University is about more than just picking multiple choice test answers.
From gelato, to smoothies, to vegetarian entrees – students living in residence get to help choose what grub Western should sell on campus.
Every couple years, the school hosts a food show at Saugeen-Maitland residence, which displays culinary suppliers from all over the city. The students’ favourites are introduced the following year.
“We try to pick a number of products, especially new ones that we think are exciting,” says Susan Grindrod, Associate Vice-President of Housing and Ancillary Services. “It’s a great way to get student involvement and know the products that students really want.”
Students purchase a meal plan card, called the Western 1 Card, which can be used at dining halls, on-campus eateries and some off-campus sites.
Letting people living in residence have input on such choices has helped Western’s residences repeatedly rank No. 1 for large schools in the annual Globe and Mail university survey.
“We have good facilities and good food and good programs. It’s a combination of that that makes it popular with students,” Grindrod says.
Western offers nine residences to about 4,000 students – 3,000 first-year students and 1,000 upper-year students. Four residences – Delaware, Medway, Saugeen-Maitland and Sydenham – are traditional dorm-style halls with double- and single-occupant rooms, with a bathroom down the hall and large cafeteria-style dining halls.
There are also five suite-style residences: Alumni House, Elgin Hall, Essex Hall, Perth Hall and London Hall. London Hall is exclusive to upper-year students and was built a few years ago after consultation with students.
For many first-year students, university is a “year of transition” from the comforts of home, and Western aims to be the best landlord possible, Grindrod says.
“(It’s) a place where everybody’s doing the same thing. Where we have the support that students might need,” she says. “We know what the pressures are on the students. Everything we do is geared toward the student and student success.”
People can also select one of the dorm-style residence floors based on their interests or faculty. For instance, there are already faculty-based floors for Information and Media Studies, Arts and Humanities, Music, Law and Engineering.
Some of the theme-based floors include leadership development, volunteer and service learning, healthy lifestyle and global village. There are also approximately 140 students who work as residence dons and advisers.
Whenever possible, Housing and Ancillary Services tries to accommodate requests for specific roommates or residences. In the past, some students have even requested residences where a family member or friend used to stay.
Housing and Ancillary Services works with the University Students’ Council to provide an orientation program for new students. It also offers programming pertaining to study skills, career choices, exam preparation, service learning and more throughout the year to students in residence, as well as organizing an alternative spring break program that enables students to lend a helping hand in London and other communities.
“(They’re) activities that happen in residence so students can have a well-rounded experience,” Grindrod says.
Making Western’s residences safe havens is always a top priority. In addition to renovations, upgrades and maintenance, Housing and Ancillary Services also added new card-accessed locks on some of the buildings last summer.
It’s all part of making the residence experience a positive and lasting one for students, Grindrod says, adding people respond well to Western’s mostly student-run residence programs.
“That’s really what we’re here for, to make that a great experience for people,” she says.
For more information, visit Elgin Hall (Room 102) or uwo.ca/hfs/housing/residence.