SAMUEL LEWANDOWSKI
Special to The Leader
Renovations are coming to SUNY Fredonia’s housing.
When he arrived in August 2016, Dr. Cedric Howard, the vice president of enrollment and student services, said he reviewed multiple student-response surveys regarding Fredonia’s housing.
These surveys found that Fredonia students were comfortable and satisfied with the housing services they received, but that the school was lacking in comparison to other SUNY and competitive institutions.
In 2019, Howard said that Fredonia saw an uptick of around 400 in housing.
Around that time, he and campus life commissioned another year-long study focused on the satisfaction of students with their housing services.
The study reaffirmed that students were satisfied with their housing services, but found various problems existed within the school’s facilities.
Sophomore public accountancy and economics major Robert Mitchell confirmed these findings.
“I enjoy living in the dorms because they’re so close to everything and it’s very convenient, but the laundry room is in the basement, which is inconvenient and creepy,” Mitchell said.
In addition to not having accessible laundry rooms, the study also found many dormitories lacked other amenities like kitchens. Single-occupant rooms also ceased to exist.
Other problems included the absence of proper lighting in the dorms.
“A lot of places felt dark,” said Howard. “Especially in some of the complexes.”
Further, the study revealed many common spaces haven’t been painted or provided carpeting in the last 34 years.
Current dorm resident, freshmen music education major Olivia Rokosz, said she noticed these aged spaces and is not surprised by the news of renovations.
“Some of the buildings seem to be a bit older and some changes could probably be a good thing,” said Rokosz.
Upon completion of the study, Howard said the school was prepared to move forward with a plan to renovate the dorms.
As of right now, that plan includes adding laundry rooms to every floor, which will keep students from having to take their laundry down several flights of stairs to access the nearest facility.
Kitchens will also be added to various buildings, double rooms will be converted into singles and changes will be made to the walls and fixtures of the dorms.
Other, less extreme or “low–hanging fruit” changes are also in the works.
Some of these changes can already be seen, such as the implementation of eSports lounges in various buildings.
According to Howard, up-to-date computer lounges can also be expected in the near future.
Howard said that these spaces are necessary to the quality of life for students and that implementing them now would be much easier than trying to incorporate them later.
All facilities will eventually be renovated — with the exception of University Commons and the Townhouses.
This is due to the fact that these facilities are newer and have already been recently renovated.
Howard said this project is necessary, as the school must be responsive to students’ needs.
As such, he said that students can look forward to having a contemporary residential experience where facilities will be modernized in a manner that meets their expectations.
The estimated costs of the project are still being measured. According to Howard, housing generates enough money to cover all of the costs associated with this type of project.
As of right now, the plan consists of four phases.
Phase one will involve McGinnies Hall and is set to take place in the summer of 2022. The first phase will consist of a conversion and refresh.
That means all furnishings and finishes will be upgraded alongside communal spaces. Consequently, McGinnies will be taken off-line (or, inaccessible) for the summer of 2022.
Phase two involves Igoe Hall and is considered a level two renovation. This, meaning kitchens and laundry rooms, will be added to every level. The renovation will span from 2022-2023, meaning the building will be off-line for that corresponding school year.
Phase three involves Schulz Hall and is considered a level one renovation, meaning the building will receive updated finishes, lighting and replaced plumbing fixtures. Said renovation will take place in the summer of 2023 and will be off-line (inaccessible) as such.
Phase four will involve Grissom Hall and is also considered a level one renovation. This renovation will take place in the summer of 2024 and will be inaccessible for that time.
The four-phase plan was formulated in an effort to overcome the challenge of timing, which Howard views as the project’s greatest obstacle.
“We’re bringing more students to campus and our students are returning back to campus as we’re closing buildings. How do you balance taking a facility off to renovate it, and updating that facility with the need of space?” said Howard. “To do this in spans of three to five years, we can understand some of the pitfalls we didn’t initially think about… and then we can move forward with some of the more significant and substantial changes with some of the other facilities.”
Howard said that he believes these renovations will be impactful in that they will make people want to live in residence halls.
“Research tells you, both nationally and on our campus, that students who reside in campus housing have a higher GPA, complete their studies quicker, and their satisfaction as it relates to their college experience is higher,” he said. “For me, taking and using the residence hall is a catalyst for enhancing the overall spirits of those students that are here at Fredonia and those future students that will be coming.”