{"id":11481,"date":"2013-08-06T17:17:11","date_gmt":"2013-08-06T23:17:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/?p=11481"},"modified":"2018-06-01T10:26:41","modified_gmt":"2018-06-01T16:26:41","slug":"photo-feature-ribbon-cut-on-summit-village-expansion","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/?p=11481","title":{"rendered":"Photo feature: Ribbon cut on Summit Village expansion"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"UCCS<\/a>
UCCS faculty, staff and students gather to watch the ribbon be cut<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

About\u00a0100 UCCS faculty, staff and students attended a Aug. 5 ribbon-cutting ceremony to celebrate the completion of UCCS\u2019s newest residence halls, Copper and Eldora.<\/p>\n

“This is what progress and fulfillment of our mission is all about,” Chancellor Pam Shockley-Zalabak said.<\/p>\n

Shockley-Zalabak cited statistics that students who live in campus housing have better grades and graduate sooner.<\/p>\n

CU Regent Kyle Hybl noted the progress made by UCCS in fulfilling its mission to be CU’s growth campus, using words such as “scrappy” to describe the ability of the campus to succeed despite lack of state funding.<\/p>\n

Kimberly Sheridan, a resident assistant, spoke of the confidence she gained as a student living on campus.<\/p>\n

Susan Szpyrka, vice chancellor, Administration and Finance, served as the event’s master of ceremonies and led the cutting of a ceremonial ribbon.<\/p>\n

Following the ribbon cutting,\u00a0 members of the Office of Residence Life & Housing and Facilities Services gave tours of the two buildings.<\/p>\n

About Copper and Eldora<\/b><\/p>\n

Construction for the $18.1 million expansion began in May 2012.<\/p>\n

The two new towers will provide 192 beds to serve an increasing population of resident students. Rooms will be single occupancy, three-person suites and four-person suites.<\/p>\n

Both buildings were built to\u00a0Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design Gold certification. Once awarded, the halls will be the first residential halls with LEED designation at UCCS.<\/p>\n

No state funds or taxpayer dollars are being used to fund the expansion. The buildings are bonded and rents paid by student occupants cover the annual bond payment, utilities and other operating expenses.<\/p>\n

See previous Communique stories about the project:<\/p>\n