New graduate housing plans to be presented in February
Preliminary plans for graduate housing facilities now include a scope, layout and cost estimate.
But many details must be filled in before the February board of trustees meeting.
“At this time, we are evaluating the possibility of constructing graduate housing on the north end of campus along Bellows (Street), but it is not yet an approved project,” said Linda Slater, director of plant engineering and planning.
Plans to construct additional graduate student housing on CMU’s north campus first emerged as a serious possibility at the Sept. 24 board meeting.
John Fisher, associate vice president of Residences and Auxiliary Services, said the university is working with an architect in design development, but a better estimation of how many students will be housed must be determined before concrete plans can be made.
“I know a lot of people are commonly referring to this as housing just for College of Medicine students, but it’s more than that,” Fisher said. “It will not be 100 percent for medical students, but for other graduate students as well, possibly from the health professions field.”
Further development of the design will indicate the costs, he said.
When looking at other universities and what they provide for graduate housing, most of them are substantially larger apartment-style homes, said Dr. Ernest Yoder, founding dean of the College of Medicine.
“This is about creating a space for further-along students who possibly have families and are more interested in their studies,” Yoder said. “If Central does not have this type of living, we could lose high quality students to those other universities.”
Fisher also said the university is concerned with providing housing for temporary faculty and new staff who come into the area without a pre-arranged place to live. Currently, Kewadin Village is used as temporary living for these faculty members.
“It will be a little more upscale in accommodation and will also replace a number of units we have lost in the last three years with the construction of the Education and Human Services Building,” Fisher said.
