Move-in hours

Happy Move-in Season!

As Move-in quickly approaches, we have had a ton or questions about the hours of various restaurants operations locations! When do they open? What are the hours? Fear not my incoming panthers! Below is all of the opening and hours during move - in!

Palm Gardens
Regular Hours 8/26 - Tuesday - Regular Hours

RESTOR Sandburg
Regular Hours 8/24 - Sunday- Regular Hours

Sandburg Cafe
8/24 Sunday Regular Hours

RESTOR @ NWQ
Prior - Summer hours
9/2 Tuesday Regular Hours

RiverView Cafe
8/27 Wednesday 11:00 a.m. - 10:00 p.m.

RESTOR RiverView
8/27 Wednesday Regular Hours

Cambridge Cafe
8/28 Thursday 11:00 a.m. - 10:00 p.m.
8/29 Regular Hours

RESTOR Cambridge
8/25 Monday Regular Hours

After move- in these hours will go back to 'normal' and will be posted at each location! If you have any question please give our office a call at 414-229-4065

Move In!

We posted the first round of assigned move-in times to your MyHousing accounts today! (this only applies to incoming first-year students). With the high volume of students moving in, this is important information to know because each resident will be getting a specific time slot when they will be allowed to be in the parking garage to move their items into their room. When you arrive in the parking garage at your assigned time, there will be a multitude of housing employees and volunteers around to help make moving in as easy as possible. To prepare yourself for move in day, pack in a manner that will allow you to stack your belongings vertically on our carts. These carts will be available for your use, so then we can plasticwrap everything together so you can move your items in to your room in as few trips as possible!

Before you get all your items loaded into your vehicle, make sure to take a look at the list of What to Bring to make sure that you aren't packing any prohibited items! Also you can use this list as a checklist and make sure you have everything you need packed up and ready to go! It is also a good idea to read through the Move-in Guide so you know the ins and outs of moving into your new residence hall room! The guide is accessible via the link and each resident will receive a hard copy in the mail around the middle of July.

If you are already familiar with the Guest Pass system you may be wondering if your parents/helpers will need to be swiped in with you every time you bring another load up to your rooms. The answer is no. Due to the high volume during move-in hours, this is the one time where you will not need to swipe in to get past security. Once move-in is completed for the day (about 7 PM), guests will need to have their passes and be swiped in.

Once you are all settled in go check out all of the fun-filled Fall Welcome Events and meet some of your fellow Panthers before classes begin! Hint: if you do you will be rewarded with free food and Panthers swag!

If you have any questions regarding move-in please direct them to the University Housing office via phone (414) 229-4065 or e-mail university-housing@uwm.edu.

Have a great rest of the summer!

Eric

Tailgating as a Panther

Not sure how to make proper tailgate foods when you are getting pumped up for that Brewer's or Panther Baseball game? No worries, UWM Executive Chef Matt Powers is teaching University Housing residents how to grill savory burgers, brats and other traditional tailgate foods tonight at 7 p.m. in the Sandburg.

This class is one of many in a UWM cooking class series aimed at helping students learn how to cook both the Wisconsin classics and the ethnic dishes so they can appreciate the art of independence despite having a conveniently located cafeteria in their building. In the past, Powers and his staff of professional chefs have taught students how to roll sushi, decorate cakes, and the cafe's delicious soups.

If students want to remake the recipes they learn at one of these classes, or simply want to whip out one of their homestyle favorites there are several locations within University Housing where residents can cook. All residents in Sandburg East Tower, Purin Hall, and Kenilworth Square Apartments have their very own kitchen located in their suite or apartment. Students residing in Cambridge Commons have a common kitchen available to them on every one of the building's six floors. RiverView residents can check out the kitchen next to the cafeteria by asking the front desk for the key. Similarly, students in the Sandburg Traditional Towers can check out the key to the kitchen located at the base of South Tower, which was recently stocked with pots, pans and utensils by the South Tower Activities Council.

Moral of the story, cooking is easy in University Housing...we even teach you how to do it!

Kenlei

Hungry Hungry Residents!

With contracts coming out soon I'd like to take a minute to explain the meal plan in more depth to clear up or prevent any confusion that may be surrounding the topic. Any resident that does not have a kitchenette in their suite is required to have a meal plan. When filling out a housing contract, three meal plan levels will be available to choose from. Level 1 is the lowest dollar amount and level 3 is the highest. Anyone assigned to a room which requires a meal plan but selected a no plan choice will default to level 2, if necessary. Each plan also includes (within the cost posted) a Dining Administration Fee which traditionally has been equal to the base amount of meal plan level one. This fee enables Restaurant Operations, who controls and coordinates all food related efforts, to provide the great service and convenience our residents become accustomed to throughout their time in University Housing.

The best place for residents to use their meal plans is in the cafeterias (Cambridge, RiverView and Sandburg plus Palm Gardens in Sandburg) because food purchased with a meal plan at those venues gets a 50% discount! Spending the meal plan money in the cafeterias is the best value for the price and helps you recoup the admin fee.

Everything available for purchase in the cafeterias being a la carte, so each transaction is only for the exact food purchased. There are no buffet-style cafeterias in University Housing (and you don't swipe or pay just to be able to enter the facility).

It is unlikely anyone will spend their entire meal plan in the cafeterias, but this is good information to be aware of and take into consideration when trying to budget out how to spend the meal plan.

"Eric! Help! There's still a month left in the semester and I don't have any more money left on my meal plan! Do I have to starve for the rest of the semester?!"

Absolutely not! Residents can add money to their meal plan online at Managemyid.com or in person at the cafeteria Cash Value Center located in Sandburg. On the other side of the fence, there is no penalty for not using the entire meal plan amount. Any balance at the end of Fall semester is carried over into the Spring semester, and the balance at the end of the contract (end of Spring semester) is refunded back to the resident, less a ten dollar processing fee.

If you have any questions about meal plans or if you would like to change your meal plan level, you can call or email our office at university-housing@uwm.edu.

Hopefully everyone understands meal plans a little better now!

Eric

But MOOOOOOOOM, I'm sooo bored!!

Long time no see! The housing office has been bumpin' the last couple weeks and I've gotten to speak to a LOT of you as we keep counting down to the start of a great year. As students start moving onto campus, there will be the inevitable barrage of organizations trying to grab your attention and show you all of the amazing opportunities they have to offer. And trust me, there's a lot to offer!

UWM has over 300 student-led organizations that offer opportunity for involvement on any level you desire, opportunities that can directly correlate to your major and give you a leg up when starting your career. Being involved in a student organization is a great way to develop your leadership teamwork skills.  

South End Carnival goer testing
his limits with chubby bunny

The one year I have under my belt at UWM led me to explore a multitude of these organizations from the events I went to (even if it was just for the free food) and the chance to join a couple different organizations. While living in Cambridge Commons I was the Treasurer for the South End Council, one of the many community councils within the Residence Halls, where I gained experience far beyond making budgets. I was able to coordinate many events, such as the South End Carnival to wrap up the year and give everyone a chance to have a little fun with their friends before finals. 

Getting involved may not have been the "cool thing to do" in high-school, but my friends, that's a thing of the past once you reach UWM. Joining any of our organizations is a fun, beneficial way to make your time here worth something a little bigger than yourself. So as this year gets started make sure to explore a few groups, maybe you'll discover a new passion or find your next best friend. At the very least, you'll probably get some free food!

Peace and Blessins'

Eric

One Week Down, Plenty More To Go...

With the first week of classes done, I have to say that I'm just totally frickin' excited to be here.

I never went and looked for my classes before I started going to them, but I never got lost once. I'm sure I looked like a dorky freshman my first day carrying around a map, but hey, better safe than sorry!

I've already had my fair share of embarassing/bad choices, but I've learned from them. Nothing illegal or anything, mind you - I just feel like I could've made better choices.

One thing that's kind of disappointing is the food here. I mean, the food itself is decent - way better than the food in the cafeteria at high school (for me at least...) but the lack of options is kind of disappointing. I have to get up by like 8 and get ready for my day to be able to eat breakfast by the 10 (or is it 1030?) cutoff time. And it just seems like they have mostly the same thing every day, just a little bit mixed up. Like - pasta every day, but different noodles and sometimes different sauces. And my roommate and I usually eat dinner kind of late (since we get up later) and we're only left to go eat at Palm Gardens, which isn't exactly the healthiest of choices. It also kind of bugs me that the more healthy the food is, the more expensive it is. But, I guess that's life. Overall, there's not much to complain about.

People are already getting sick here - that bugs me too. I'm one of those people who gets sick ALL THE TIME. I feel like with such a big campus, there's going to be so much stuff going around and I'm rarely going to be healthy.

I tried out a Zumba class on campus at the Klotsche Center the other day. That was...interesting, to say the least. I'm not a dancer, so I'm sure I looked silly and uncoordinated. But I figured I'd give it a shot. I don't think I'll be returning, but that's just me! I'm interested in trying out the kick boxing class though.

I had posted something about college "myths" a while ago. Glad to see I wasn't coming into this thinking some of the things other freshmen do. For my classes, there's only one class where we're not required to go to the lectures. For the rest, I'm allowed 4 excused (like...with a doctor's note or whatever to prove that it was legitimate) absences, and even with those, I still lose points for attendance/participation.

Homework hasn't been so hard for me lately. I usually like to procrastinate, but I haven't been doing much of that lately. Yesterday I sat out in the lounge and did 2 hours of reading, and today I did an hour's worth of math homework.

Funny story for you though. The other day, my roommate and I were really hungry so we decided to run over to the union quick between classes. We had stopped by our room first to put some stuff away and then left. We got to the union and then she realized she didn't have her ID (or her keys, since they were all together)! Embarassing. Haha. But we rushed back to the towers with 15 minutes til class, I waited for an elevator, which quickly came, thank goodness. Then I ran to our room, grabbed her notebook and folder (which she forgot because she thought it was a different day and then realized it wasn't...) and her keychain and booked it downstairs. Then we hustled to our classes and we both surprisingly made it on time.

My birthday's tomorrow. 19, woooooo. I'm glad I only have 2 classes, and then Pantherfest! And on Saturday, my best friend is coming out to visit me and spend the night. Sooooo excited.

End of the Summer

Is summer really ending? It doesn't feel like it. Walking around today felt like swimming through a warm pool of invisible water. It was a pretty nice feeling getting back into Riverview after a few trips out. Good news for me, I'm pretty sure I'm over whatever illness I had that left me completely hunger-less the last three days. After waking up feeling like my stomach was scraping against my insides I felt that pit in my stomach that is hunger. Got out of bed, walked down to the lounge and made some soup. At the same time I managed to meet someone new that shared some similar interests as me. We talked about music and a little bit about ourselves. It's always nice to meet new people.

So after hanging out in the lounge I headed back to my room and decided to see if I could get my mailbox open. One of the guys in the other room in my suite was going down at the same time, so we double teamed it and both got our mailboxes opened, after discovering a mutual interest of the band of Montreal. I collected what was in my mailbox. It was all fliers for campus stuff and an invitation to join a frat, not interested. I put my stuff upstairs and headed over to the Pick n Save to pick up some milk and Toasted Corn, basically Roundy's generic Chex Mix. I have one problem with that place, they only ever have two lanes open and there's no fast lane or self-checkout. Those are two things that I've personally gotten used to being in supermarkets. I haven't seen one in the States without one in years, it's crazy because they don't have them in Canada. The problem was remedied with the announcement that the service counter could be used for customers with 10 items or less.

Anyways, I took my cereal and milk back to my room and stashed the milk in the fridge and relaxed for a bit. I decided to head up North Avenue, away from Cambridge, to take a look at the neighborhood up behind Riverview. It's pretty nice in my opinion. It's nice a shady thanks to all the trees and the sidewalks are in good condition. After walking around for about an hour I went back up to my room to escape the heat. With the room set to a bone chilling 66 degrees you better believe I cooled off fast.

A few hours later I headed down to the dining hall for my first experience of university food with the guys from my suite. I decided to go with the cheeseburger and a chocolate milk. Man it was just like I was back in elementary school, only the burger and milk were bigger. Oh, and the burger didn't taste like an old shoe. I have to say I was pleasantly surprised at how good the food was compared to my preconceived notions. Tomorrow I think I'll dive into something different, who knows what.

Also, a bit late for this tip but I feel it's a pretty good one. If you're anything like me, you love music. I have a lot of music at home on my family's desktop that I couldn't possibly fit onto my laptop. I personally use the online website Last.fm on my laptop to listen to my music. Basically the way it works is you sign up for an account and it records, or as they say scrobbles, what you listen to on your account. You can either listen to your own music off of your computer or their internet radio. Right now thanks to this amazing application I'm listening to William Shatner's cover of Common People. Fun fact, the Milwaukee Ballet made an entire show based off of the music off of his album Has Been. You can find all sorts of new music, good and bad, by using this. With a download of their widget you can listen to your music, so long as you've scrobbled it, on your computer without having to keep it on your computer, and don't worry, it's completely legal.

Until next time, this is Ryan.