BU Completes Improvements on Campus
More Upgrades Planned to Enhance the Student Life Experience
Considerable improvements were made to campus facilities during the summer of 2024 to enhance the campus experience for Bluefield University students.
After the spring 2024 semester ended, Hal Keene, director of facilities, and his maintenance crew got to work on improvement projects. Volunteers from faculty, staff, and friends joined Keene and his team, beginning with a much-needed “facelift” of BU residence halls.
“The main thing we did was clean up the campus, especially Rish (Hall),” said student Andrew LaPan, who stayed on campus this summer to help with maintenance. “We pressure washed the apartments and painted all the rooms, hallways, bathrooms, and doors in Rish.”
LaPan added that almost all of July was dedicated to cleaning Rish Hall, one of four BU residence facilities. LaPan said the work was difficult because everyone went on summer vacations and such, so they would end up with only one or two people working a day.
LaPan was only one of five students who helped BU get a fresh coat of paint. Kendall Britt, Quantavius McKinney, Joslyn Evans, and Riley Keen were also a part of the clean-up crew.
Katie McDaniel, director of residence life, said she hoped that students noticed the work the BU maintenance crew put in over the summer and appreciated the improvements. She added that she hopes faculty and staff will recognize that BU’s dorm rooms are a priority and that taking time to improve those buildings does wonders for the university’s retention rate.
“I want the dorms to be 100 percent no problems on deck when students move in for the fall semester next year,” McDaniel said. “I think part of that falls on the students’ shoulders to take care of their rooms. It will be easier to achieve the goals that I want for the dorm halls if they are better taken care of in the first place. It is hard to give TLC to a dorm that has not received any from its residents all year long.”
Corey Mullins, vice president of Student Development, was also a part of the summer improvement plans, including the re-opening of the Campus Store in Shott Hall.
“For many years, the storefront was a hub of activity on campus,” Mullins said. “I am thankful for Dr. Salmeier and the Executive Leadership Team for seeing the vision and understanding the need to bring back a place where students can go, buy branded merchandise, grab a snack, and hang out.”
Dean of Students Chris Johnson and recent BU graduate Laura Horton spearheaded the Campus Store project, Mullins said.
“It has been fun to walk by the store and see students taking advantage of the lounge area of the store and bringing more life back to that area of campus,” he added.
Another big improvement Mullins shared is how the food pantry, which used to be located in Shott Hall, has been placed in each residence hall. Contact your resident advisor or resident hall director to find out more about the food pantries and to take advantage of this free service.
Mullins said a number of other improvements are in the works for the future, including new furniture in Bluestone Commons. One that is of most priority, he said, is exploring options to install HVAC in Rish, Cruise, and Alumni halls. He added that he is open to ideas from students as to what they’d like to see done with the blacktop space next to Cruise Hall. Creating more student life spaces on campus, he said, is a top priority.
“Students want places to congregate and hang out,” Mullins said. “Student Development has done a great job over the past couple of years to create time to hang out on the quad. We want to continue to re-imagine the areas we can improve that will increase student engagement.”
Mullins said discussions are underway with Pioneer Food Services about improvements to the coffee shop area in the Student Activities Center and and on getting a new espresso machine to provide the drinks wanted from students and employees.
“As a Student Development staff,” he said, “we are working on how we can make that whole space more attractive to students.”