Professor Lives Suite Life in Dorm
Associate professor Scot Douglass of engineering lives in Andrews Hall with his wife, Kathleen Douglass, and two young daughters in a three-bedroom, two-bath unit on one end of the residence hall. The dorm is part of the Honors Engineering Resident Academic Program.
Dorms have always had a family-type feel, but this fall, Andrews Hall in the Kittredge Complex took the concept one step further when associate professor Scot Douglass of engineering, his wife and two children moved in.
The arrangement offers students the opportunity to live and learn alongside their professor. The dorm, which underwent a $14 million renovation, also is home to participants of the Engineering Honors Program, extending teaching and mentoring relationships outside the classroom.
The renovation features suite-style rooms with varying ceiling heights and floor plans, several common lounges, a community kitchen, classrooms and a computer lab. The project is part of CU-Boulder’s Flagship 2030 initiative to create multiyear residential colleges for undergraduate students.
“It’s really refreshing to walk into a dorm and see a huge number of students doing things together in the common room,” says Lauren Schmeisser, a junior environmental engineering major. “People here are interested in what each other are doing.”
Social activities organized through the dorm include hiking 14,000-foot peaks, volunteering to lead engineering activities at local schools and participating in open mic nights.