For Immediate Release
For More Information: Janelle Toman, Board of Regents, 773-3455

Plans for improved residential facilities on public university campuses in Brookings and Rapid City have been given the green light by the South Dakota Board of Regents.

The plans submitted by South Dakota State University and South Dakota School of Mines and Technology are the first approved following a year-long residence hall study. The study focused on system needs across all six campuses, as well as students’ housing preferences. “With the board’s approval, these two campuses can move forward with the projects, which will require bonding for some of the projects and adjustments in housing rates to help finance the improvements,” said Regents’ President Harvey C. Jewett. 

The School of Mines and Technology will construct a new residence hall housing 300 students to replace March/Dake Hall. The $3.5 million facility offers a mix of room options, including traditional rooms arranged around community living spaces, designated single rooms, and suite-style rooms. Amenities include private showers, kitchens, laundries, study spaces, wiring for technology, air conditioning, and shared community spaces with the nearby Surbeck Center. 

It is expected the new building at SDSM&T will be completed sometime in 2004 or 2005. Rate increases ranging from 10 percent to 15 percent are anticipated when the building comes online. 

Long-range plans at the Rapid City campus call for eventual replacement of all three current on-campus housing facilities, said Robert T. Tad Perry, the Regents’ executive director. “Phase Two calls for building another facility housing 300 students in 2006 or 2007. A third facility could be added if enrollments rise to a level where more bed spaces are needed,” Perry said. 

At SDSU in Brookings, immediate plans are to install new furniture and fixtures throughout the entire residence hall system. Over the next three years, all 1,400 rooms on campus will be updated, removing fixed furnishings and replacing them with new movable beds, desks, dressers, and chairs, along with lighting improvements and new floor and window coverings. “This new style of movable furnishings allows students to define more than 40 percent of the space available in a room,” Perry said. 

Also in the first phase of SDSU’s project, living space in some residence halls will be reconfigured to create separate sleep and study areas for students, resulting in 184 units with adjoining rooms. A rate increase of $150 per semester starting in fall 2003 will covers costs of Phase One. In a later phase starting in FY05, SDSU plans construction of a $4.5 million, 160-bed suite-style residential facility with semi-private bathrooms and air conditioning. Also planned is installation of air conditioning in Mathews Hall to accommodate people attending summer conferences on campus.            

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