction – Summer 2016 By Fall 2016 all Wallace halls will be renovated and updated. Meetings continue with facilities and the selected construction & architecture team. Currently we are in the process of deciding what stays in scope on the project and what will be taken out. As you know, the construction window to complete 12 floors in 10 weeks is very tight.We look forward to improving our facilities for the students who live with us. Wallace Courtyard In 2012, designs were created to redo the front area of Wallace. This would include removing the blacktop and some of the trees/plantings to create a much nicer front entrance to the building. We hope to take this on next summer as well since the majority of the building will be down for the “refresh.”
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Recruitment & Retention Believe it or not it’s time to start thinking about the 2016-17 school year and the future class of Vandals who will be living with us. The Housing Application opens for new and returning students on November 6th. Our goal for room renewal is 600 students. As you are talking with current students, now is the time to remind them to make the most of their college experience and live with us again. Good news for students: room rates are remaining the same for the upcoming school year. Another important thing to note is Wallace community changes, as this will affect the way students apply to live in Wallace. For 2016-17, the Wallace Residence Center will have 3 wings dedicated to only First-Year students (Willey, Ballard, & Gooding), and Stevenson wing will be reserved for only Upper-Level students. Housing’s recruitment season for new students is underway. Earlier this month campus hosted its first Envision Idaho event, where around 200 high school students and families visited the university. Cara and Courtney participated in tabling and presentations, spoke with families about the benefits of housing, and with the help of student staff hosted tours of the residence halls. A big thanks to Greg, Lexi, and Andi, as well as all of your team members for making the residence halls look their best. The next Envision Idaho is scheduled for Saturday, November 7th, where we are expecting over 400 students and their families. Since the Housing Application will be available we plan to help as many students sign up as possible. Remember to be extra helpful this day, as we want to show families how great Housing and the University of Idaho truly is.
RHA President Blot Article We are so lucky to have Tommy Burke as the RHA President! Tommy was featured in an article for Blot Magazine. He makes a huge impact on students and staff at the University of Idaho!
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