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Jefferson Residence Complex

	Jefferson Residence Complex is surrounded by green spaces.

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The block of campus where you may have once played tennis is today occupied by the Jefferson Residence Halls, a pristine suite-style dorm complex.

The University of Cincinnati welcomed the first students into the 580-bed complex in 2002. In keeping with UC's Master Plan, the $39 million improvement along Jefferson Avenue boasts low-rise living in an atmosphere far different than many will recall. Instead of stretching into the sky, these dorms extend outward.

"This facility has increased amenities and privacy over what alumni would remember from their residential hall experiences," says Dawn Wilson, director of residential education and development.

"Nationally there is a trend to build smaller housing units that have a greater degree of intimacy in the community. Things are not so large and anonymous. They are smaller, more familiar and more personalized."

What has students lining up to live there is the suite-style accommodations. Most suites consist of two double bedrooms, a private bathroom, a common living area and a combined microwave/refrigerator unit. That's welcome relief for those used to sharing bathrooms and living areas with an entire floor of residents.

Students also like the idea that they can sign a year-around lease and stay on campus through the breaks rather than packing and moving each quarter. The rooms in the buildings were divided among first-year students, honors scholars students and student athletes.

The Jefferson Complex consists of two interconnected buildings, Schneider Hall and Turner Hall, named in honor of engineering Dean Herman Schneider, who founded co-op education at UC in 1906, and Darwin Turner, UC's youngest graduate. Turner earned his bachelor's degree in 1947 at age 16 and is considered a leading writer, editor and critic of African American literature.

The completion of the Jefferson Complex was the first milestone of the university's MainStreet project, a constructive effort to transform the center of campus with new dining options, cafes, retail shops and modern housing.

"One of the most important things the university wants to accomplish is to increase a sense of community on campus to improve the quality of campus life," Wilson says. "Part of how you do that is to make a greater amount of campus housing available and attractive to students."

The Jefferson Complex brings UC's total capacity for on-campus undergraduate housing to about 3,100. Capacity for an additional 700 will be added when a private housing development opens off campus and an additional suite-style facility opens on campus.

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