The newest village on campus opened in January 2008.
On Thursday, Jan. 3 Virginia Wesleyan College opened the doors of its newest village, Village IV, to some 56 students residing on campus over the 2008 Winter Session.
The newly constructed Village IV at Virginia Wesleyan.
The townhouse-style living like that of Village IV became a popular feature after the completion of townhomes in Brock Village (Village III). And already, all 96 beds in Village IV are booked for the spring 2008 semester.
"With the beds full for the spring semester, I have a great deal of satisfaction in providing housing that is student wants and needs specific," said Vice President of Operations Bruce Vaughan. "While we may expand it further, there is a sense of fulfilling the vision of our founders by the creation of Village IV."
Located between Brock Village and Blocker Hall, Village IV consists of six buildings with each townhouse featuring four bedrooms, two baths, one kitchen, one living room and one laundry area with a washer and dryer. Kitchens are equipped with refrigerators, dishwashers, ovens, cook tops, disposals and microwaves. Each of the four townhouses has two handicapped units per building.
Sophomore Eric Anderson, a men's lacrosse player from Pasadena, Md., moved into Village IV in early January after living in the Lake Wright Hotel during the fall 2007 semester.
"I think Village IV is nice," said Anderson. "It's nice because we can cook our own food and it's more of an apartment-style living compared to living in a dorm room."
Village IV is the second village on campus with the townhouse-style living mentality. Vaughan said this innovative-living environment provides "transitional" living for Virginia Wesleyan students, bridging the gap between traditional residence hall living and the responsibilities of being on ones own.
"Village IV residents have kitchens and take more responsibility for meals, they clean and maintain the interiors of their townhouses," said Vaughan. "This is very similar to living on the outside, only here there is much greater sense of community and safety."
In conjunction with other College initiatives to be more environmentally conscious, Village IV was built with low V.O.C. (volatile organic compound, the products that off gas when new) paints and finishes along with renewable resource based furnishings and finishes. The windows in the townhouses are non-V.O.C. and energy efficient, and the heat pump systems have a higher than standard SEER (seasonal energy efficiency rating). Appliances are Energy Star qualified as applicable.
Since the opening of the Brock Village apartments and townhomes in January 2005, the residential student population has increased nearly 28 percent. With the opening of Village IV, Virginia Wesleyan now has a residential capacity of nearly 800 students, moving toward the goal of 1,000 residential students.
As for future housing plans, Vaughan said the College is planning to renovate Gum Hall, construct updates in Bray Village (Village I) and anticipates expanding Village IV to add another 208 beds as necessary.
"We will watch the enrollment for the next year or two and see if the population will be there," said Vaughan. "All of us see that the college experience is best lived in a residential atmosphere."
01.23.08