Rising juniors and seniors may be familiar with the housing selection process due to their respective living requirements in university housing. Rising juniors are required to live three years in university housing while rising seniors could opt for off-campus housing starting their junior year.

University housing offers a range of choices to select from, including the apartments on Fairmount Circle, a series of duplexes on Warrensville Center Road, single-family houses on adjacent streets and on-campus living in Murphy and Bernet dormitories.

While these options are nothing new, besides the addition of Bernet allowing upperclassmen living, renovations to the Fairmount Circle apartments are expected to begin during the upcoming summer and complete before the fall 2024 semester.

Dr. Lisa Brown Cornelius, dean of Students, oversees the project and explained the initial plan of action. “We are taking [the apartments] down to the barebones [with] brand new flooring, renovated bathrooms [and] kitchens. It’s going to look very modern. They are going to be fully furnished for students.”

Brown Cornelius mentioned the “breadth and depth of a mix of options” for university housing and said that these changes were led with the mission of allowing students the opportunity to “live with as many people as possible.”

Rising senior Christine Thomas ’25 will be living in Fairmount Gardens next year and voiced her excitement about a change of scenery. “I’m excited to live in a new building and a new environment with more space and the ability to cook on our own!”

While she was delighted to experience these renovations, she candidly questioned whether the timeframe of the apartments will line up with the fall semester. “I am slightly nervous due to the lack of details we have received so far and after speaking to [Residence Life] staff, they have been giving differing information that doesn’t help, so I’m having mixed reviews with the whole thing.”

When on a tour for these apartments, Thomas noticed that renovations seemed necessary, commenting that “it was very out of date and needed to be updated with new paint and flooring.”

Thomas finally said to The Carroll News that she is “looking forward to [having] more of an independent living style and more control over our space. I’m also excited to have a new experience other than living in the dorm buildings!”

Natalie Byrne ’25 plans to share an apartment with Thomas next year. Like Thomas, she was eager to experience independent living. “It’s a great opportunity to live with other students from the JCU community but still have a little more independence than dorms,” commented Byrne.

Brown Cornelius recognized there is a need to have multiple options available given the various living requirements and believes that these renovations allow Residence Life to grow the residential experience with “awesome independent living opportunities.”

According to Brown Cornelius, this aim “further emphasizes how important we think the residential experience is but also how we recognize that students want to become more independent.”

With independent living comes questions about parking. Brown Cornelius assured that “Phase 2” of the apartment renovations entails a “parking pass process for those students [in] those spaces.” The separate parking permit process will be open to the students living in the apartment spaces before returning in the fall.

To inquire more information about these renovations, please contact Lisa Brown Cornelius at [email protected].