Sophomores to test out new living accommodations

The trend of the Living Learning Communities (LLC) has been extended to the sophomore suites, meaning that any sophomore living in Pioneer Hall can live in a community.

The new program is called the Sophomore Experience Communities (SEC) and it will be similar to the current LLC in Lawrence and Thayer Halls.

"The [sophomore living communities] are people living together who planned their own community," said Jan-Mitchell Sherrill, associate dean for campus life.

The difference between the new communities is that the sophomore program is the "next step" for the current freshmen. The upcoming sophomores are able to choose and design their own living community. The main purpose of the SEC is to "bridge the freshmen and sophomore gap."

"People will mingle and have to interact with each other," said John Mayo, community director and coordinator of the sophomore experience.

The communities will have a minimum of four and a maximum of 12 people. E-mails and forms were sent out to the upcoming sophomores, giving them the opportunity to create their own communities.

Five forms were accepted, each one made by students. Each floor with a community will nominate a student representative who is given a budget to plan activities throughout the year for its own floor. The activities are planned out by the student floor representatives, which are nominated by the floor, and the students decide what to do. There will be welcome back and going away parties for the 2009-2010 school year, sponsored by Campus Life, dedicated to the students who participate in the new communities.

The activities are designed by the community and will be paid for by Campus Life. Students are able to attend the field trips as long as they are approved by Campus Life and affordable.

For the sophomore living program, the suites will have five different communities to choose from. There are three communities based on the culture of Pittsburgh and two based on movies. The communities are different in each way, so no community is the same.

"It's [SEC] for students to learn outside the classroom through activities and programs," said Michael Gieseke, senior assistant dean of campus life.

Students were told that sophomores will be required to live in the suites, Pioneer and Conestoga, and that Lawrence and Thayer will be occupied by freshmen. Despite being told that sophomores were told to live in suites, some students ended up in Lawrence or in the Boulevard Apartments.

"I thought it was a little forceful and unfair," Kelly Reed, a freshman broadcasting major, said. "I thought we would have to pay more but I talked to John Mayo in Campus Life and he explained to me it was actually cheaper."

The staff at Campus Life hopes to bring students back to campus who had moved out and keep the current residents living on campus to help support the communities that are being established.

There are a few downsides to living in the suites now.

"I don't like that they are separated from the main academic buildings, because I'm lazy and like to be able to just roll out of bed and go to class. Also, because I feel like I won't see as many people because I'm living in the suites and won't have a reason to be in the other academic halls as much," Tyler Jackson, a freshman photojournalism major, said.

In the future, the learning communities will be expanding into the junior and senior apartments. Those communities will revolve around the juniors and seniors to help them with their future careers.