 Hello y'all, my name is Dr. Michelle Clement and I'm one of the agencies here. And I'm Billy Blunt, Director of Admin Services for the Housing Office. And behind the camera there is Henry who's one of our students at the U of A who's running the camera force and he will be taking questions and comments as we go through the day. So Henry, I'll turn it to you. Yeah, for sure. And I'll be monitoring the chat. Please save your questions until the end because we have a lot of questions that we've already been asking. We may get through them. So first question, y'all, could you talk a little bit about the locations for the off-campus apartments and where they're located and where they're at? So we're excited that this year we have four locations that will house our students who are in communities that are near the campus. And so Ozark Villa is one of our communities. It's primarily for our returning and transfer students who will be living in those communities. We have the locale. And the locale is right off the Garland Street, so really close walk to campus, which is adjacent to lot 56 as most students doing on campus. So Ozark Villa, the locale and the view are four-bedroom apartments that will have their own private bathroom. And the Marshall apartments will be a four-bedroom, two-and-a-half-bath apartment. So each of these apartments has some different amenities, bus routes, et cetera. As we go through our today, we'll talk more about what those look like as we go through. But those are the four-bedroom communities we got this fall. Gotcha. Connection. All right, we're back, y'all. So could you talk a little bit about the costs and the fees that are associated with living off-campus at these apartments? Yeah, of course. So for the fees in the apartments, you will not pay fees at the actual locations unless you're utilizing amenities that are above and beyond. So like spray tanning, things of that nature that have an individual price, then you'll pay a fee for that. But for the typical fees of like a trash, things of that nature, that is encompassed in what you're paying through your housing portal with us. Gotcha. So the next question, could you talk a little bit about parking at the different apartments? Yeah. So for our parking, for our students who are at Ozark Villa, the local and the view, parking is provided to you as through and as paid through your fees that you will pay through your university housing. For these property complexes, there are obviously different setups for each of them. But if you will be giving either a parking fob to get into a parking deck or a parking pass, et cetera, on your move-in day when you get to the apartment complex. So they will take care of that for you on your move-in day. For students in Marshall, parking is not provided on site. However, there are a couple of options for you that you can use. If you are a Marshall resident, one option is to purchase what's called the Green Pass, which would be available for students who are commuting to campus, but also for you guys as well at Lot 56. If you're not familiar, it is basically the large commuter parking lot on the very south end of campus across the street from typical L.A. So a lot of people know where it is. But also for students at the Marshall, it's basically adjacent across the street to the property. So that's one option. Another option is there is an economy lot, which is just to the west of the Marshall apartment complex. So maybe a block, block and a half away, and students can use the economy lot as well. Two advantages to the economy lot is, one, there's a direct transit bus that goes from the economy lot back up to the center of campus. It just runs that route consistently. And then also for the students who park in the economy lot, you do not have to move your vehicle for day-day visits for football, mids, and women's basketball. So the advantage to that lot is it's also cost-efficient compared to Lot 56. So some convenience is there if you want to use that. If you don't have a car, you certainly don't have to purchase any kind of permit. You can just literally cross MLK Boulevard and you'll be on campus. Gotcha. Thank you. Before we ask the next question, I meant to mention in the beginning, but we'll be uploading this onto YouTube with timestamps for the questions. So if you haven't been missing anything, you're just tuning in now. You can refer back to the YouTube video which will be published in the coming days. For the next question, Michelle, could you talk a little bit about what the community will be like at these apartments in terms of programs and staff members? Of course. So housing is providing some staff members on site to all of these locations. We have what are called community connectors. They are housing staff that will be putting on programs and providing one-on-one touch bases and things of that nature throughout the school year. We also have a professional staff that is overseeing this program. They're called the Coordinator for Community Connectors. They will be present in all of these apartment complexes and help with those programs. We're going to have a robust list of programs and things of that nature within the first couple of weeks of school. And we'll be providing monthly programs for each of these different apartment complexes. Gotcha. Next question. Could you talk a little bit about the amenities at these apartments? Like what are the unique features about them? So with most of the apartment complexes, you will find additional features that would be traditionally available, available at the hyper and other locations on campus. You'll find those at your apartment complex. So things like pools, community rooms, etc. As a resident of that community, you have access to those. So if there's access into a game in the pool, let's say you'll receive that access point when you check in for the apartment complex and you have the ability to use those. Many of them have community spaces, grills, etc. that can be used as well. As Michelle mentioned earlier, there are some additional amenities, but such as spray tan options, things like that, that are additional costs. Those will be additional costs to any resident who's living there, whether they're contracted to be first-year housing or not. So each apartment complex is a little bit different in what they offer and what they show. But as a resident, you certainly have the ability to use those and we'd encourage you to use those to kind of help build that community as Michelle was talking about earlier and get to know other students. Gotcha. And I just also asked a question. Just a reminder, we're going to wait until the end to ask questions. So feel free to ask it again then I'll be sure to scroll to make sure we didn't miss it. Our next question, could you talk a little bit about pets in these apartments, whether they're like pets, emotional support animals, could you explain a little bit about that? Yeah, so with our contracts, you cannot have pets in any of these apartment complexes if you need an emotional support animal or a service animal. Go through our accessibility office and we'll be able to guide you through that process and get that specific type of animal with you. But you must go through that office in order to get that approval. Gotcha. Thank you. Next, could you talk a little bit about what we should be bringing to these apartments, whether they're like sheets, pumps and pans, shower curtains? Yeah, so as you go into your apartment complex, it's much like your residence hall room. So you'll have built-in closets, you'll have in your case guys in the apartments a full-size bed. In the apartments it'll be a little bit different than a residence hall room. It will have an extra long twin. You guys will have a full-size mattress and bed in your room. Also, other things that you'll find are you'll see refrigerators, microwave, stoves. So it is set up as a truly like an apartment where you have a full-size kitchen and then bathroom spaces. But there are some things that we want you guys as an apartment that you'll need to think to bring with you on moving day. First of all, the bed, being a full-size bed, so make sure that you purchase full-size sheets for your bed and then a comforter, pillows, et cetera, that you would want to put onto your bed. You do have a kitchen provided with a stove, again, microwave and then a full-size refrigerator. With that being said, in the apartment you'll want to make sure that you bring pots and pans, silverware, you know, maybe water, pitchers, different things like that. Just things that you would have at your house if you were going to cook. You know, we would encourage most students to purchase a meal plan, whether that be the traditional residence hall meal plan or one of the off-campus meal plans that'll give you a chance to have community with students on campus as you're going to class and different things like that. But if you do occasionally want to cook in your apartment, you know, think about pots, pans, silverware, you know, those type of things that go with that. Also, one of the most important things we want you to remember, bring a shower curtain. They are not provided in the apartment complex, and so that is one thing you'll need to bring with you. Otherwise, your first shower will be very adventurous with the water flow. Gotcha. All right, next question. Could you talk a little bit about bus routes and transportation to and from these apartments? Yes, so all of these locations, except the view, is part of our bus transit system right now. You can go on the transit website to look at the different routes. We also have an app called Paseo. I think everybody's not saying that right. And that gives you lifetime feed of where the buses are at, how long you are going to have to wait at your bus stop in order to get that, to pick up that bus. And so it's a great app for you to utilize. For the view, they have shuttles that the apartment provides that takes you onto campus. They are pretty much walking distance to the south end of campus. I'm not good with directions, but they have a shuttle that will take you to campus and then you can pick up our transit system from there. So it'll be very easy to move from your apartment onto campus. Gotcha. And then a few more questions left. Can you talk a little bit about Move-In Day and what the process for moving into these apartments is like? So we're excited as you get through and get ready for Move-In to go through. So on your Move-In Day, you will go directly to your apartment complex to check in. You will go to the office unless there is something set up, special, maybe outside that the apartment complex does, just to manage the crowds. But you'll go to your office for the apartment complex. You'll check in your keys. Several of the apartment complexes are basically creating a student portal. So they may have sent you a form to fill out so they can create a portal for you, which if you wanted to purchase a taning bed extra, a lot of times you do that through their app. They'll also send communications of different information that they need to send out through that app to go through. So Move-In Day will show up at the location, go to the main office and check in. A lot of them are around the pool area that we found. The offices are really close so if you're trying to look forward it's usually if you'll go to that common area you'll just find the office area to go through. For several of our students who went ahead and signed up for their arrival time, you went ahead and got your hang tag in the mail. One of the common questions we've got, if I have that, do I have to come back to campus and park that? You do not. If you're at Ozark Villa, the locale with you, they'll take care of your parking on Move-In Day where you're going to park for the fall. Again, students at the Marshall parking is not provided so once you've moved in you'll either go to Lot 56 or the economy lot if you purchase the pass soon. You obviously have a car to go through with that. Your arrival hang tag for Move-In is just for you guys. The apartment complex won't use that specifically for their Move-In, but we have worked with each of the complexes to kind of help manage the Move-In as efficiently as what you would have if you were on campus. We have intentionally, you have a Move-In time. We ask that you please come at that time so that way the number of people showing up at one time is somewhat spread out and you won't get your boy having a long line on Move-In Day. But we're excited. Our community connectors are going to be around at Move-In Day. Our full-time staff members of the community will be around. Our marketing team has done some good pre-work and they're working on a welcome basket for you guys that maybe the first week of school we've got a couple things we're waiting to get in. We'll be there and your community connectors will be able to share with you. It's kind of a welcome to the community. Also a chance to get to know you as well. So we're excited. We want your Move-In to be just as exciting as a student who may be moving into Humphreys and you'll see our staff out around along with the staff of the communities. Awesome. Well, thanks all for answering all those questions. Now we're going to take some questions from our audience. This one was from a little bit ago. Someone was asking about the need for renters insurance. Could you touch on that a little bit? Yeah, I would say definitely get it. But just as best practices, it's really important that you have renters insurance if an accident happens, like say you're moving in and you put a box on the stove and it accidentally bumps a knob and things catch on fire. That can be hundreds of thousands of dollars. So I would definitely encourage you to get renters insurance. Check with, if your family already has insurance for a home, you can check with that. Sometimes it is bundled in that if there is some type of umbrella insurance, things of that nature. And yes, I would definitely get it if you can. Next question. At the locale, do they get access to the scooter slash bike locked garage area? I'm not exactly sure. Do y'all happen to know what that is? Not quite. I am 83% confident that you do. They have mentioned that. I know that it's like on the bottom of the garage, but that amenity should be a part of the package as well. Gotcha. Next question. Where on campus does the view shuttle drop students off? What if you have a night class and the shuttle is no longer running? So for the view from, I think they have different shuttle stops on campus. So there's one around the engineering business area. I've seen their bus drop off. The union is the main stop. Christopher, our marketing person just said, a lot of the shuttle buses from off campus, there is a union station basically right around the union. A lot of the shuttle stops will go there for a couple of reasons. One it's center of campus, so it's a great drop off location. You can quickly get to your other locations to go through there. For the shuttle schedule, obviously the view is just right down the hill. So literally just walk down the hill when you're on campus. So walking is maybe an option that a lot of students choose to do. I know as I drive into work daily, I pass by the Blum Cal and I see lots of their students who have lived there walking the campus. So that's very, I think it's a very common thing to do. You may, that'd be a great question we've been asked what their shuttle schedules are and if they run and how they accommodate students with live classes. And I might point out also that if you're looking at the website right now for parking, they're probably seeing summer schedules, which are very abbreviated compared to what they'll see this fall. Gotcha. Alright, next question. I've called lots of apartments and they are all sold out. Can a graduate student stay in the apartment on campus? So I assume they're referring to Duncan in this case? Unfortunately right now we are completely full with our housing for returning and transfer students and we are not currently accepting applications for this fall as we are full and all of our space availability is currently gone. Gotcha, thank you. Will there be more buses running the loops past the apartments buildings? Usually there is only one bus that runs over there. That second part was also a little bit of a question. Yeah, I know our student affairs office has a list of how many students are at each location and they have shared that with transit parking. And transit parking is working very hard on trying to make the bus routes as most effective as they can and also kind of an awareness. I know there's been a lot of talk about that. Michelle had a great point about that passio to go out. You can go to the transit parking website at the U of A, go to their website and there's a location there. You can see how to download that app. And so I think for the first couple of weeks the students kind of figure it out. You figure out your schedule, you'll find out what's the best time to catch the bus, how early you need to get there. And then again, three of the four locations are adjacent or very, very close to campus. So I think you'll, you know, walking may be an option that you decide to do too. I have convenience for yourself. Gotcha. Next question. Are trash cans provided at the view? Trash cans are not provided in any of the locations. Okay, gotcha. Next question. In the housing portal there's a code for a room assignment. Will we know exactly where to go when we go to the complex office to sign in? So when you go to the complex office on the move-in day, I would imagine most of the communities will have some signage up that will direct students to the office. Once you've completed that, you'll have the opportunity, they should have maps and staff there. We'll have staff there as well to kind of point you and direct you to where the closest parking place, et cetera, is for your move-in day experience to go through. Gotcha. So if you put in the address to any of these locations, it takes you straight to their leasing office. So if you're using Google Maps or your iPhone map, it typically is dropping you right at the leasing office and that's what you're looking for. Gotcha. So this is a reference to when we were talking about parking earlier. At the locale, do we have a specific parking spot or do we park wherever? The locale, I actually asked their management the other day about, we got specific questions about the garage and they have some street service parking as well. They said that they were going to work on that. They were actually working through the final logistics of that right now. And when you actually came in for move-in, they would finalize that process for you how, if they were going to designate spots or if it was going to be open with access pass. So they were working on finishing that right now. They will have you able to get information on your actual living day. Next question. When we move in, do we move our cars to the same lot as those who are moving into dorms or do we have a different designated spot to leave our cars? So for students at the apartment complexes, you will, if you're not at the Marshall, if you're at the view locale in Ozarkvilla, if you have parking on site paid through your student contract and you will park on site. So once you park, you do not have to move your car. You will keep your car at the apartment complex. And then for students at the Marshall, once you unload, then you will either go to a lot 56 or the economy lot. Gotcha. Next question. If we are at the Marshall and signed up at and signed a lot parking passes, that's something we would need to pick up on campus is maybe a parking in transit question. What do you have in now? I think where they're going with Michelle. So I think a lot of times when students are at colleges, they think I'm going to get a decal that goes on my windshield. The University of Arkansas does license plate recognition. So when you go online and purchase your parking decal, you don't get a physical decal attached to your license plate. And so your license plate is what is read to give you authorization to a specific zone. So there's no physical decal that you would pick up if you're in a lot 56 or economy that's attached to your license plates gives you access to that lot. Gotcha. Next question. That's a good question. Yeah, these are lots of good questions. I'm reading this one right now because it's a little long. They were saying that they're an exchange student in Ozark Villa from August to December. And they said that they heard we have to make 12 months contracts and when we leave that time we have to find another person to stay on your contract. Yeah, I never go with this question. So all of them, it's a good question. There are a lot of the other apartment complexes across the Fayetteville community when you sign a contract it's for 12 months. You were at least with the University that we negotiated with the complexes in May. So when you have traditional move out in May, you would go ahead and move out of your apartment complex at the same amount of time that a residence hall student was. Those two basically June and July, those two summer months are not part of your campus plan or not part of your contract. So you don't have to figure out a way to pay for those over the summer. Your lease is for the true 10 month period and it may, let's say I guess we're 2023 at this point. Gotcha. Do you have any advice for students who are having a hard time finding apartments? So I assume finding apartments besides the four local, you and the others. Yeah, we've gotten that question a lot at our office because we are full with our current home campus capacity and obviously while we're here have used some off campus properties as well to house that. We don't have a place that our office is recommending necessarily for students to go to. What we are finding is from conversations we're hearing from other students that seems like a lot of the properties that are really close to campus are full but the fall may have a waiting list, et cetera. So the great thing about the bus route, I know we keep kind of coming back to that, but the bus route goes all the way up to the mall area in North Fayetteville. It goes a little bit out to some areas kind of to the east and west. And so while there may not be some properties immediately adjacent to campus in the fall, there may be some properties up around the mall and those type of areas that you can check in. Obviously if you don't have a car, you need to be aware to make sure where your nearest bus route is to go through. But our current capacity on campus is full and so we would encourage, you may have to kind of expand out a little bit into kind of the North Fayetteville mall area some other communities that aren't immediately adjacent to campus. Gotcha. Next question. Will transport be provided for off-campus students going through recruitment? I.e., are there dedicated buses running that week? That is a question for, you may want to talk speak to the Office of Group Life. We would defer you to them to do that. I know they're planning their recruitment schedule and they are aware that there are a number of students off-campus. So that's a great question, but I would defer that to Office of Group Life to make sure they give you the most accurate update information. Gotcha. Do you have an estimate on how many freshmen are living off-campus? Yeah, there are. So we have about 700 first year students who are living in apartment communities that are close to or adjacent to campus. So as Michelle talked about staffing earlier, we've been very intentional about having community connectors full-time staff working. We want to give those students, while they are in an apartment setting, as much of a traditional first year experience get them connected to the U of A community as possible. So whether, and the other thing we try to be very intentional about keeping those students together in the same small, a very small number of complexes as possible to help grow that community. Gotcha. So we have two or three more questions, and thank you all for answering these. Do we have utensils on off-campus for cooking, or will they have to buy them themselves? Yeah, you don't need to purchase those yourself. Will we have RA's at the apartments? If so, what is their role, or what is the similar role to RA at these apartments? So the similar role to RA at the apartments are at least the community connectors, or C2, if you'd like to comment on that. They will be doing programming, one-on-one conversations, and providing that same personal touch that you would get from an RA here. Gotcha. All right, next question is right there. Do we need command strips to hang things on the wall? That's generally recommended, do I assume? So what advice we would give you for an apartment complex is really the same advice we'd give you if you were moving into a traditional residence hall. The room needs to look the way it moved out the way you did it moved in. So if you do hang anything on the wall, etc., make sure that at the end of the year when you move out and you take those items down off the wall that you're careful and intentional that you aren't creating damage for that. You know, a couple things that I think we've learned from doing this a little bit in the past for students as they move out. You know, just make sure toward the end that you've unloaded your dishwasher. I know I walked into the apartment last year where students left all of their dishes and the apartment cleaned out the dryer vent. Those are things that you just don't necessarily think about to go through taking out your toiletry items, etc., to go through. So yeah, you need to purchase those, but just think about if you were moving into a residence hall room and you wanted to look the same way when you moved out the way you did it. So sweet, ma, make sure you take all your items out, etc. We've got two more questions coming in. At Christmas slash end of the semester, do we need to move out of the apartment like we would in the residence halls? That's a great question. No, you do not. They will remain open that whole time, so you can stay in there as long as you please. Awesome. Well, I'll tell them that. At Ozark Villa, do we have our own room and bathroom? And they mentioned that they're an exchange student. Yes, Ozark Villa are four bedroom, four bath apartments, and so you would have your own bathroom. Gotcha. So that's all. We just got caught up to all the questions. Thank you all for asking those. Let us know if you have any more. But one question I have for you all. What advice would you give to incoming students, whether they're new or returning? I would say get connected to the institution as much as you can. If you go to Hogsink, you can sign in as long as you have your e-mail and you can find all of our RSOs, that's our registered student organizations. And they have anything from chess club to identity-based clubs, and that will really help you find your people to be connected here. So I encourage you to get connected right away, because it's easy to get lost when there's 30,000 of us. And we don't want that. So we want to try to get you back on campus as much as possible. So please go to Hogsink right now, find those groups now. We have a lot of events happening during a week to help you. Taste of Able. Yes, we have Taste of Able where you're going to be able to see some of our local areas and taste some of that food. We have a lot of events happening during a week so that you can get connected to the different areas on campus. I also encourage you to use the amenities that we have here on campus. You can go to UREC and exercise and utilize our facilities, and we have some great facilities. There are some additional things that you can purchase with UREC. You can do outdoor activities and things of that nature. So please come back on campus and get connected here. Do you have any advice for us, Billy? Michelle said it well. Just get connected. I think if I were a parent of a student in an apartment complex, I would certainly encourage them to get a meal plan, go eating the dining halls. I mean, it's kind of the heart of campus, the dining hall. When it's packed and it's full and all your friends are there, it's a great opportunity to just kind of be a part of convenience and kind of take off that stress of, oh, I've got to go make a meal. You just kind of do that and use it to be a part of the campus community. But I know I think Michelle said it much more eloquent than I did. Just get involved and find your niche. And I will say, ask the person that makes your favorite meal how to do that so that you can have a little bit of taste of home while you're here. So get that recipe, practice it a couple of times, and that will really help when you feel homesick to have a little taste of home. That's really great. That's like the most unique piece of advice I've ever heard. I wish I knew that. So we have one more question, I think, before we sign out. Are the beds at the apartment still twin slash twin XL? Or would I need to prepare to get a bigger size comforter in sheets? I believe you mentioned they were full-size beds, right? Correct. They are full-size beds. So for the result, all you have is extra long twins, and depending on the apartment complex, you'll have full-size beds. You'll be able to starfish. I know. I said that was the last one. We just got two more coming in. So are we only allowed two cars for moving at the apartments? Or is it the same for apartments and residence halls? For the apartments, I would encourage you to limit it to two cars. The complex is, you know, they're still limited with parking. There's only an infinite amount of that. So a finite amount, rather, of parking. So I would encourage you to just try to limit it to yourself and put it up to two cars just like you would on a campus. Gotcha. And someone was asking about meal plans. Does a meal plan only include restaurants on campus? So there are really two types of meal plans you can purchase. You can purchase the traditional residence hall meal plan, where you have swipes at the dining hall, plus dining dollars that you can use at Chick-fil-A slums and other locations. Or you can purchase a wide variety of off-campus meal plans. Some are more heavily leaned toward dining hall experiences and less dining dollars. And others have lots of dining dollars and less dining hall swipes. So there's a really wide variety of those off-campus meal plans, which you want to do. You can always go up at any point with a meal plan. So if you decide, you realize, I didn't buy a big enough one. You can always go back and buy additional dining dollars and meals, meal plans, et cetera, if you want to throughout the semester. Gotcha. And they also have an app that you can pre-order in some locations. So if you wanted to pre-order your coffee or things of that nature, you can do that. So while you're communicating on the bus, you can put in that order and the coffee will be ready for you. That's really good for a whole coffee in the morning. So those lines can get very, very long. And so this was the question we got before about command strips. Do you need command strips to hang pictures? And generally, like we said before, command strips are recommended in anything to make it so that the apartment looks the same as it was before. But those were all the questions. So thank you all so much for answering all those and you can sign us out. Thank you guys and we can't wait to see you next week. Yeah, welcome home. Thank you.