RESIDENTIAL LIFE & HOUSING IN FOR A BUSY SUMMER
The
residence halls closed for the
spring semester on Friday, May 13,
at noon. That doesn�t mean that they
are closed for the summer, however.
In fact, summer is always a busy
time for Residential Life & Housing
(RLH).
RLH rents out its space in the
summer to camps, conferences,
training programs and other groups.
This year, all of the summer
conferences will be housed in Cougar
Village. RLH is expecting 56 groups
comprised of over 5,500 adults and
children between May 22 and August
12. The groups range in size from 6
people to 335, and will stay on
campus between one night and six
weeks. The groups include UH
Orientation programs, sports camps,
cheerleaders, the Texas Music
Festival and other music groups,
computer camps, science camps and
other scholarly groups.
Also, RLH has students who live on
campus 365 days/year. Residents who
were living in Moody Towers, Cougar
Village or the Quadrangle have
relocated to Cougar Place or Calhoun
Lofts. So far this summer, Calhoun
Lofts is 78 percent full and Cougar
Place is 27 percent full. These
residents will be provided with
programming and services just as
they were during the academic year.
Throughout the summer, Moody Towers
and the Quadrangle will be closed to
undergo extensive renovations to
update and improve the facilities.
The renovations include painting and
replacing all of the carpet with
flooring in all of the rooms and
upgrading window treatments. The
built-in furniture in Moody Towers
will be replaced with new, moveable
furniture, and the rooms will be
fitted with micro-fridges. The solid
oak furniture in the Quadrangle will
be refinished. The wireless networks
in both the Quad and Moody Towers
will be enhanced, and the lounges
will be upgraded. In addition, the
rooms in Cougar Village will be
fitted with mini-fridges. The
renovations began immediately after
the residence halls closed and are
expected to be completed by the time
the fall residents move-in.
Moreover, RLH conducts two intensive
training sessions for segments of
its student staff. The first is the
week-long training for the Guest
Assistants (GAs) conducted the week
of May 16. GAs assist the conference
attendees with check-in and
check-out, provide customer service
to guests and serve as liaisons for
the guests of RLH. Resident
Assistant (RA) training will begin
on August 7 and last for two weeks,
during which they will be trained on
a wide range of skills and
information such as community
building, programming, UH resources
and safety.
Furthermore, RLH will get a new
Executive Director, Don Yackley, on
June 20. This will give Yackley the
rest of the summer to settle into
the UH family and get ready for a
new academic year.
Of course, as with every summer, RLH
prepares for the possibility of a
hurricane. Plans are put in place
for both the possibility of
evacuation and for
sheltering-in-place. An evacuation
destination is arranged;
transportation is contracted;
hurricane kits are restocked;
ride-out teams are chosen and all
staff are trained in emergency
procedures and protocols.
All in all, it should be a lively
summer.
For more information about
Residential Life & Housing, visit
our website at
http://www.housing.uh.edu/.
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