The Office of University Housing offered Florida A&M students the opportunity to walk through mockups of two possible dorm rooms Wednesday for the unnamed 800-bed facility that is under construction.
University Housing had two portables, located between the Student Services Center and the construction site, displaying replicas of the dorm rooms. After students viewed the bed spaces and bathrooms, they were encouraged to complete a survey and were offered free pizza and Coke for participating.
The survey asked students which dorm room they preferred and if they thought one was more expensive. It also provided an optional informational section with space to leave additional feedback.
Oscar Crumity, director of University Housing, said the survey could possibly affect the construction and design. Although the decision will lie with the university, Crumity said the students’ feedback will be kept in mind.
“The purpose of the survey is to get the students’ responses and to try to better serve them based on their preferences,” Crumity said. “But I think for the students to actually see what the concept is, it will probably give them a better idea of their preference and recommendation of what we should use.”
Building A was a mockup that gave two students individual bedrooms, whereas building B was a mockup of a bedroom that two students would share.
Cheyenne Lamb, a computer applications coordinator, gave tours of building A, the first mockup.
“For the most part, since I’ve been in building A and they go to me first, they like it,” she said. “But I think once they get to building B and they see the double, they like the space. But they pretty much like A because of the privacy.”
Marcus Yarber, a freshman mechanical engineering student from Columbia, S.C., who lives in Young Hall on campus, prefers the mockup from building A.
“(Building) A seemed like it had enough space for me and my belongings,” Yarber said. “I like having separation between your roommates.”
Conversely, Jasmine Ross, a freshman health science student from Jacksonville, preferred the mockup in building B.
“It was a little more spacious,” she said. “(Building) A is separated, and it kind of took away from how much space you got.”
Although Crumity thought the event was successful, he said University Housing will determine if it needs to establish another date to continue the survey depending on the number of respondents.
“We’ve already established an alternate date of next Wednesday, should that need arise,” Crumity said.
The dorm facility is expected to be completed by fall 2014.