The University of Rhode Island’s Student Senate began their meeting with John Sears, Assistant Vice President of Student Affairs and Director of Housing and Residential Life. Sears talked briefly about Housing and Residential Life’s efforts with White Horned Brook Apartments. He mentioned that the design works for the apartments are now underway. They have decided to build the apartments with five hundred beds, each with their own kitchens and private living spaces. The apartments are primarily going to be targeted to seniors.
“We want to get this right,†said Sears as he talked about how Housing wants to use these apartments as a way for seniors to manage real life after college. Some ideas that are in works are to provide things like teaching kitchens, where a chef will come in and teach the students how to cook and understand nutrition. Sears also mentioned the plan to make more study space in the apartments.
Sears also talked about how they are looking for energy solutions for the building. They have not decided on anything specific yet, but are open to ideas. One of the ideas Sears mentioned is the solar powered water heater present in Hillside.
One of the big concerns about the apartments is that the location of the apartments near Dairy Barn would mean fewer parking spaces. Sears mentioned that he feels the apartments provide a good enough service to sacrifice the parking spaces. Sears did mention that the University is currently doing a parking master plan and is hiring specialists in the area so the apartments should not cause any problems. The apartments are scheduled to be running by the summer of 2019.
Student Senate continued their meeting by talking about some new parking rules that are being implemented. A new rule being added is that all vehicles without parking passes found in spots on campus will face a $50 parking fine. The fine can be waived if the individual buys a parking pass within three days of getting the fine. However, failure to pay the fine can result in withholding of diplomas and transcripts.
Senate also voted to approve Surf Club as a funded student organization. Surf Club was a club before losing its recognition status. A new president is seeking to rebuild the club back up. One of the big draw ins of Surf Club is that they provide free surfing lessons. The group spoke and mentioned they have plans to make a surf lesson event in the Fall. Senate voted to approve the name change for URI Ghost Hunting Team to URI Paranormal Society.