This fall, students living in the University of Guam dormitories will enjoy newly renovated rooms and updated common spaces.

Director of Residence Halls Jonathan Triplett along with 15 dorm resident assistants and students began making improvements on the rooms—the second floor of Iya-hami Hall and first and second floor of Guma'ta Hall—at the beginning of the summer and expect to have all the upgrades finished for new and current dorm residents for the beginning of the fall semester. The Dorm II first floor renovations are being renovated through one of UOG’s capital improvement projects.  Both projects combined total $318,000 in renovations.

“It’s a direct message from the University to the students letting them know that we care about them, and we want to do better,” Triplett said. “We’re going from good to great, and as an institution, we have to offer a better product.”
 
Sophomore Business Administration major and Resident Assistant Aluka Kebou said he has a greater sense of pride knowing he’s helping to make these spaces more comfortable for himself and other students. He also said that when other students saw the work being done, they immediately offered to help.
 
“When we first started painting the rooms, students were noticing the changes, and now they want to help us complete the renovations,” Kebou said.  “For me it’s motivating. Knowing it's like a second home, when we’re doing work that’s going to benefit us and the other students, it feels rewarding.”
 
The renovations include painting of each of the rooms, new carpeted floors, new light fixtures, refinished furniture, new desks and dressers, new mattresses and Wi-Fi available in every room and lounge space. The updated lounge spaces also include new furniture and window treatments.
 
Instead of looking off-campus for housing, alumni Chance Douglas said having a more comfortable living space on campus made his decision to pursue his graduate studies at UOG easier.
 
“I’m going to graduate school in the fall, and the plan was to look for apartments with friends,” Douglas said. “But now that I have a comfortable space to live, it was more motivation to come back and attend UOG.”
 
Triplett said the collaboration between the students and the University’s Plant Management and Facilities department helped this large endeavor come to fruition.
 
“It’s been a great collaboration between our facilities department and us,” Triplett said.  “It makes me really happy that we can do this together because we’re doing big things.”
 
The University of Guam has three dormitories with 113 rooms—both single and double occupancy—that collectively hold 203 residents. The air-conditioned rooms offer a single bed, dresser, and desk for each student. There are also shared kitchen and lounge areas available and a nearby basketball court.
 
For information on applying to live at the University of Guam Dormitories, contact (671) 735-2260/61 or visit the Residence Halls page.