College: a time of big deci­sions.

Over 1,000 incoming fresh­men anticipate the day when their housing announcements come. They have many questions when they arrive. How close to The Union am I? Is this the dorm with the buffet? One key question is ‘How are we going to arrange our room?’

The residence halls are set up in a way that is already conve­nient. Both bunks are low to the ground, the dressers are in the closet and the desks are closest to the window. Many students loft the beds and keep everything where it is. Which is perfect to for a futon under one bunk, and a television under the other.

But that’s boring! There are many other ways that students can arrange and style their rooms so that it functions well, and looks awesome.

There’s the classic ‘L’ shape that involves one bed lofted up against the window, while the other is lofted up against the wall, hence the ‘L’.. The rest of the furniture provided can pretty much go anywhere from there. Another popular style of room is the bunked beds. Where the two beds are bunked together by the window. Sometimes students like to set the lower bunk high enough so that the two dressers can fit underneath, clearing up a lot of space for other things.

There are also a select few stu­dents that style their rooms dif­ferently than everyone else. In room 213, freshmen Meagan Burns and Christina Wald­ner have made their room a colorful paradise. The room is 15 feet 8 inches by 11 feet 6 inches. When someone first walks in, they will see a wall of color from curtains hang­ing down off the ceiling. The two desks are both in identi­cal spots ornamented with fake flowers and pictures. Past the wall of curtains is a makeshift living space with a futon, a flat screen TV, storage bins and an iPod dock.

A room this awesome doesn’t cost much either.

“I’d say we spent about $150,” Burns said. “We tried to bar­gain shop.”

A couple of dorm must-haves include a futon, pictures with friends and furniture that comes with storage (like a footrest that doubles as a storage bin). A couple things you should leave at home are candles, your pets (except fish) and weapons.

The residence halls are part of the college experience, and they are also your home for the first two years at SDSU.

“Just have fun and get creative with it,” Waldner said. “Bright colors are a good thing, too.”

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Students in Young Hall will now have two Community Assistants on each wing. This will be the first residence hall on campus to start this policy. - Collegian Photo by Corey MorrowStarting next year, Young Hall’s Community Assistants won’t have to take on the responsibilities of manning a wing alone.

A new pilot program will add two CAs for each floor, making it so Young will have 16 CAs instead of eight.

CAs have always been a part of the SDSU experience. With events, long hours and responsibility for 40 to 70 residents, CAs say the job can wear them down physically and emotionally.

“We want our CAs to build relationships with our residents,” said Chris Perkins, residence hall director at Young Hall. “We want our residents to feel a connection to Young Hall …We’re here to build a community.”

Perkins said he has experience with multiple CAs per floor at other universities, including Syracuse and North Dakota State.

The ideal number of students a CA should be responsible for is about 30 but the number is at about 60 students, according to university officials. Young and Binnewies Halls house the most students on campus, with about 1,000.

The plan is to have a successful pilot for the 2011-2012 school year and then expand by putting two CAs on the floors of Binnewies and Hanson, the next two largest dorms.

“We chose Young Hall for the pilot because Chris had the experience,” J.J. Manley, assistant director for development for Residential Life, said. “Young also already has a strong community, and we’re hoping to make a stronger, more involved community.”

With more CAs per floor, CAs hope there will be more opportunities for building connections, providing better quality activities and more availability for students.

“Students decide to leave SDSU for various reasons, including that they don’t feel as if people care about them,” Manley said. “With our CAs out to build connections, students will feel like people care about them.”

There are other benefits for having more CAs on each floor.

Students will be able to get help faster since there will be twice as many CAs as there once was. If a student has a problem with their CA, there are twice as many CAs to go to for support.

More monthly activities will also be available to students.

Senior CA of Young Hall Cody Burggraff will be around as a mentor for the other CAs.

“I look forward to having two CAs per wing because I will get to know more people, work with different people and try new things,” Burggraff said. “Young Hall will have a bigger staff family, but I am looking forward to being part of that.”

Additional details for the pilot program will be worked out this summer.

Nick Wendell, assistant director of student activities at SDSU, was voted as the 2011 Jackrabbit of Year. - Collegian photo by Robby GallagherReporterIt was just an average day for Nick Wendell, assistant director of student activities. Business was going as usual when just a simple check of his email wowed him.

The Students’ Association selects the Jackrabbit of the Year every year, and this year was Nick’s time to shine.

“I was just kind of surprised about it,” Nick said. “I was on SA when we started the Jackrabbit of the Year award. I was just really shocked to find out it was me, and really honored.”

Not thinking twice, Nick emailed his wife, Kelly, who is coordinator of communications at SDSU.

“It’s very gratifying for Nick,” Kelly said. “He is in his field because he cares about students, so being recognized by them is quite an honor.”

Nick graduated from SDSU in December 2004 and returned in 2006 to serve as program adviser for the University Program Council before becoming assistant director of student activities in 2008.

Nick has been involved in many projects that have gained notoriety and have changed student life on campus. Some of those include the Hobo Day Gallery, Meet State, Lead State and Greek Village. On some of those projects, Nick worked closely with his wife.

“The reasons [SA] cited for selecting Nick all have to do with the initiatives he’s been involved with to enhance student life and the SDSU experience,” Kelly said. “That’s something he is truly passionate about.”

Former SA President Brett Monson said Nick was the perfect fit for the award.

“The award was established because there’s always more room for recognition at SDSU,” Monson said. “Nick’s a great mentor, he’s always willing to listen and his passion for student success is very evident. He helped bring back the spirit. He’s really done things to serve all students on campus in some way, shape, or form.”

Nick was recognized during the SA banquet on March 28, and the award will be commemorated with a plaque placed in the SA office.

“I’m really proud of Nick because when he came back to SDSU as a professional, he had a lot of ideas,” Kelly said. “A lot of people have goals that often go by the wayside, but Nick is someone who is willing to put in the extra hours and effort to make things happen. He’s been able to see some of his goals come to fruition because of his dedication.”

“To me, it’s just a really huge honor to be recognized by a group of powerful students at SDSU,” Nick said. “Any recognition coming from students is powerful and it means a lot to me.”

Keith Corbett, dean of the College of General Studies, advises a student on her upcoming courses. The College of General Studies will soon be renamed University College. - Collegian Photo by Andrew Turner

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Many students say that the hardest decision when starting college is choosing a major. Starting in fall 2011, students won’t have to worry about the pressures of college alone.

With the new University College replacing the College of General Studies, all first year students, in addition to those who are undecided on a major, will have an opportunity to explore and experience things they couldn’t before.

“A name change not only signals a change in the mission [of the college], but it sends a bold academic statement that we are investing substantial resources in students…at our institution,” said Keith Corbett, dean of the College of General Studies.

One feature of the University College will be the “invasive advising” offered to students throughout the college.

The idea of more comprehensive advising came about through conversations that Provost Laurie Nichols and Marysz Rames, vice president of Student Affairs, had in the summer of 2009. Their goal was to create a more co-curricular and comprehensive approach to student success.

“In early fall [2009], we named a task force of 17 individual to start discussing student success and how we might approach it at SDSU,” Nichols said.

What they came up with was a student success model for the College of General Studies. GS classes will still be taught, but by less people. Current instructors in the College of General Studies will sort into either an advising position or keep working as an instructor. Money will also be reallocated within the new program, so no new expenses will emerge.

Through the proposed new advising, SDSU is trying to achieve higher student retention, progression and graduation. Students will be taught to take ownership of their learning, be accountable for their choices, to generate solutions and to recognize and meet expectations for success.

“All first year students will be professionally advised their first year,” Corbett explained. “Upon meeting a certain number of credits and a certain GPA, students will then be referred to their major department and a faculty mentor for the remainder of their time at SDSU.”

There will also be a centralized area for advisers and advisees to meet, so no more running across campus searching for an office. The location has not been decided yet.

Trained advising professionals, who are currently in the process of being hired, will be prepared to offer advice and will be more available to students.

The main goal of the professional adviser is to help students build a strong foundation for success.

“Freshmen have a different set of needs,” Nichols said. “We’re trying to create a model for student success. Our goal is to help all students at SDSU find success…which is quite significant in the first year experience.”

Students on campus have mixed reactions about how the new program will impact their peers.

“Personally, I don’t think that it’s needed at all,” said Will Holien, a freshman undecided on his major. “It just sounds like another first year experience class that no one needs to work at to succeed and no one will take to heart.”

“I think the University College can be a great help for students unsure about what they want to do,” said David Knudston, who is pursuing an entrepreneurial studies degree. “If they need assistance, I believe that it will help narrow the path that they’ll soon be embarking on.”

On a nationwide scale, students will change majors generally anywhere from three to five times.

In the fall of 2010, an experiment at SDSU, which Nichols was part of, put that statistic to the test. The experiment showed that on average, SDSU graduates change their major zero to two times when others changed theirs five or more.

SDSU’s current graduation rate is 56.7 percent while the national average is 55.9 percent. SDSU is currently looking for ways to increase  the graduation rate to 60 percent by 2012.