Throughout the 2021-22 school year HRL has been subjected to a few changes, most notably the closing and reopening of the Lafayette residence hall. This past year, the university also announced that it was in its eleventh consecutive year of record-breaking enrollment and in 2020, the number of students enrolled online increased significantly.

Fall 2019 was record-breaking for students living in on-campus residence halls. While the number decreased for the Fall 2020 semester, numbers have been slowly on the rise. The lack of LaGrange Hall’s rooms provide an interesting dilemma. However, HRL has noted that a new Honors residence hall is in the works.

“On April 5, 2019 we had 528 Returner Student Applications (students residing on campus the 2018-2019 academic year) and as of April 5, 2022, we have 1068 Returner Student Applications (students residing on campus the current academic year),” Jennifer Sutton, Director of HRL said. “As you can see, we’re essentially maximizing every bit of bed spaces we have available so we can accommodate as many UNA students, new and returning, as possible on campus.”

UNA boasts eleven residence halls, both on- and off-campus. There are two hotel-style dorms: Mattielou, with four floors housing up to 334 residents, and Olive, freshman-only and housing 429 students on six floors. The three community-style dorms (the 6-story Rice, 8-story Rivers, and two-story Lafayette) hold 320, 429, and 58 students respectively. There are three suite-style dorms, as well. Hawthorne and Covington Halls are cluster-style, three stories, and hold 92 students. Appleby East & West are also three stories but hold 74 female-only residents. The last housing option, apartment, is off-campus. Twin Oaks has 30 units, Lion’s Gate has 16 units, and Grandview has 56 units.

An alternate option in residence halls is the option of a single-room. With the decrease of on-campus residents during the COVID-19 pandemic, HRL opened up some of its double-rooms to be available as single-room. However, with the new influx of residents for the Fall 2022 semester, they will be used as double rooms yet again. This will cause single rooms to become more limited than they have been for the past few semesters. The staff has also seen an increased need for medical accommodations and those oftentimes use single-room spaces. 

“[Residents are] very exciting for our staff, Housing & Residence Life, and the university as we continue to grow and reflect the amazing opportunities and student experience that UNA is providing,” Sutton said.