• BY JULIAN CAVAZOS - JCAVAZOS@VICAD.COM
• Originally published December 2, 2009 at 9:15 p.m., updated December 4, 2009 at 5:45 p.m.

• Future Jaguar Hall?.pdf

• Safety

  Living in the Jaguar Hall will require students to cross U.S. Highway 59 to get to campus.

  UHV will install sidewalks leading to and from the hall, as well as install crosswalk buttons at stoplights, Beran said.

  Jaguar ...

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Safety

Living in the Jaguar Hall will require students to cross U.S. Highway 59 to get to campus.

UHV will install sidewalks leading to and from the hall, as well as install crosswalk buttons at stoplights, Beran said.

Jaguar Hall amenities

Double occupancy rooms, all with their own bathroom, Internet and cable access.

A welcome and information center, academic tutoring, advising

Possibly a television, microwave and small refrigerator in each room.

Computer lab

Study areas

400-seat ballroom

Indoor and outdoor swimming pools

Full dining services

Fitness facility

Freshmen and sophomores are one step closer to having a place to live and hang out if they attend the University of Houston-Victoria.

The University of Houston-Victoria received the go-ahead from the UH Board of Regents to purchase and renovate the InnPlace Hotel into a residence hall for incoming freshmen and sophomore next year.

The decision was made at a special board meeting Wednesday. UHV is calling it Jaguar Hall.

"This is another important benchmark on our road to becoming a destination university," UHV President Tim Hudson said in a news release. "We've already received more than 100 applications since we started taking them on Nov. 16. These students and new citizens will now have a fine place to live."

The state legislature approved making UHV a four-year university during its last session. The first classes will be admitted in the fall.

All that's left now is for the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board to approve the purchase Dec. 15.

The hotel, renovations, and furniture will cost about $9 million.

If the state approves, UHV will purchase the hotel Dec. 18 and begin renovations in February, which will start with Building A on the east side of the site.

Building A, expected to be completed by fall 2010, will house up to 250 students living in 125 double occupancy rooms.

Then in March, renovation of Building B will begin to be ready for spring 2011. Building B will house 166 students in double occupancy rooms.

Jaguar Hall, which will be co-ed, will be less than half a mile from campus, which equates to about a 10-minute walk.

UHV administrators will require freshmen and sophomores live in a residence hall rather than apartments their first two years.

"Parents say they prefer their son or daughter living in a residence hall," said Chari Norgard, associate vice president of student success and enrollment management. "It's more for the safety and security."

Preference will be given to underclassmen to live in the Jaguar Hall, said Wayne Beran, vice president for administration and finance. Any juniors or seniors may live there if there is room left, Beran said.

Incoming underclassmen will pay $4,000 each academic year to live in the residence hall, not including meals, books or additional costs. Combined with tuition and fees, the total will be about $8,200.

Student life

Students will be more involved in student life activities this way, Norgard said.

"You get friends that way," Beran said.

The university has begun brainstorming ideas for student life and talked with certain businesses that may want to attract college students.

"We're looking at some things like Friday night movie night," Norgard said. "I want to get a Wii system in the dorm and have Wii competitions. We've also already talked to a number of businesses who want to offer discounts to students."

Other features of the hall include indoor and outdoor swimming pools, a dining area open seven days a week with meal plans, and a ballroom.

UHV also wants to talk with the first set of underclassmen for feedback on activities they would like to have, Norgard said.

Economy

The hall will pump money into the local economy, said Randy Vivian, president of the Victoria Chamber of Commerce.

"This renovation will help the local economy and will transform this struggling property into a bustling residence hall with young people who will spend money in Victoria and become our future leaders," Vivian said in a news release.

The renovation process is expected to bring $5 million into the local economy, Beran of UHV said.

Staff and faculty positions will be added to run Jaguar Hall, Beran said. About 30 jobs will be created in housing and in dining services, each, Beran said.

UHV will set up a student employment center on campus to help students find jobs on or off campus.

"I would say between 75 and 80 percent of students will be looking for a job," Beran said. "Employers out there can't find very good part-time help, and that's what they're looking for."

The student employment center will offer a basic customer service training program to make students more marketable for future jobs, Norgard said

"Our intent is to provide general training so we can tell prospective employers, especially those out in the community, that they've already had this kind of customer service training," Norgard said. "I think that will be a big incentive for employers to hire our students."

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