Monday, June 30, 2014

Sandburg Res Hall Recap

Sandburg is the largest and oldest residence hall at UWM! It has four residential towers (North, East, South and West) and is connected by the 1st and 3rd floor common areas. It was constructed in two phases. The North, South and West Towers were built in 1970 and East Tower was built in 2001.



First year students can live in either North, South or West Towers and East Tower is all upperclassmen. North, South and West Towers are identical in floor layout and house lounges. Each floor contains eight suites numbered 10 through 80 which contains various room types and a shared bathroom. The three room types in Sandburg are single, double and triple. The combination of single, double and triple rooms in a suite will determine the amount of people living inside of that particular suite, but can range from 4 to 5 people. Each suite has its own bathroom so residents are only sharing a bathroom with their suitemates. You can view the various room diagrams and dimensions on our website. Each room has one cable hook up and an ethernet port per resident. It also has a bed frame, mattress, desk, chair, bookshelf, and trash can per resident. Finally, each resident also has their own closet organizing kit within their rooms. 

East tower contains six apartment-style suites and a house lounge on each floor! Each suite has two single rooms and two double rooms, which houses a total of 6 people. Each suite has a full kitchen and bathroom. Similar to the traditional towers, each room has one cable hook up and an ethernet port per resident. It also has a bed frame, mattress, desk, chair, bookshelf, and trash can per resident.

Sandburg Residence Hall is home to 2800 students and has numerous building amenities! On the first floor there is a fitness room, Flicks movie theater, Palm Gardens, Restor, Grind and Service Desk. The third floor holds a cafeteria, channel study lounge and computer lab. In the basement of north and east tower there are laundry facilities.

 Living in Sandburg my first two years was an amazing experience! With 2800 students, there is almost always an event or activity going on! 

-Haley






Friday, June 20, 2014

Res Hall Recap: Cambridge

Since its opening in 2010, Cambridge has been the newest building on campus and will retain that title until the Kenwood Interdisciplinary Research & Development building is complete. In UWM's efforts to help create a more sustainable world, Cambridge boasts a LEED (Leader in Energy & Environmental Design) Gold Certification due to its many eco-friendly features including green roofs on the north and south wings of the building, high efficiency washers and dryers, and full size fridges in every suite!

Located at 2323 N Cambridge Ave, on the northwest corner of North Ave and Cambridge Ave, Cambridge is just over one mile away from main campus. The 6 floors of Cambridge are home to 700 students annually, with an underground parking structure capable of holding over 50 cars. In addition to the University Housing shuttles which pick up and drop off right outside of the building, several Milwaukee County Transit System bus routes have stops easily within walking distance.

The majority of the amenities in the building have their home on the first floor. Residents have access to the ReStor convenience store where they can grab a quick snack or enjoy some late night tacos, a beautiful courtyard to get some nature even in the middle of the city, ping pong and fooseball tables, two fully equipped recording studios, the cafeteria, fitness center, laundry room, and two classrooms. From the first floor residents and guests will also have access to wireless internet and all of the resources available at the service desk.

Elevating to floors 2-6 where the majority of the residents stay, located on each floor will be a kitchen lounge which is fully furnished with major kitchen appliances and a large flat screen TV. Each floor also has two Link Lounges which are great study rooms whether you're working by yourself or with a group.

Standard Suite Layout
In regards to suites, there are two types in Cambridge: Standards and Upgrades. All of the individual bedrooms in the building are double rooms and all of the suites will have two bedrooms for a total of four residents per suite, with the exception of six upgraded suites which have three bedrooms and will therefore have six residents in those suites. The biggest difference between the two suite types is the presence of the fully furnished kitchen and common space/lounge room that are included in the upgraded suites, but not the standard. However, even the standard suites will have a full size fridge in each suite! As for furniture within the bedrooms, each resident will receive a desk and chair, large 3-drawer dresser, small 2 drawer filing cabinet, as well as a bed and mattress. The closets will vary depending on standard or upgrade, but will come with a shelf lining the wall with a hanging bar. Each room will have one cable jack and one ethernet port per person. Cambridge does have air conditioning and a temperature control dial can be found in each and every bedroom!

Being such a new building it is no surprise that the interior of the building is very modern and aesthetically appealing. However, after calling Cambridge home for a year that part is not what made me love living there so much. For me, it was all of the amazing professional and student staff members I had the chance to meet and grow with throughout my time there and all of the memories I will cherish for a long time to come. Now it's your turn; go make some memories of your own!

-Eric



Wednesday, June 11, 2014

Residence Hall Recap: RiverView

RiverView is one of the newest residence halls available for first-year students. It is located on North Avenue, just down the street from Cambridge Commons and across the street from Pick N’ Save. RiverView opened in 2008 and 90-95% of RiverView is first-year students (but is open to students of all stages of their college careers).

On the main floor (floor three) is a large lounge with a television, computers, a ping pong table, and the “Restor”. The Restor is the convenience store where you can buy chips, candy, soda, and even pints of Ben and Jerry's! On the lower floor of RiverView (floor two) there are two classrooms, a cafeteria, workout facility, and laundry room. Outside of the cafeteria is a large patio with picnic tables, so its a great place to hang out when the weather is beautiful. The cafeteria also will hold themed dinners and cookouts throughout the year.

On each floor there are two lounges available. We have a social lounge which includes chairs, a flat-screen television, and a microwave for community use. We also have a study lounge located on each floor with internet hook ups so it is perfect option to bring in your computer and have a quiet place to study.

RiverView and Cambridge Commons are very similar in the suite set up. Each suite holds four residents (two in each room). Each suite has a bathroom, vanity with sink, and a walk-through closet leading into each room. The vanities are outside of the bathroom, which makes sharing a bathroom with others much easier. Also when decorating your room, we suggest to use push pins and staples to attach your decorations to the walls of your room.

Because RiverView is the smallest residence hall, you will be seeing more friendly faces from day to day and have more of a tight knit community. We hope that you had a wonderful stay at RiverView and if you are a first year student we hope you love RiverView as much as we do!

-Valerie

Tuesday, June 3, 2014

Open Mind, Almost Time!

As the New Student Orientations fly by and we rapidly approach the time of room assignments many students are anxiously awaiting the defining moment they see their roommates’ names and head straight to Facebook to take a closer look. BUT WAIT! Let’s all take a step back and think about the impressions Facebook can give off.

Sometimes we all take goofy pictures with our friends and post them on Facebook to show how much fun we have. Sometimes our friends do it without us knowing about it just to be funny.

“Yeah, I get it Eric. I’m funny. What does this have to do with my new roommates?”

Everyone has a different image they try to project on their social media accounts. However, it is extremely important to understand what you see or post on a social media profile can only be a snap shot of the complex personality everyone has. There’s no possible way to decide if you will get along with someone or not solely based off of his or her profile picture or his or her latest tweet.

When the fateful moment comes and you figure out who you’ll be living with all year, send them an e-mail through your myhousing website and get to know them before you immediately jump to conclusions! You just might be surprised with the new friends you make this year; I know I was.

Eric