UHDS News

 UHDS’ Katie Van Winkle, an assistant coordinator for room management, was featured in a front page article in OSU’s student newspaper (The Daily Barometer) on Thursday, Oct. 18.

[The Daily Barometer, Oct. 18, 2012] — Just four minutes before the deadline Katie Van Winkle hit submit, entering her piece, titled “Speak Up,” into the Muhammad Ali Writing Award on Ethics competition. Little did she know the 10-page narrative that took her only three hours to write would become a finalist and receive an honorable mention in the Sala Kryszek Writing and Art Competition.
A self-professed “shy writer,” Van Winkle began to develop her voice and writing style in the seventh grade when her English teacher, now mentor, Charles Sanderson, took notice of her special talent. He encouraged and pushed her to enter writing pieces into state and national writing competitions.

“Sanderson made me more willing to experiment with my writing,” Van Winkle said.

Last spring, it was Sanderson who gave Van Winkle the information about a writing contest sponsored by the Muhammad Ali Center. This national writing competition is held annually and offers awards to college students who honor and uphold Muhammad Ali’s legacy of living a life dedicated to high ethical standards.

Among the judges for this contest was Elie Wiesel. Esteemed author and Nobel Peace Prize winner, Wiesel has made a huge impact on Katie’s life. After reading “Night,” Wiesel’s memoir about his experience during the Holocaust, Van Winkle began to understand the impact that stories and writing can have on others.

Van Winkle cherishes the opportunity to be judged by Wiesel.

“I feel really honored, he spoke up for his experiences and what he believes in,” Van Winkle said. “I read ‘Night,’ in high school and learned so much from it. I feel humbled and honored. I’d [like to] ask him about courage, about the importance of speaking up for the things that you believe in.”

This competition and experience has given her confidence in her writing and in the knowledge she can make a difference with her words.

Van Winkle has made a difference. When she received news from Sanderson that the book, “The House on Mango Street,” by Sandra Cisneros, was going to be pulled from her old school’s approved book list because it was considered to contain inappropriate content and language, she jumped into action.

She wrote an essay titled “Saving Mango Street,” which was published in the magazine “Rethinking Schools,” that then launched a letter writing campaign on Facebook. Van Winkle testified to the school board. Her efforts were successful. Van Winkle was able to help save the book that Sanderson had taught to her class years ago.

“[It] allowed the opportunity for valuable teaching moments about domestic abuse, violence against women and speaking out,” Van Winkle said.

Her winning essay — “Speak Out” — was a narrative tying together her personal experience with sexual abuse, her involvement with CARDVA (Center Against Rape & Domestic Violence) and her efforts to save “The House on Mango Street.” This ethics essay on women’s violence held a powerful message about speaking up and standing strong.

“If you don’t talk about it, people don’t know and can’t help,” Van Winkle said. “I don’t want people to feel like it’s their fault or that they can’t talk about it or that they are alone.”

Looking to the future, Van Winkle says that she wants to become a counselor and to work with women and children who have been affected by domestic violence. She plans to continue to express herself and to communicate through writing.

“It is easier to communicate through writing verses statistics or numbers; writing really gets people to think [about] things or to change or to react,” Van Winkle said.

Those who have a story to tell, need someone to talk to or have experienced sexual abuse can contact CARDVA or CAPS (Counseling and Psychological Services).

“Basically, everybody has a story,” Van Winkle said.

Read the original story by reporter Brytann Busick.

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[Corvallis Gazette-Times, Oct. 5, 2012] — Oregon State University officials are addressing complaints about a litter problem on the edge of campus on Southwest Western Boulevard.

Concerns surfaced last week when Corvallis councilman Mark O’Brien received an email from a resident complaining about cigarette butts and discarded coffee cups across from the International Living-Learning Center.

O’Brien, who said he also noticed the litter problem when he drove on Western Boulevard, responded to the complaint by contacting university officials in charge of a month-old campus policy that prohibits smoking on campus.

O’Brien also brought the concern before a City Council meeting last week to make other council members aware of the problem.

Lisa Hoogesteger, the director of healthy campus initiatives, responded to the concerns in an email, noting that leaders of the Smoke Free OSU initiative identified immediate “action steps” they will take to address the problem.

Steve Clark, the vice president of University Relations and Marketing identified one of those steps as the placement of a large urn at the corner of Southwest 16th Street and Southwest Western Boulevard.

“We heard people saying there are cigarette butts being dropped, and the receptacle is too small and it’s filling up,” Clark said.

Clark said the university also is working to increase how often such receptacles are maintained.

OSU has also hired a student to conduct a survey of areas known for cigarette litter issues.

“We have a student doing a sweep of those areas to determine to what extent it is a problem,” Clark said. “Really what is important here is to educate.”

O’Brien said he was pleased with OSU’s response to the complaints.

“To me, it’s all taken care of,” he said. “They did a good job.”

An additional concern regarding second-hand smoke in the area was brought to O’Brien’s attention as well. He said, however, that the ban on smoking is a university policy and not a city ordinance.

Clark said that as a result of the smoking policy, some students and staff choose to cross Western Boulevard in unmarked spots to smoke on the other side of the street, causing safety concerns. The university has marked Western Boulevard at Southwest 15th Street and Southwest 26th Street as safe places to cross.

“OSU has promised to take steps to fix it,” O’Brien said, “and they have.”

See full article by reporter Joce DeWitt and photos by Amanda Cowan.

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[The Daily Barometer, Oct. 3, 2012] — Finley Hall, a residence hall run by University Housing and Dining Services, is not a permanent residence hall anymore. The first two floors are now occupied by office space, as is Finley’s main lounge. Located next to the parking garage on the south side of campus, Finley now provides temporary housing for new student overflow, INTO OSU students and returning students. Last year, Finley housing themes included an upper-class and transfer student wing, as well as an ROTC wing. Both themes have now been moved to other permanent halls.

“UHDS made the decision to consolidate some vacancies that we typically see at the end of each fall term,” said BrianStroup, assistant director of operations and facilities at UHDS.

“We anticipated using the space to house academic scholars and some pre-college programs that the university hosts, as well as provide short-term housing for any overflow of students. However, students who are planning on attending OSU starting in the fall of 2013 will be able to select Finley Hall as an option,” Stroup said.

The organizations that utilize the office space include the health and science business center, the university administration business center and some math instructors.

“These three OSU groups were in need of temporary office space for the 2012-13 academic year as they await their new on-campus space to be ready to move into,” Stroup said.

Finley Hall students still have access to resident assistants and many activities like they did in the past. Finley Hall Resident Director Christine Nguyen also manages Bloss Hall, on the other side of Arnold Dining Center.

“With the exception of some lounge space being used by three OSU departments, Finley Hall residents have resident assistants and resident directors like any other residence hall, and through that have access to programming and activities in their building,” Stroup said.

The decision to change Finley Hall was made by the UHDS department leadership team.

“It was an approved decision by the UHDS Department leadership team, to make the best use of our capacity for a year with little freshman class growth anticipated,” Stroup said.

The changes are temporary, however, with Finley returning to being a full time residence hall in 2013-14.

Read the full article by reporter Vinay Ramakrishnan.

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During the Oct. 3 NBC  Today Show, Oregon State was named a top pick “School Fit for Foodies.”  The segment during Tuesday’s show highlighted about a dozen colleges/universities across the nation, ranking them as great selections based on individual interests, like the outdoors or being career minded.

See the video. (The OSU portion starts at about the 5 minute mark).

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[Corvallis Gazette-Times, Oct. 3, 2012]

Excerpt:

The group discussed and debated a motion by workgroup member Betty Griffiths to recommend the formation of another workgroup to examine on-campus housing.

“The intent of this motion is to ask that people seriously examine this and seriously work on it,” Griffiths said.

The motion posed a conflict in the eyes of workgroup member Dan Larson, associate director for operations and facilities and Oregon State’s University Housing and Dining Services.

“This motion puts on hold work that we are doing right now to address the need,” Larson said, noting that the university doesn’t want to wait for recommendations of a workgroup.

“If we have one group looking at student housing while OSU also is looking at it. … It seems that they would be at odds with each other.”

Ultimately Griffiths abandoned the idea of a new workgroup and suggested attacking the issue through OSU’s own processes, including an update of its master plan.

“I just want something to happen. Whether it’s through (OSU) or another workgroup,” Griffiths said.

Larson agreed, and the workgroup eventually passed a motion that “requests that OSU place a priority on exploring public-private partnerships and other options for innovative on-campus village-style development to house students, faculty and staff.”

Read the full article by reporter James Day.

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Campus Recycling, the OSU Sustainability Office, University Housing and Dining Services and the Student Sustainability Initiative are recruiting resident students to serve as paid Eco-Representatives (Eco-reps) in three residence halls this academic year (applicants from all halls are welcome).

Eco-reps will work to educate their peers about sustainable lifestyles and resources, assist with marketing and outreach efforts for sustainability programs and plan and execute sustainability-focused events.

Successful candidates must have excellent communication skills and thrive with minimal supervision, working 5-6 hours/week. Starting pay is $8.80/hour; applications due Sep. 30.  To apply, see the full position description.

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[Corvallis Gazette-Times, Sept. 20, 2012] — Now that Oregon State University students who live on campus have finished moving in, they’re ready for fall term classes to begin on Monday.

According to University Housing and Dining Services, 4,290 students will be living on campus this fall, or roughly 85 percent of OSU freshmen. Dan Larson, the associate director of operations and facilities for University Housing and Dining Services, was pleased with how smoothly the two-day move-in went.

Now, he said, students can start to focus on other matters.

“For domestic students, there is a tremendous amount of excitement and uncertainty, and a sense of loss in terms of family,” Larson said. “For our international population, working through administrative processes can be challenging … coming to a different country and trying to make sense of everything can be very stressful.”

In all, about 67 percent of the new students housed by University Housing and Dining Services are freshmen, including Kyle Sweeney, a computer science major from Portland, and Hunter Murga, a chemistry major from Klamath Falls. They moved into their fourth-floor room in Wilson Hall on Tuesday. Students there can share a two-person room and pay a little more than $7,000 a year, not including a meal plan.

“It’s less nerves and more, ‘I’m free!’” Murga said. “It’s like a new start.”

Murga and Sweeney, like many new students living on campus, connected through the University Housing and Dining Service’s roommate matching network. Through Facebook, they discussed things they have in common, like their love for video games and how clean they want to keep the room.

“It’ll probably go in a cycle. It’ll be clean for a while, then messy,” Sweeney said.

Though the roommates said their focus will be on academics, they plan to take advantage of opportunities to socialize.

About 14 percent of students living on campus are international students.

Htet Aung Lin, a first year student in the INTO-OSU program, didn’t have the chance to connect with his roommate before he entered the dorm room, and that’s common for international students.

Lin arrived to his residence hall, the International Living-Learning Center, last weekend from his home country of Myanmar. He initially was surprised by the number of foreign students at the International Living-Learning Center. About three-fourths of the 312 students who live there come from other nations.

“I was thinking, there are so many Chinese students, but that’s not strange to me,” he said, noting that Myanmar also is home to many people from China.

Lin was glad to see the accommodations of the International Living-Learning Center, too. “It’s pretty nice compared to the ones I’ve seen.”

Students who live in a double room in the building pay about $9,000 a year, according to University Housing and Dining Services.

Now that the students are settled, the next task facing housing officials is to make them feel at home.

“They do all sorts of activities to engage with the students and help them feel they’re a part of something,” Larson said. But keeping students focused on their studies as their first priority also is important.

“What they’re going to see is hundreds of opportunities that have potential to keep them from why they’re here.”

Read the full article by GT reporter Joce DeWitt. Photos by Amanda Cowan.

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Thank you to Barometer photo editor Neil Abrew, who took these photos during the first day of move-in (Sept. 18) at Weatherford Hall. The photos ran in the “back-to-school” issue of The Daily Barometer on Sept. 19, 2012.

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[The Daily Barometer, Sept. 19, 2010] — If you’re a returning Oregon State University student, you may have noticed that campus was a bit quieter Monday than it usually is the week before classes begin each fall.

In past years, it was common to find wide-eyed freshman wandering the streets of Corvallis — locating the buildings they have classes in, searching for convenience stores to load up on junk food for their dorm room or hoping to stumble upon a late-night house party somewhere off campus — as early as eight days before fall quarter began.

But, in comparison to past OSU freshmen classes, this year’s crop of incoming freshmen had the beginning of its college experience delayed by a couple of days thanks to a shortened CONNECT week and the subsequent push back of move-in days into residence halls.

After years of freshmen enjoying a weeklong CONNECT week, this year’s CONNECT events will begin today and last just four days, and move-in day was switched from Sunday to the middle of the week.

Of the 4,290  students moving into residence halls this fall, come moved in yesterday while others are doing so today, depending on the residence hall they’re moving into.

The changes are a result of a two-year study conducted by the CONNECT Week Task Force, which was made up of 15 OSU faculty from various departments. The task force was asked to to evaluate the previous OSU orientation program and recommend changes.

The official report put together by the task force highlighted a number of concerns with the previous weeklong model, including:

• Stress on campus: Staff, faculty and student leaders are tapped out by the time classes begin.
• Unstructured time: New students experience large amounts of down time, and as a result, improper conduct can become an issue. It may also lead to students experiencing homesickness or wanting to go home for the rest of CONNECT week or the weekend before classes begin.
• A weeklong CONNECT can lead to unhealthy habits forming before classes start, such as lack of sleep, alcohol uses/abuse and poor time management.

The task force’s recommendations focused on shortening CONNECT — the weeklong model was longer than most other orientation schedules at schools across the Pac-12 — and making it more strongly tied to academics.

Leslee Mayers, assistant director of New Student Programs and Family Outreach, and a member of the task force, said the new structure has been well received across campus.

“We have really only heard positive things about the change,” Mayers said. “The campus seems excited to have the shortened schedule. To put on programming for eight days straight is very taxing on the OSU community.”

“A shortened CONNECT allows a more focused and shorter period of intensity for the staff and programming, which makes for better quality programming.”

Mayers said this year’s freshmen aren’t necessarily missing out on anything past freshmen classes got to experience with CONNECT.

“We decided to try and group certain topics together in a better effort to focus students throughout CONNECT,” Mayers said. “Events don’t necessarily get eliminated, but they may have moved to another time in the year or they were combined to make a bigger, stronger event.”

While the task force didn’t have jurisdiction over what day or days freshmen can move into residence halls, University Housing & Dining Services accepted the task force’s recommendation on having move-in day center around the beginning of CONNECT week.

“If freshmen continued to move-in on Sunday, there would be a lot of lag time before CONNECT week started,” said Brian Stroup, assistant director of Operations and Facilities at UHDS. “We chose to stagger the move-in days [Tuesday and Wednesday] because it’s a good way to eliminate lines and frustration and ease the flow of students.”

Another benefit of having students move in on a weekday is that many campus resources aren’t open on weekends.

“We don’t want to have parents leaving with questions because certain resources weren’t open on move-in days,” said Ann Marie Klotz, associate director for Residential Education.

CONNECT events begin tonight with “It Starts Now,” an hour-long program beginning at 6 p.m. at LaSells Stewart Center that will prepare students for a variety of situations they may face during college. Freshmen are also highly encouraged to attend the New Student Picnic, scheduled for 5 p.m. tomorrow in the Memorial Union Quad. A ticket, which can be purchased for $7 at one of the on-campus dining centers is required to get into the picnic.

Read the full article by Grady Garrett, The Daily Barometer.

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[Corvallis Gazette-Times, Sept. 19, 2012] — Corvallis residents likely noticed a spike in the city’s population Tuesday, when somewhere between 2,000 and 3,000 Oregon State University students and their families took part in the first day of the annual campus move-in.

Hundreds of University Housing and Dining Services staff members and OSU volunteers helped students move into seven residence halls.

“It went really well,” said Brian Stroup, the assistant director of operations and facilities for University Housing and Dining Services. “Spreading it over two days really helped disperse traffic.”

The rest of the 4,290 residents who will live on campus move into the 11 remaining buildings today, including cooperative houses and the International Living-Learning Center. University Housing and Dining Services will accommodate about 85 percent of OSU’s freshmen.

The number of on-campus residents — 231 more than last fall — has steadily increased during the past few years. OSU started the 2011 academic year with 4,059 residents. In the fall of 2010, residence halls were home to 3,957 students.

Wilson Hall was among the residence buildings that recently was upgraded. It has room for 80 residents on each of its six floors. Incoming residents will find new windows, flooring and bathroom renovations.

Sackett Hall has a new fire safety system and new sewer lines have been installed at several locations.

David Covey, one of two fourth-floor resident assistants, spent most of Tuesday morning greeting new students and helping them to get settled.

“My wing is filling up fast,” he said. “We’re at capacity.”

…

Read the full article by reporter Joce DeWitt. Photos by Amanda Cowan.

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