AU students living in McDowell and Leonard halls will receive priority registration to live in the new North Hall next year.
Current McDowell and Leonard Hall residents will be able to register for North Hall one day prior to spring housing registration. After this day, upperclassmen will be able to sign up for residence hall space based on a lottery system, said Sasha Gamburg, assistant director of operations in Housing and Dining Programs.
These students will be able to pick housing first due to the inconvenience of construction outside their windows this year. North Hall is expected to open in the fall of 2013.
North Hall will be mostly suites with two or three rooms connected by a semi-private bath. North Hall will house 351 students, Gamburg said.
Priority registration for students living in these two residence halls was decided last year before housing registration, Director of Housing and Dining Programs Chris Moody said.
This specific process was discussed with the Residence Hall Association before approval, according to Moody.
“We recognize inconveniences due to the construction noise … we wanted to give them what that noise will produce,” Gamburg said.
Bret Matera, a sophomore in the School of International Studies and resident of McDowell Hall, said the construction does not bother him.
However, Leonard Hall resident Nicole Tanoue, a sophomore in the College of Arts and Sciences said she’s more bothered by the need to walk around the construction.
Tanoue plans on going abroad in the fall, but she said she appreciates AU’s decision to give Leonard and McDowell residents first pick.
“I definitely appreciate getting priority access to the building because of the inconvenience it causes for North side residents,” Tanoue said.
Staff Writer Alex Greco contributed to this report.
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