The Observer, October 14, 2005
Volume XXXVIII, Issue 7
Development of Greek Residential Village on hold
Greek students who have been waiting for the completion of the new Greek Residential Village may have to wait longer than they would like. Members of the Interfraternity Congress and Panhellenic council met with Case housing and campus planning representatives this past Tuesday to discuss the future of Greek housing on campus.
The representatives were Glenn Nichols, Vice President of Student Affairs; Don Kamalsky, Assistant Vice President of Student Affairs and Director of Housing; and Ken Basch, Vice President of Campus Planning and Operations. Wes Schaub, Director of Greek Life, was also available to answer questions.
The meeting was run as a question-and-answer session to address the most important questions of the Greek student body. Most of the questions focused on the timeline for the construction of the Greek Residential Village and the process for moving fraternities and sororities into the new housing.
Although the idea of a Greek Residential Village has been developing for some time, the plans are currently under reevaluation after the unexpected increase in new students this year, as well as the increase in juniors and seniors remaining in campus housing due to the creation of The Village at 115. "We anticipated not housing any students in Murray Hill housing, and as you can see all four houses are in use. Next year we will likely be re-opening the dorms on Carlton Rd. for undergraduates," Nichols said.
According to Kamalsky, there is currently no concrete timeline for the completion of the new Greek housing. University officials must first send out a Request for Quotation (RFQ) detailing the intended housing project to architectural firms. Firms who consider the RFQ will then respond with potential plans for the new village layout and examples of previous work. The housing department in cooperation with Greek Life will then select an architect to begin designing to Case's specifications. This process will take at least six months, according to Basch.
Because of the magnitude of the project, the Greek Residential Village will be completed in phases.
The first phase will be comprised of about six houses, varying in size from 12-bed to 48-bed designs with a mix of single and double rooms.
The singles will be about 110 to 120 square feet in size, larger than current singles in both under-graduate and Greek housing. Houses will be similar in interior construction to keep costs down, but the exterior of each house will be unique.
"One of the most important things to come out of our meetings was that these must be house-like," Kamalsky said, commenting on the more box-like nature of the southside Greek houses. "What we build must have character."
Fraternities and sororities who wish to will be able to customize their houses to accommodate long-standing housing traditions as well as the needs of their organization.
"As in any design, the owner has to be at the table during the design process," Basch said. However, chapters must raise their own money for anything other than basic changes.
Once an architect is selected and the design and planning begin, fraternities and sororities will be able to take part in the housing lottery. To ensure a fair and even lottery, the order for selection will be based on Greek standards rather than group size or location.
To participate in the lottery, the alumni corporation of an organization must file with the State of Ohio. The organization must meet standards requirements and the total size of the chapter must be one-third larger than the size of the house it is trying to acquire. Chapters that do not get into their first choice house will be given the option to try for a different house size or to drop out of the lottery for that phase altogether.
In total, about 500 beds will be distributed through 21 houses. In order to make housing fair for all groups, chapters will be asked to maintain a certain size: "If you grow too large we will downsize you," Kamalsky said.
The majority student opinion expressed at the meeting was a need for more communication between the representatives and the Greek community. "They keep promising us things," Minna Krejci, the Panhellenic Council Vice President of Administration said. "We just want everything to be clear."
Suggested at this meeting was the institution of monthly or bimonthly meetings to provide an update to chapters about the status of the housing project. Another suggestion was the implementation of a student planning commission comprised of members of all chapters to meet with the housing representatives and have a direct input to the process.
Overall, the meeting was decidedly less informative than many Greek students had hoped for. "They were really unprepared for the meeting; it makes me wonder what they've been doing," Phi Kappa Tau president Todd Jacobs said.
