KINGSTON, R.I. – July 27, 2006 – The University of Rhode Island has informed students who were scheduled to move into Building A of the new North Woods Apartments and Suites that the completion date for this building has been delayed by one month. Building A is the first of two new apartment-style residences opening at URI this academic year.
The Gilbane Building Co. has informed the University that the new completion date for Building A is September 30. Two hundred and thirty-eight students will be affected by this delay.
“We are sensitive to the disruption that may be experienced by those students who expected to enter this new facility at the start of school. We are doing everything we can to minimize that disruption and to move the project to completion,” said Vice President of Student Affairs Thomas R. Dougan.
He said about 120 of the 238 students being affected are from Rhode Island. Of these, about 50 students are from the southern part of the state. Dougan said commuting from home could be a good option for them until the new building opens.
Letters from Chip Yensan, director of Housing and Residential Life, and Jeffrey Plouffe, associate director, were sent to students July 19 informing them of the delay and outlining the housing options available to them until the opening of Building A.
“On behalf of all University of Rhode Island please accept our sincere apology for any inconvenience this delay may cause you,” Yensan and Plouffe wrote in the letter.
The three housing options offered to Building A residents are:
1. Temporarily Commute to Campus. These students will receive a total housing fee reduction of $600 for the 2006 -2007 academic year divided equally between the semesters, and all housing fees will be waived for September. In addition, they will receive a resident student parking pass for free, a value of $175.
2. Temporary Campus Housing during September. Students who seek on-campus housing will be assigned a room in Heathman Hall with two other North Woods residents. Students will be charged the Heathman Hall triple room rate during their temporary stay, and their fall semester housing bill will be adjusted to reflect that reduction. Additionally, their overall housing bill will be reduced by $600 for the 2006 – 2007 academic year, divided equally between the semesters.
3. Cancel Fall 2006 housing request. Those who choose to cancel their on-campus housing request with the Department of Housing and Residential Life will get their $250 housing deposit refunded. These students will still be eligible to live on campus for spring 2007 if they wish to do so.
The term bill of residents of Building A will be adjusted this fall in accordance with the option they select. The discounts and refunds offered above were made possible through the financial contributions of URI’s Dining Services, Parking Services, Bookstore and the Department of Housing and Residential Life.
Building A is part of the University’s $68 million on-campus housing project. Building B in the apartment complex and the suite-style complex behind Browning Hall are scheduled to open in January. The new housing construction, the first on campus since 1970, represents URI’s most ambitious pursuit of a more independent, on-campus living option for its students.
The latest information on the North Woods residence project can be obtained on the North Woods 2006 link at http://www.housing.uri.edu or by calling the North Woods Information Line at 401-874-2613, Monday – Friday from 9 a.m. and 4 p.m.