Changes to come for two Living Learning Communities

Students living in the Bulls Business Community (BBC) and Zimmerman Advertising Programs (ZAP) Living Learning Communities (LLCs) will move locations in the fall.

On August 18, students will be moving to The Village into two-person suites instead of the four-person suites they were living in previously. 

However, the move comes with an added cost.

Current residents in Poplar Hall pay $3,740.00 per semester. Next year, students will pay $4,537.50 per semester to live in Endeavor, a difference of $797.50.

All students are able to live in the building, however, ZAP students will reside on the top floor of Endeavor and students in the BBC will reside on the remaining four floors, according to the Academic Advisor of BBC Magdala Saint-Louis.

Saint-Louis said the change is justified based on the amenities of the new location.

“(Endeavor is) closer to the new recreation center, closer to The Hub, closer to the new restaurants, the new Publix on campus and closer to the student center,” Saint-Louis said.

Endeavor Hall opened in fall 2018 as a part of the second phase of The Village.

Senior Director of Undergraduate Affairs for the Muma College of Business Jackie Nelson said that the decision to change the LLC locations came from market research that was conducted last year.

“We had a hard time recruiting for the programs last year,” Nelson said. “We found that incoming students wanted to live in The Village specifically, rather than JP.”

Nelson said that the change was originally resisted by some residents because of the price increase that came along with it. The pod layout in Poplar Hall was favored because students were able to better know one another.

Endeavor Hall does not have the pod and communal space layout.

First-year BBC students Antonio Wilson, Hunter Barton and Elizabeth Dobek will not be living in the LLC next year, however, they are not happy with the change of location.

“It’s important to have friends and connections in these programs…having the pod environment forces those interactions,” Wilson said. “I don’t believe a lot of people are going to go all the way to the pod at the end of the hall in Endeavor.”

Saint-Louis said moving to Endeavor Hall is going to give the BBC a lot more “programmatic freedom” that they haven’t had before as the programs will be able to use larger classrooms in other buildings as well as the Marshall Student Center and The Fit for other events.

The academic advisors are currently looking into hosting ZAP and BBC pool parties at The Fit next year.

Some students said they are excited to see the benefits that the change will provide for future residents in the programs.

Freshmen in ZAP are required to live in the LLCs for their first year and are mentored by other students in the program.

Tyler Rampersaud is one of those students.

“I think (the change in location) is timed well,” Rampersaud said. “With President Judy Genshaft retiring and the school having preeminence, a lot of changes are bound to happen.”

However, Rampersaud said the location change will create a different outlook for the new students.

“I think that JP and The Village have different cultures…because of the living space, the students act differently,” Rampersaud said. “JP, for the most part, embodies what USF was before this newfound preeminence and prestige.”

Albeit a more centralized location, not all students are excited for the future of the LLCs.

“I wish that (next year’s LLC residents) had the luxury of living here.” Wilson said about Poplar Hall. “We have the perfect spot here in JP, we have the dining hall and the mail room downstairs as well as the pod environment.”

Darcie Milfort, a senior in ZAP, said The Village will provide students with more access to more amenities.

“I think the LLC moving to The Village will give students the opportunity to be in a more centralized with the rest of the campus,” Milfort said. “Being more centralized encourages students to be more active on campus.”

For Saint-Louis, it all comes down to fostering a community.

“Endeavor still fosters that sense of community that we are looking for and that we have in the BBC (and ZAP)” Saint-Louis said.