Housing Facility Project Underway at Southern Utah University

CEDAR CITY, Utah — Enrollment growth at Southern Utah University (SUU) in Cedar City has led to several new building projects on campus, including the new Founders Hall housing facility scheduled for completion in fall 2018.

With construction already underway, Founders Hall will add 320 new beds to the campus’ current 600. Locally based Quantum Development Group will serve as the general contractor.

Designed to have a look similar to of the existing Eccles Living Learning Center (another on-campus, apartment-style community), Founders Hall will feature 32 suites that can accommodate up to 10 students each. They will each feature a kitchen, bedrooms and bathrooms. The four-story facility will also offer common areas and special amenities such as a laundry facility.

“On-campus housing, is designed with the needs of a first-year student in mind,” said Chris Ralphs, director of university housing and residential education at SUU, in a statement. “The structure of the Residence Life program and on-campus housing functions to support a new student as they transition into college life or as they first learn to live out on their own.”

Ralphs also said that first-year students who live on campus are more likely to establish connections socially and even attain higher GPAs at greater rates than those who opt to live off-campus. Each of the housing facilities will be led by a Resident Assistant who will serve as a peer mentor by planning activities for residents, enforcing policies that protect the students and responding to student concerns or problems.

The facility is being constructed under a public-private partnership with the Dixie and Anne Leavitt Foundation. Once the Leavitt Foundation finishes building the facility, SUU will lease, manage and maintain the property. The Leavitt Foundation also donated $7.5 million, the largest gift in the university’s history, in 2015 to help kick off funding for the university’s new business building, which will break ground later this month.