Issue date: 4/9/09 Section: News

Media Credit: Courtesy Housing and Residence Life Exterior drawing of the new American River Courtyard. [Click to enlarge]

Media Credit: Ashley Knight One of the unfinished rooms in the upper classmen dorms currently under construction on campus at Sac State. The building has 150 units built to house 608 students. [Click to enlarge]

Media Credit: Ashley Knight The shaded exterior of the upperclassmen housing building being built on campus at Sac State. The building uses more large windows and less electricity for lighting in hopes of being environmentally friendly. [Click to enlarge]

Media Credit: Ashley Knight Workers from Brown Construction INC. observe one of the unfinished hallways in the upperclassmen dorms being built on Sac State's campus. The projected completion date is July 16. [Click to enlarge]

Sacramento State students will receive another housing option when the American River Courtyard residence hall opens next fall.

The new hall, which is still under construction, will feature 603 bed spaces for students in suite style apartments.

Cynthia Cockrill, director of housing and residential life, said that she is excited about the possibilities the new residence hall will bring to the campus.

"I get tongue tied when I think of all that comes with the new hall," Cockrill said.

She said that the new hall will cater to the needs of older students, especially junior transfer students. Freshman students will not be permitted to live in the new hall.

"The traditional halls offer a better environment for freshman students," Cockrill said. "The new halls will reflect a more independent and mature lifestyle that most older students want."

She portrayed the new halls as a more passive residence hall experience with less resident advisors, but they will still utilize previous amenities like a meal plan. The new suites come with a kitchenette featuring a full size fridge, sink and microwave.

Cockrill said that even though the new suites portray a more mature lifestyle, students still want to use the meal plan.

The new hall is apart of the university's Destination 2010 project to turn Sac State into a destination campus.

Cockrill said adding more residence halls has always been apart of the Destination 2010 program and they conducted extensive market research to find out exactly what the university needed.

They found that not only do they need more beds on campus, but there was also a need for residence halls geared to more mature students. That is what they expect the American River Courtyard to do.

Cockrill and the rest of the housing department are very confident about what the new residence hall will bring to the campus, but some students have their doubts.

Freshman criminal justice major Michael Duckworth currently lives in the residence hall but is moving off campus next year.

"I enjoy living in the dorms, except that its too confined and it costs $1300 a month," Duckworth said.

He said that some friends are trying to move into the new halls because they sound cooler and less strict, but he has his reservations.

"I'm just so sick of the food," Duckworth said. "It was good at first, but it just got old."

Junior graphic design major Bao Bui lives off-campus and does not think the new hall will change the campus' commuter school image any time soon.

"I think the image of the campus could change if it was walking distance awy from shops or things like that," Bui said. "But you have to drive to get anywhere. We aren't like Berkeley where the campus is the place to be."

The new residence halls will feature five bed, two bathroom single occupancy suites; four bed, two bathroom single occupancy suites; two bed, two bathroom double occupancy suites and single occupancy studios ranging from $9,934 to $11,152 for the academic year.

Michael Mette can be reached at mmette@statehornet.com.

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