On campus amenities, off campus experience

Ottawa University has a new resident hall currently called Patty Hall. The apartment style living is now available to students 21 or older who hold a GPA of 2.7 or higher. Patty Hall is located one block south of campus off of Oak Street.

“Ottawa University is excited that we have an additional 22 beds to offer our students. It will be a great location for our upperclassmen,” Dean of Student Affairs Tom Taldo said. “And, although we have commonly referred to the building as Patty Hall, we do not necessarily have the naming rights to this building. The building owner is considering naming opportunities at this time.”

All rooms are singles and fully furnished with a bed, dresser and desk. There are currently 14 rooms available. Living in Patty Hall costs a payment of $3250 per semester. Included in that price is all utilities; electric, gas, trash, water, cable and internet.

Patty Hall offers new amenities that the current resident halls do not offer. Those amenities include an in-unit washer and dryer, a full-sized kitchen with a dishwasher and private parking. The living room area comes with a 42’ flat screen TV.

To make sure Patty Hall is a clean and safe environment for students there will be annual health and safety checks. For security, the hall offers secure entry points and keyless entry on each suite, along with cameras on the outside of the building and in each hallway. Students will also have their own mail boxes, so mail can be sent directly to Patty Hall.

“Patty Hall is a great way to give students the opportunity to experience a different living environment and I feel that it will be more popular in the fall when more students move in,” Resident Director Lizzi Willet said.

Patty Hall has different rules than the existing resident halls at Ottawa University. Patty Hall is an apartment-style dorm and visitation is not monitored. According to Assistant Dean of Student Affairs Freda Strack because of the 21 years or older rule, Patty Hall will be considered a wet residence hall where only certain amounts of alcohol will be allowed. There will still be a resident director that will be in charge of the hall. It will be a professional staff member that has not been decided upon at this time.

Students who currently live off campus and qualify to live in Patty Hall also qualify for a $500 cash stipend if they make the move back to any resident hall, including Patty hall.

“We are thoroughly excited about opening a new residence hall this semester,” Director of Residence Life Brandy Hicks, said. “We hope in opening a resident hall like this to give some of our students that are 21 and over a place to remain entwined with the campus yet still have a place that is more fit for their maturity level. We opened the hall in the middle of January and because of this we still have some beds available. Staring next semester we anticipate the spaces will fill up quickly and that there may be a waiting list.”