The following article by Ron Wilshire talks about the university's most recent construction project: new suites on Main Street, Clarion. The article appeared in the Leader-Vindicator and on ExploreClarion.com.
Site preparation has started on both sides of East Main Street for the construction of new student residential suites that will replace Nair and Wilkinson Halls, the massive renovation of Becht Hall is leaving the historical building a shell of its former for a new student one-stop building, and plans are advancing for a revitalized Tippin Gymnasium and Natatorium, along with a new competitive swimming pool and the addition of a recreational pool housed in the nearby Student Recreation Center.
Total headcount enrollment at Clarion University continues to drop, according the University Fact Book published at clarion.edu. During the last two years, it dropped a total of 911 students or a 6.7 percent decrease at the start of both the 2012-13 and 2013-14 academic years. Tack on a 4.4 percent decrease at the start of the 2011-12 year and a drop of 324 students, and you have a total decline of 17.8 percent over the last three years.
Whitney thinks that the investments in the scheduled projects will help increase enrollment.
“Absolutely,” said Whitney when asked if she thinks the projects would reverse the trends.
“Much like any other trends or cycles, there are cycles that bring you downward, and there are cycles that take you upward, and we have experienced a downward cycle in some areas of enrollment. We’ve also had upward enrollment in certain areas. and the key here is in each of these areas of investment, we have studied very sharply how they will help us with our recruitment and retention which will turn around our enrollment. We are using funds to hire faculty through the way we are funded to deliver courses. We are hiring a few faculty this year in areas where there is enrollment growth.”
New Suite-style Residence Halls
Activity has started on the two new suite-style student housing that will stretch on both sides of East Main Street from near Still Hall to near where Wilkinson Hall is now located.
The Clarion University Foundation, Inc. has built two similar suite buildings, Valley View and Campus View, on campus and Reinhard Villages in Clarion Township and is in charge of the new project.
“There will be units with a shared bedroom and a small common space, and there will be units that have two single bedrooms and a shared common space,” said Michael Keefer, Executive Director of the Clarion University Foundation.
“No more than two people will share a bathroom. The shared bedroom is much larger than the current residence hall. The halls will also have a number of conference rooms, study rooms, gathering areas for students, TV rooms on every floor, wiring for presentations in meeting rooms, vending areas, and will be both hardwired and wireless for internet access.”
In addition to a total capacity of 728 students in two new buildings, the southside buildings (391 unit and 375 beds) will also house the University Book Store – that will move from its current location in the Gemmell Student Complex, Starbucks – moving from Clarion Commons on Arnold Avenue, and an additional restaurant managed by Chartwells. A Main Street entrance and a total of 119 specified parking spots for retail have been identified to make the retail space more attractive for visitors. The northside building (180 units and 353 beds) will include a 150-seat instructional auditorium on the first floor that can also be used for a stand-up comic or similar entertainment and second-run movies.
Plans for future use of the current sites of the University Bookstore and Starbucks are under discussion.
Whitney feels the new student housing will help enrollment.
“I think the approach to the design and the placement of the new housing, coupled with a really strong residence life program will do two things. It will enable us to better recruit students who may have been somewhat interested in Clarion, but didn’t actually come here. Number two; it will allow us to continue to increase our retention of our current students. We have found that the more that they live on campus, the more engaged they are, the better rate that they complete towards graduation,” said Whitney.
Crews have already installed site fencing and have blocked sidewalk access.
“After two years of development and financing, putting all the pieces together, construction started on May 8, and in the coming months, you’ll see a lot of dust and dirt there,” said Keefer. “Site preparation will take between one and three months. There was an old dog mine found, and we will be filling in that with cement; it’s a smaller project, but needs to be done. There will be substantial earthmoving on both sides, some retaining walls need to be begun on the northside of Main Street, and digging of the large parking lot between Nair Hall and Carrier Hall for construction of the southside building.”
Keefer expects foundations and slabs will be poured before the weather gets cold.
“The things you would normally worry about for construction in the winter will be done,” said Keefer. “It’s going to be months instead of week before you see walls.”
Ric Taylor, director of facilities management, said the utilities will be buried along the current fence line, and all street trees will be replaced at the end of the project.
Actual construction should start this fall for both of the buildings, and the northside building is expected to open August 2015, and completion of the southside building will take place in December 2015, ready for occupancy in January 2016.
Two new entrances will be added on Main Street for the residence halls and parking lots, one on the north side and one on the south side on Route 322 near the end of the current Wilkinson Hall. Taylor does not anticipate any additional traffic lights will be needed and Penn DOT has approved the new entrances. The entrance on the northside will also take students to what is now commonly called the freshman parking lot. Following the demolition of Nair and Wilkinson Halls, a new parking lot will take their place.
Reasons for the New Housing
“The number one reason we’re moving toward having our sophomores live on campus is because of the clear data that indicates that students who live on campus do better than students who don’t,” said Whitney. “Our number one strategic goal is student success, so it is compelling and it is clear and that’s our number one reason for the sophomore residency rule.”
“We’re actually going to be offering slightly fewer beds with the new suites. We’re not going to grow our campus housing beds. We’re going to utilize the ones we have by replacing unwanted, undesirable and 70s approach to campus housing with a new contemporary housing. This is replacement housing and not additional housing.”
The current housing capacity for university or affiliate housing is 2,171 and that figure has not changed since the 1970s when Campbell Hall was constructed. Campbell later went offline as a student housing building, along with Becht Hall, and Ralston Hall. The capacity was replaced through the construction of Reinhard Villages and two suite-style student-housing complexes on campus. The new Main Street housing will provide fewer beds than offered in Nair and Wilkinson.
A university requirement for non-commuting students to live in campus affiliated housing for both of their freshman and sophomore years has prompted some landlords to claim it is reducing the number of students renting off campus. Whitney does not agree.
“To my knowledge this particular sophomore residency requirement hasn’t,” said Whitney. “I am sympathetic on how people who have rental housing and hope to have students rent. We’ve worked to inform them about why we’re doing this, and we gave them almost two years notice of our move towards this so people have time to work through any possible inconvenience it might cause. We’ve worked with the folks who have rentals in a timely and thorough way.”
The reasons for the requirement do not include increasing student occupancy in university or Foundation owned housing.
“Our strategy is to provide a high-quality residential life for our freshmen and sophomores and then really we encouraged the juniors and seniors and graduate students to live in the community as part of their mature matriculation and college experience,” said Whitney.
Whitney said the university is very sensitive to current and future enrollment patterns and has a purpose for the requirement.
Financing and Background of New Student Housing
The new suites are a Clarion University Foundation project, and that group and not the University arranges the financing.
Keefer explains the financing background.
“We have a USDA loan for $45 million and approximately $16 million is secured through not-for-profit nontaxable and taxable bonds,” said Keefer. “The total bond issue is for $60,450,000.00, but the USDA loan will not be secured until the building is open and has a certificate of occupancy. We had to take out three different bonds. The first bond is a short-term two-year plus bond that finances the construction and when completed, the USDA takes over the bond with a loan to us. The other two bonds are the private match USDA requires that was issued through the Clarion County Economic Development Authority and the underwriter was Raymond James.”
Why Isn’t the Money Used for Academic Purposes?
“This particular money cannot be used for that purpose,” said Keefer. “USDA only issues loans for certain purposes such as supporting the rural living experience.”
“USDA and the bonding entities require collateral and a method of payment. The method of payment is the income from the property. The project will be sustained from the fees that students will pay to move there. The project would not have moved on a financing standpoint or any other standpoint without this arrangement. That is why there is no operational money from the state going into the project, and it is totally sustainable.”
Closing on project financing took place on May 7, allowing construction to start the following day, May 8. Mistick Construction of Pittsburgh is the project contractor.
“We have encouraged them to use all local contractors are possible,” said Keefer. “EdR is the developer, a subsidiary of the company that manages Reinhard Villages. Mistick has worked for us before they were the contractor at Slippery Rock, IUP, and have a long record with PASSHE (Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education) and throughout Pennsylvania.”
Several hundred people are expected to be working on the project.
The University has been engaged to manage both buildings, similar to what it now does with the existing two suites. Management is part of the student life program, and university community assistants will assist in the student life experience for the 373 suites in the new project.
(Another news article on plans for Tippin Gymnasium, Becht Hall, and the Student Recreation Center will be published next week.)