Arizona State University CAMPUSES     STUDENTS     FACULTY & STAFF     ALUMNI     VISITORS & FRIENDS   

A-Z Index      Calendar      Catalogs      Degrees      Directory      eServices      Give to ASU      Maps      myASU   
 

New McAllister Academic Village integrates living, learning

McAllister Academic Village, Artist's Rendering

Arizona State University freshmen who enter in the fall of 2006 will be the first class to live in the all-new McAllister Academic Village (MAV), the first ASU living-learning community to be built on the Tempe campus since 2001. Students will have classrooms, dining facilities and retail just minutes from their rooms.

Construction is beginning on the first phase, on the northeast corner of McAllister Avenue and Apache Boulevard in Tempe. The village is part of ASU’s comprehensive development plan to evolve the university as a learning and creative district.

“McAllister Academic Village is designed with the concept that learning takes place 24/7,” says Juan Gonzalez, ASU vice president for student affairs. “It is the first of many steps ASU will be taking to provide students with superior housing, and to help them succeed academically.

“It is a total learning environment that encompasses a student’s whole living experience on campus. The design creates smaller communities, with appropriate staffing numbers.”

Studies show that students who live on campus, especially the first two years, are more likely to feel a part of the university and to persist and graduate.

In the first phase of construction, about 900 students will live in groups of 40 to 50, in four-bed and two-bed suites, with shared study areas and a bathroom for each suite. The buildings will be four to seven stories tall, with a two-story glassed-in lounge space with a kitchen and access to an exterior courtyard for each community of 120 students.

The facility includes five classrooms, primarily for freshman English and math, and faculty offices. In addition, there will be a Learning Resource Center for tutoring, workshops and small study groups.

ASU faculty will be in the community teaching, meeting and dining with students throughout the day.

In the second phase of construction, which will provide approximately 1,000 more spaces no later than fall 2007, ASU will build a comprehensive dining facility and food emporium.

“The development of MAV not only provides additional housing for freshmen and allows for more upper class students to remain on campus, but it also solidifies the nexus between living and learning, immersing students in the total university experience,” says Kevin Cook, ASU associate vice president for student affairs and director of residential life.

Architects Machado and Silvetti, and Gould Evans, have designed a facility that encourages community with the two-story lounges, exterior courtyards and social spaces, without compromising security. Four levels of security will exist to enter rooms, but the extensive use of glass and open space will allow students to interact.

Full-size mock-ups of a typical four-bed suite and a modified suite are being built by CORE Construction, the contractors, at the Tempe Center at Mill and University Avenues, to be completed by mid-April. They will assist the architects, contractors and the university in evaluating the design prior to construction.

Currently ASU offers 14 traditional halls and one leased apartment complex to ASU students, with approximately 5,600 student spaces. ASU Residential Life also offers several living and learning communities in the halls, in which students live with others who share their academic interests.

ASU’s Freshman Year Experience (FYE) program is available to all freshmen and provides a strong foundation – through academic support services, faculty interaction, and involvement with the university community – to help first-year students achieve academic and personal success.

One of the most comprehensive freshman programs in the country, FYE brings together tutoring, academic advising, personal development programs, computer labs and peer support in key locations where freshmen gather.

 

 

  Invest in ASU  |   Accessibility |  Contact ASU |  Privacy   

Copyright and Trademark Statement   


1-480-965-9011