Residential Philosphy
Living on campus at Ouachita is considered an important part of the college experience. After all, learning is not limited to the classroom!
Research has shown that students who live in residence halls...
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Each of these benefits are reflected in decades of Ouachita students who have shared life on campus. Ouachita feels so strongly about the value of residential living that all students under 22 years of age who are not living with a parent or guardian are required to live on campus.
Here's why...
Living closely with others facilitates the Ouachita's mission of faith, scholarship, growth, character, and community. While living on campus students are immersed in the life of the university community, including people from different backgrounds which facilitates appreciation and understanding of others.
Living on campus also means that the student's life happens on campus. Students are in the midst of the many student activities offered by clubs and organizations. They have immediate and unlimited access to the Ouachita Commons. A student's meal plan also comes with $400 that may be spent at the Starbuck's coffee shop and Chick-fil-A. Students are also close to Evans Student Center, where they may do anything from work-out to hang-out. Being close to Ouachita's RecSports fields and facilities means that many students can (and do!) participate in the 8??? sports offered.
Students are also only a short walk from the library, eleven campus computer labs, and other academic facilities like art studios and music practice facilities.
ResLife Staff Philosophy
But Ouachita doesn't simply provide programs in close proximity to the residence halls. The residence life staff works diligently to facilitate community in the residence halls through personal relationships, activities, and student care.
A Hall Director, a student development professional, or a Resident Director, an upperclass student who works closely with a Hall Director, lives in each of Ouachita's ten residence halls. There is also a student staff member on each floor, a Resident Assistant or RA. Each building has a ResLife staff member available to students each evening.
It is the staff teams' privilege to build relationships with the students living in their residence hall. Relationships are formed any way that life overlaps, from sharing a class together to sharing meals together. The staff team also sponsors hall activities like weekly bro/sis dinner to Ultimate Frisbee or a game or movie night. These settings provide the venue for peer to peer relationships to grow. Finally, the ResLife staff offers care for students who may struggle in any area of life while at Ouachita.
All ResLife staff members meet each week with their mentoring supervisor and as a staff team to discuss anything from spiritual wellbeing and student care to the World Series. These relationships provide the foundation for facilitating healthy relationships in the halls. You can learn more about the ResLife staff members here.
Residential Philosophy and Ouachita's Facilities
Ouachita's facilities also reflect the residential philosophy. Freshmen are encouraged to request a roommate or complete a roommate matching form, which admissions and housing staffs use to pair a student with a roommate and suitemates. Beginning in the Fall 2009, freshmen women will be housed primarily in Crawford Hall while men will be housed in Flippen and Perrin Halls. These halls are large, allowing students to get to know many of their classmates. In addition, a brother/sister relationship between floors in each of these halls will be developed by ResLife staff.
Upperclass students choose their own roommates and suitemates. Based on seniority, they also choose thier housing assignment.
The facilities match the growth of the students. Sophomores typically live in Conger, Ernest Bailey, and OC Bailey Halls. These are small, community bath halls with many friends made their freshman year. Sophomores and Juniors typically live in Anthony and Maddox Halls which house suites of four with a shared living room allowing them to develop closer relationships with a few friends while still living on a hall with other friends and classmates. Juniors and Seniors typically live in the Residential Village, completed in August 2009. Here students also live in a suite, but with even more space and privacy. Other seniors also choose live in campus apartments. Students living in a campus apartment are not required to participate in the meal plan, which allows students to live even more independently.