The end of the 2016-17 school year left three Resident Director (RD) positions vacant and three dorms destroyed, but it also saw the final touches of a new apartment-style building and the bones of the newest dorm rise from the ground. Residence Life underwent many changes in staffing and appearance this summer, and they are still far from complete.
Monadnock Hall, the newest apartment-style building, opened its doors to its first group of upperclassmen this fall. Featuring a private gym, study rooms and gender inclusive bathrooms, Monadnock Hall sits in a central location, just behind the library.
The Upper Suites, Chocorua and Winnisquam, and one West Side Apartment, Kearsarge, were torn down after last year’s residents moved out, making way for a new dorm, set to open in August of 2018. Everything is on schedule, according to Shannon Brown, the Director of Residence Life. “They’re working on the site already,” she said. “They’ve cleared the site and they’ve already started putting basically in the foundation.” Brown commented that the rest of the West Side Apartments with the exception of Spaulding will be taken offline next.
Sunapee will also be torn down to make room for the College of Engineering, Technology and Aeronautics building, Brown said.
RDs who will remain in the same residence halls as the year prior include Elaina Hill in Washington Hall, Mike Masterson in the West Side Apartments, Athena Adair in New Castle and Annie Gaudet in East Side Apartments. Both Hill and Masterson are stepping into new roles on campus, however.
Hill is now the Area Director for Student Learning and Leadership, overseeing the Residential Assistant (RA) program and the programming in resident halls. “So RA training, hiring and on-going development and supporting RAs as they program on their floors and in their communities are focuses of my work this year, while continuing to be a part of the Washington Hall community,” Hill said.
Masterson is now the Area Director for Residential Operations, making him in charge of summer housing and housing over breaks.
Jake Piecuch moved down the hill from Tuckerman Hall to the vacant RD position in Hampton and Windsor. Nicole Noons, former Lower Suites RD, is now the RD of Monadnock Hall.
SNHU alumni and former RAs, Grant Hock and Derek Vanat, are filling two Assistant Residential Director (ARD) positions. The difference between an RD and an ARD is “the RD is a full time professional staff member and an ARD is a graduate student,” according to Brown.
Hock is the ARD for the Lower Suites as he participates in the Plus One Masters Program, which lasts for three semesters. The Lower Suites will be torn down after the close of the 2017-2018 school year.
“I’m most excited to build a community in a location that in the past has been seen as a less desirable place,” Hock said. “The Lower Suites gets such a bad rap for being this terrible place to live, but I lived here my freshman and sophomore year and the people and communities that grow here are fantastic.”
Vanat is pursuing his master’s degree in business administration during his two years as the ARD of the Townhouses.
“There are a lot of new and exciting things happening in the Townhouses this year such as our 2017-18 RA staff that cannot wait to begin making its impact on our residents and on SNHU as a whole,” Vanat said. “We will be planning great events and programs that really focus on harnessing and establishing a school spirit that SNHU can be proud of.”
Tuckerman Hall will have a new RD by the start of the fall semester. “We are looking for somebody who’s very student focused” and who wants to have fun in addition to handling the intense responsibilities of being an RD, Brown said.
The responsibilities of an RD include room changes, event programming, resident safety and “making sure that it’s [residential halls] a safe, welcome, fun environment for students to live,” Brown said.
Matt Petersons also stepped into a new role this year. He is now the Associate Director for Housing Operations where he will spearhead the housing selection process and collaboration.
Anyone with questions for Residence Life “can come to our office in the Green Center, 103,” Brown said. “We’re open 8 [a.m.]-6 [p.m.] during the school year. They can email housingquestions@snhu.edu or they can call our office.” The office phone number is 603-645-9758.
