In 2022, Daytona State College opened the first residence hall located at the main campus. Today, they are in the works of making another building as an expansion.
The second phase has officially kick started in planning. DSC recently started brainstorming the new building so the specifics are still unknown due to it being in the earliest phase of development.
The first building was the school’s way of testing the waters to see how big the demand would be for students wanting to live on campus. The results were much more successful than expected. The current residence hall is consistently filled to capacity.
“In the Fall 2023 semester, we had nearly 1,000 students that were still on the waitlist wanting to be in the residence hall.” Director of Student Life, Elijah Houser, goes on to say, “The goal for the new residence hall is to be able to expand the number of students who can be here on campus.”
After the success, it was understood that housing is what the students want.
The concept of this building is to have four stories, like the first. The current residence hall has three styled rooms options: private single suite, regular single suites, and double suites.
The most primal change that is being looked into is giving students the option to have single rooms in each suite instead of double rooms, as well as giving the students more accessible kitchen facilities. The current residence hall has one kitchen for everyone to use in the lounge on the first floor.
Like the first hall, it will be within walking distance of all the amenities for students, consisting of the student hall, campus safety, library, and writing center. It is accessible to all parts of the campus.
The requirement for students to be able to apply for all housing is a minimum age of 18 years old. Students may apply if they are below the age of 18 but will need to be prepared for a long appeal process. They must be enrolled for 12 credits, nine of those 12 need to be in face-to-face classes at any campus.
Onto the expenses, with the current residence hall, the school funds the buildings using donations. One example of that is the recent Gala that the school held. All donations went straight to the funding for the residence hall.
Based on results off of a poll conducted for students at DSC, the main concern is the cost. Their concerns were heard and that is why the donations also help with the cost for the students as well as the project itself.
Elijah Houser concludes with, “We’re looking forward to expanding the opportunities for our students.” He explains, “It really is a great chance for students to get involved on campus.”
According to James Madison University, when looking from a statistical aspect, students perform better when living on campus than those who don’t. That is why this college is working to make that opportunity more accessible for students.
Speaking on the benefits for housing students, D’Asia Brockington says, “It provides a sense of belonging or connection to the college just because it is such an intimate thing here in the res hall.”
The residential halls help build community. It is a place for students to grow and learn in an environment where they can also connect with their peers.
That is why Daytona State college wants to build another residential hall and why there is such a high demand. This opportunity when presented could improve not only the school but the students’ experience while at DSC.