The year began with four separate construction projects underway on the SNHU campus. The Green Center and the Gustafson Center opened earlier this year, while the new residence hall, athletic complex and stadium are still under construction and are scheduled to be open for the start of the fall semester.
Director of Residence Life, Shannon Brown, is excited about the current projects on campus but has her eyes set on maintaining that growth for years to come.
The progress of the new apartment style residence hall is “right on target,” Brown said via email. “Honestly the process of designing and building this new hall has been very smooth. The only challenge is to have to turn away staff members and students who want to live there.”
Eight Resident Assistants were chosen to help open the building next year and are tasked with integrating it with the SNHU community. The team of eight student workers will feature Daniel Clarke who is ready to bring a fresh perspective to the job. Regarding his transition from Daniel Webster College, Clarke said, “It’s been a really smooth and easy transition so far.”
Clarke is a junior who plans on bringing “a sense of community and just be who I am.” While a full-time Residence Director for the building has yet to be chosen, Brown says the decision will be made in the coming weeks.
SNHU and the Office of Residence Life aren’t stopping with the construction of this new building, as the West Side of campus is set to see the next transformation.
This May, once the students leave for the summer, Chocorua and Winnisquam are set to come down. In addition, Kearsarge will go offline and not house students for the following year.
These moves are necessary to make room for a budding new project to take shape in that area.
“We are in the process of designing another new residence hall that will go where Chocorua and Winnisquam are and that hall will open in Fall 2018,” Brown revealed. “After that new hall opens the rest of the West Side Apartments will come down as well as the Lower Suites.”
Zach Lynch, a junior who has lived in the Lower Suites for his three years at SNHU, has mixed emotions about the decision, but understands the desire for the campus to progress. “The bonds built in suites are strong compared to what I’ve seen in other areas. It seems more like a home,” said Lynch.
Lynch reflects on his time living on campus but knows SNHU is looking to move forward. “On one hand, both the Lower Suites and West Side Apartments have been influential during my time at SNHU; on the other hand, I recognize that the campus is looking to progress its residence areas and in that sense, I understand the desire to tear them down.”
These moves are motivated by an effort to modernize some of the more dated areas of campus. With the addition and subtraction of residence halls, there are no plans in place to expand enrollment to the university.
“We are always trying to identify and fund improvements to existing halls,” Brown said. As part of this commitment, rooms in Washington Hall will be fitted with new furniture over this summer.