Welcome Home Plan
EMU’s Welcome Home Plan is an equity initiative that will transform on-campus student housing to ensure that EMU students have access to quality and affordable housing with modern technology that meets the demands of today’s academic world. EMU’s student housing facilities have generally been neglected for decades, and it is time to reverse this trend and invest in housing for our students. An extensive engagement process took place over an 8 month process to include student/faculty feedback. To learn more, visit our Engagement page.
Project Update
Lakeview and Westview apartments opened this fall to rave reviews from students! Phelps and Sellers reopened after a year-long renovation project that added new air conditioning and enhanced WiFi, complementing the same work that took place at Downing, Putnam and Walton last year.
Watch: Welcome Home Plan Playlist
Browse Gallery of Architectural Renderings
Building features and amenities shown herein are conceptual renderings and are subject to change.
$200+ Million Investment
EMU and its partners are investing more than $200 million from 2022-2024 to construct new on-campus student housing, renovate existing housing, and demolish outdated housing. Downing, Putnam, Walton will re-open Fall 2023. Phelps and Sellers will re-open Fall 2024. Lakeview and Westview will open Fall 2024.
Equity Initiative
The Welcome Home Plan is an equity initiative. Its goal is to ensure that EMU student housing residents -- nearly 40% of whom are students of color -- have access to quality and affordable housing.
Meeting 21st Century Standards
The need for quality and affordable on-campus student housing with modern technology standards became even more apparent during the COVID-19 pandemic, when many students struggled with housing affordability and access to technology. The Welcome Home Plan will address this gap by upgrading EMU’s student housing facilities to meet 21st Century standards.
Partnership
External financing is required to ensure the long-term success of this initiative. EMU will partner with Gilbane Development Company, which will coordinate financing for the transaction through long-term, fixed rate bonds, and is overseeing the new construction, renovation and demolition. You can read more here about the financing structure.
Long-term Affordability
Long-term affordability for students is the University’s primary goal, which was reflected in responses to the University's request for proposals (RFP).
Student Involvement
EMU students live in and pay for on-campus housing. Students were integrally involved in the planning and design of the new and renovated housing, and will continue to provide input into the ongoing operations of student housing.
Managed by EMU Residence Life
Residence life is a key component of student success. That’s why EMU will continue to manage all aspects of the residence life experience, including: hiring, training, and supervising resident advisors; assigning rooms to student residents; collecting student payments; and managing student housing contracts.
No Privatization
EMU is not selling any facilities or privatizing any aspect of student housing. EMU will continue to operate all aspects of the residence life operation, including hiring/supervising RAs, processing housing applications and assigning rooms, collecting payments from students, and managing compliance with housing agreements.
Quality and Accountability
EMU will provide quality control oversight over
the maintenance, custodial, and other services provided by Gilbane. EMU and Gilbane will launch new customer satisfaction systems to ensure that student residents’ needs are timely addressed, and student satisfaction surveys will be integrated into Housing operations.
What Are Other Universities Doing?
Other universities that Eastern considers to be peer institutions are investing considerable sums of money to upgrade their student housing to meet the demands of current and future prospective students. Many of these projects involve Public-Private Partnerships (P3). Eastern must take similar action or we risk being at a competitive disadvantage. See what other universities are doing.