When "Sitting on the Bench," is not a bad thing...at the Commons!

Just in time for Spring, and or spring-like weather, and in response to a request from CRAB, the Christiana Residents Advisory Board; we installed three black metal benches outside the Christiana Commons for use by students waiting for the buses that pick up right outside the Commons.  These benches are the same type that were used all around the new Laird Campus residence halls that were built in the last five years.  Since the Christiana Commons pick up site is a very popular spot on Laird, it made sense to make it more comfortable for students awaiting buses, especially when the weather gets nicer.

Housing Fair A Huge Success!

Yesterday at the Trabant University Center Multi Purpose Room Housing Assignment Services hosted the Housing Fair for 2011.  At the Facilities table, pictured above, we had a slide show of buildings where renos have occurred, and we sponsored a gift card "giveaway" contest for giving your opinions about study and lounge space in the residence halls.  The day allowed current residents to find out info about where they would like to live next year and students ready to pick their assignment had the ability to sign up right there at the Fair.  Thanks very much to all the students that stopped by our table and gave us valuable opinions that we can consider for future upgrades and or renovation projects.

Adding Lighting Control to Dickinson Lounges...Phase I

Prior to the Holidays, lighting controls were added to the lounges in Dickinson A so that lights would automatically turn off late at night when everyone was sleeping and no one was using the floor lounge.  Previously the lights would continue to burn on without anyone inside, unless someone manually turned off the lights before exiting the lounge.  This "Watt Stopper" technology saves energy by sensing use or non-use of the lounge in a way similar to the basement laundry rooms.  If Phase I is completely successful, we'll go ahead and outfit the rest of the Complex lounges with the same units to maximize the energy savings.  In the middle of the photo you can see the new control unit to the left of the doorway.

Video Blog on New East Campus Residence Halls

Hi, I’m Mark Mankin, Coordinator for Facilities for the Residence Hall system at the University of Delaware with this week’s video blog.  If you aren’t familiar with where I am standing, I am directly in front of where the six building Gilbert Complex stood until about a year and a half ago when it was demolished.  The demolition was to make way for a brand new Complex of buildings that will begin rising out of the ground this summer with the first new building going up right behind where I am standing.  When everything is complete in the summer of 2017, the new set of buildings will replace the current West Campus Rodney and Dickinson Complexes.    In addition, the Harrington Complex to our left will be completely renovated beginning in the summer of 2013.  Although the new buildings will be similar to Harrington in that they will have double loaded corridors, gang bathrooms, and be designed primarily for Freshman students; they will include many of the popular features of the relatively new halls up on Laird Campus that feature generously sized rooms with air conditioning, adequate electrical circuits for today’s college student, and floor lounges for social and studying space.   Until next time this is Mark signing off from UD’s East Campus.

Are you ready for some football?!!

In response to a request from residents, we recently created a "new" TV lounge for students living in Squire and Sussex Halls, by putting a 32" TV/DVD Player on a wall in the large main lounge of Sussex Hall.  When Sussex and Squire received major renovations about 10 years ago a small TV lounge was set up in the basement of Squire to serve students living in both halls.  However, the basement lounge is really too small to have a large group sit down to participate in a program or perhaps watch the upcoming playoffs and Super Bowl.  Now the two buildings have an option for a greater number of people to sit down and watch TV or a movie together without feeling claustrophobic.

A "Redo"...on the White Board in Thomas McKean

About a year and a half ago we experimented with some paint to create a large white board surface in the 1st floor lounge of Thomas McKean in response to student requests. The concept was a great success judging by all the formulas and other writings that indicated that residents were using the board area for some intense studying. However, the paint surface ending up being difficult to maintain and the colors from the dry erase pens bled into the paint so bad that it was becoming impossible to use the surface. A new solution was found to "redo" the surface by using a peel and stick product that we tried successfully in a lounge in Harrington. The new surface is still a white board, but it completely covers the previously paint and makes it usuable again for studying. We plan to use this as the standard as we expand to other buildings. The next dry erase surface is being developed on the 4th floor lounge of Independence West in response to another request.

It's Harrington for the Holidays!

From the second floor of Harrington C it's a special wish for a Safe and Happy Holiday Season and Happy New Year 2011! All we want this year is Peace on Earth, Goodwill Towards Men and a National Championship in Texas in the New Year!