By: Ellie McCartney
On Saturday, March 30, the University of Nebraska at Omaha will hold its annual Spring Housing Showcase to give an in-depth look at what kind of housing is available on their campus.
Sarah Kole, the housing operations coordinator and vice president of staff advisory council (SAC) at UNO, said, “When first year students usually come to campus they only see one location.”
As a matter of fact, on most students first tour of UNO students are only exposed to Maverick Village housing. In other words, the Spring Housing Showcase is, “really an opportunity for them to see everything, or as much or as little as they want to,” said Kole.
As an importance resource for new students, the Spring Housing Showcase can also help students compare the different housing options found on either Dodge or Pacific campus.
“Scott Hall is unique and University Village is unique…” said Matt Nelson, associate director of residence life. “They all have different quirks.”
For instance, on Dodge campus, laundry and utilities are all included in your rent. Meanwhile, Scott Hall, on Pacific campus, offers options to add a meal plan charge to your rent. The showcase allows students an overall view of the housing that UNO has to offer.
“We will have staff to answer questions, we’ll have some iPads that can actually complete the application there if they want to,” said Kole.
By walking through each unit, students can begin to think about what they will need to bring to fill their cupboards and living space with.
“When people are in a space they think about things differently,” said Nelson. “Future, fixtures are part of the deal. But, even you could see them processing…Yes, you need to bring your own stuff. But, don’t bring four toasters.”
By the use of an app called RoomSync, students can pick and choose their roommates by the click of a button. To put it simply, “it’s kinda like Tinder, but for roommates,” said Kole.
By living on campus, students can experience the conveniences of being close to activities, school resources and keep their commute to class short said Nelson.
“When we survey students, most of the time the reason they opt to live on campus because it’s close to the school,” said Nelson. “They don’t have to figure out getting to campus to and from, they know they’ll have close access to events happening and getting to know people…”
