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11.26.02 @ 15:41
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Moraine Valley to build dorms

College planning on 2004 opening

By Stanley Ziemba

Tribune staff reporter

November 26, 2002

Moraine Valley Community College is planning to build student housing next year on its Palos Hills campus, making it the second in the region to follow a national junior college trend.

Planned are 113 two-, three- and four-bedroom apartments on the west side of the campus, near the athletic fields.

The apartments, which likely would serve mainly out-of-district and international students, could be available for the fall 2004 semester, school officials said.

The first area community college to offer student housing was Joliet Junior College, which opened a $13.8 million, 128-unit housing complex on its campus in September.

Moraine Valley officials said the need for housing for international and out-of-district students, as well as in-district students looking for a full college experience was the driving force behind its decision to incorporate it in the current master facilities plan.

Of the college's 14,000-plus students, about 1,600 are from outside the district and about 250 are international students, most of whom currently live with host families or rent apartments elsewhere, according to James Polo, Moraine Valley's dean of student services.

In-district students come from an area encompassing 26 municipalities in the south and southwest suburban area.

More and more of these students are asking for on-campus housing to better prepare them for moving on to a four-year school, officials said.

In addition, because the average age of a Moraine student is 27, much older than the average college student, "most work and need a place to stay, anyway," said Nancy Bentley, vice president of student development at Moraine Valley.

Rents for the student housing units would average about $450 a month. There would be a strict code of conduct that would include, among other things, no drinking, drugs and smoking, Moraine Valley officials said.

State law in Illinois prohibits a community college from owning or operating dormitories. As a result, the apartments likely would be built under the auspices of the Moraine Valley Community College Foundation. The nonprofit corporation was established in 1982 to develop ways to enhance the college and its students through private funding rather than tax dollars.

The foundation could sell 30-year bonds to raise the money to build, then use the rents collected to pay off the bonds. The foundation also could hire a management firm to oversee the day-to-day operations of the apartments, Moraine Valley officials said.

To get a better understanding of how student housing at a junior college works, Moraine Valley officials earlier this year toured the units at Joliet Junior College. All 128 units were booked before the complex opened in August, according to Alan Hardersen, the college's vice president of student services.

The Joliet Junior College units were built and are being managed by Houston-based Century Campus Housing Management.

Other community colleges in the state that have been operating dorms at off-campus sites include Lake Land College in Mattoon, Parkland College in Champaign and Black Hawk College in Moline, which has housing at its Kewanee campus.

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