Talking Stick - January/February 2014 - 51

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CONTINUED

FACILITIES

or apartment-style housing. One
result of his research was Bousfield
Hall, which features a variety of room
configurations - doubles, combinations
of doubles and singles, and a suite
of four singles - as well as increased
privacy and some coed/gender-inclusive
rooming options.
CPM, College Planning &
Management, publishes a monthly
journal as well as an annual, large-scale
construction report. Like the MGT
survey, their report is an information
resource for construction, facilities,
business, safety, and technology
professionals who are involved in
the field of student housing. Jennifer
Todden, associate director of operations
at the University of Louisville, values
the CPM annual report because it
is "a good data-rich article that does
comparisons on costs and trends."
CPM data encompasses various
regions across the country and shows
the various costs associated with trends
in different regions. As Estes says, "We
all know that prices vary widely based
upon where your campus is located,"
and for this reason the 2013 College
Construction Report is an important
resource. It divides the states into 12
regions and breaks down how dollars,
as a whole for each region, were
distributed among things such as past
costs from 1995 to 2012, college and
university construction completed in
2012, construction projects underway
but not yet completed, and projected
projects for the coming year. The report
also organizes the top features for
buildings being renovated, which can
reveal trends within a specific region.
Collins was no stranger to
renovations during his career. After
viewing the kinds of trends outlined
in the CPM and observing how other
institutions renovated their buildings,
he realized that several institutions
continued to build double occupancy
rooms but offered the amenity of
more privacy by allowing for fewer
students to share bathrooms. "We
looked at some models that had been
done and tried to use those models for
what we did in Nugent Hall," Collins

explains, a hall that is now well known
for its ADA-accessibility features and
its ability to blend traditional student
communities with non-traditional ones.
Gathering information from
students and architects and then
buttressing this information with the
data in resources like the MGT and
CPM surveys will form a solid base
point for how an institution can begin
its construction journey, whether that
be a new building or updates to an
existing building. As the pieces fall into
place, Estes emphasizes the importance
of staying focused on the construction
plan, which, along with the survey data,

allows them to "frame discussions with
our campus construction office staff
such that they have a better feel for
college housing trends. It is important
that our university executive level
leadership has the ability to answer
questions as to why we are proposing
the projects we do and how the design
and amenities support the mission
of the university." Having a strong
foundation and knowledgeable leaders
is a recipe for a successful construction
process. TS
Emily Rudduck

is the Talking Stick editorial
intern.

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JANUARY + FEBRUARY 2014

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