I work in the office of admissions, and we are known for the being the first line of communication for new and prospective students for UIC. My job is to attract high-school seniors and transfer students to this University. One of the biggest attractions to UIC right now is the new dorm ARC that is being built on Harrison. There has been a lot of chatter surrounding this project as being the kickoff to UIC’s 1o year plan to turn this campus into a state of the art university. 

When I give tours to students, or parents they always seem the most interested in the the new dorms after they have seen the mock room and are told about all the new features that are going to be added to it. On top of that they have been really keen on the idea that we are were getting rid of our “prison style” classrooms allowing for a better learning environment of our students. 

On a bigger note, UIC is finally listening to it’s students about the changes that they want to see. A year ago we complained to the Chancellor during offices hours that there weren’t enough food options on our campus and he was able to provide us with a Chick-Fil-A, Panda Express, and a new cafe with new and healthier food options. The fact of the matter is every year UIC is improving, getting better with every year, and making sure that listening to its students is a top priority. Enrollment has gone up, involvement has gone up, and overall satisfaction of UIC has gone up in recent years as well according to the office of admissions. ARC is just the beginning and overtime we will not only see a new University of Illinois at Chicago, but it will soon be known as a prime destination for in-state students.

I spoke to someone who used to work for Campus Housing, who said that the new dorms are a good start for fixing the problems in campus housing. Christian, who used to be a Resident Assistant on East Campus said that over the years UIC’s enrollment rate has gone up, yet there was not a increase in living spaces on our campus. 

Before classes started campus housing had to order more beds for the the dorms, and place them in rooms that already has two beds in it, turning a two person cluster into a three person cluster. There was also a backlog of people who signed up to live in housing but had to be denied simply because there were’t enough spaces in any of the housing dorms including West campus, which has never been filled so quickly. 

Christian Agbabiaka

There has been a lot of issues regarding campus housing over the past couple of years. Overcrowding being on of the main issues. There aren’t enough showers and bathrooms in the communal spaces, for the people that dorm in Commons West. The overcrowding can also be seen in the cafeteria. Even with the JST cafe just a couple blocks away on south campus, the east campus cafe has also seen the effects of the extra bodies on the east side of housing. With the New residence hall ARC there will also be a brand new Cafe as well which will be across the street from east campus, making it easier for students to go there if needed. Like I mentioned in my last Blog Post, UIC is working on their 10 year plan to revamp the university. Another thing they plan on doing is rebuilding the common area dorms (commons south, west and north) and they plan on rebuilding the Courtyard to meet their new vision of the university.  So I guess you can say they are changing for the better!

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The University of Illinois at Chicago has been working on a new housing complex for its students. The Academic and Residential Complex, or ARC as it will be known to the UIC community, is currently under construction at the corner of Harrison Street and Morgan adjacent from the UIC-Halsted Blue line stop. This new residential complex is just part of UIC’s 10 year plan to revamp the campus into a state of the art university. Students who chose to live in ARC will be looking forward to new style dormitories with “hotel style” bathrooms. Within each four person cluster there will be a bathroom connecting both of the rooms in that cluster.

students will have more closet space with walk in closets, and added dressers in the closets as well. Instead of keys, students will use their I-Cards like hotel key-cards to swipe into their rooms. The students will also have access to a gym on the first floor of the building, which will be the fourth official rec center on the campus. ARC will also have it’s own lecture hall in the dorms as well. As part of UIC’s 10 year plan they want to implement new learning spaces in the dorms, hence why they turned the first floor of Thomas Beckham Hall (TBH) into classrooms. The lecture hall in ARC should be no bigger than the lecture halls that are in the UIC quad which holds 150-200 students. Arc will also be home to UIC’s first official Starbucks on the campus. Currently there is a mock room of the new dorm in the Atrium on East Campus for perspective students to look at and a virtual mock tour can be found on the UIC housing page. ARC is set to open its doors fall 2019 and be open to students of all years.

More information can be found at: https://today.uic.edu/new-academic-and-residential-complex-breaks-ground-at-uic

Thanks for joining me!

Good company in a journey makes the way seem shorter. — Izaak Walton