Community also extends into the surrounding Springfield community.  In the picture below, you will see some residents and staff of Freddy who beautified and maroonified their adopted street in Springfield by picking up trash.  It just another example of Bears giving back….

“I think our project shows what the team spirit can do in a very limited time,” said Doug Sampson, university architect and director of planning, design and construction. “We did not have an option to extend the completion date. Our students were coming, and we had to be ready for them.

In only 66 working days, dedicated contractors, designers, construction workers, painters and more renovated seven residence halls and removed two buildings to update and refresh the facilities.

Renovations in the residence halls included:
•Painting of more than 1,000,000 square feet of wall with over 3,000 gallons of paint
•Installing more than 12 miles of vinyl base
•Installing more than four acres of carpet
•Replacing more than 1,050 doors
•Removing and replacing more than 490 windows
•Installing almost five miles of fire suppression piping
•Installing 1,950 sprinkler heads
•Installing more than 1,100 smoke detectors

“This project necessitated a project team that would work together. Each worked hard at making this a successful project,” said Sampson. “All this work was accomplished with more than 13,000 guests, or residents, living in these facilities during the construction period.”

The project team included Malone Finkle Eckhardt & Collins, Butler, Rosenbury & Partners, John McWilliams Architecture, LLC, Structural Engineering Associates, DeWitt & Associates and Missouri State University.

Once again, that time of the year is approaching us; all the witches and ghosts are going to be invading Missouri State.

The Residence Hall Association, in cooperation with Fraternity and Sorority Life will be sponsoring a safe indoor Halloween experience for the children and grandchildren of all Missouri State faculty, staff, and students. Children aged 2 to 12 are invited to attend.

Halloween in the Halls will take place on Wednesday October 26, 2011 from 5:00 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. The last tour will leave the Grand Lounge at 7:00 p.m. The Pumpkin Patch will include check-in, games, and refreshments, and will be held in the Blair-Shannon Grand Lounge. We will continue with having all non-scary floors.

Residents of our buildings have volunteered and will be trained to be tour guides. The guides will be known as Pumpkin Pals and will escort the children through the residence halls.

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact Angela Strider, Coordinator of Leadership Development and Programming, at 417-836-6591 or email me at AngelaStrider@MissouriState.edu. We appreciate your participation in this event.

Missouri State has an active Parent’s Association called University Parent Connection.  We would encourage all parents and guardians to join this community here in blogdom and on Facebook!

The University has a whole page on our website dedicated to Parents and Family. It can be found at: www.missouristate.edu/parents/ The link to University Parent Connection can be found on the Parent and Family page or you can go to it directly at: www.universityparent.com/missouristate

Each month during the academic year you will find a new Newsletter. This newsletter covers a wide-range of topics and hopefully covers everything an inquiring parent would like to know! All you need is an e-mail address to get this newsletter sent to you automatically each month. An archive of past editions can be found at: www.universityparent.com/missouristate/newsletter/archive

Every resident that a faculty and staff talks to is eligible for many door prizes….the top prize is a new iPad2!!  So make sure you are in your room beginning at 6:00 PM…you never can tell, you may get a nice prize!

There are a lot of activities planned out for the residents to enjoy this week. For a full listing of the events go to: http://www.missouristate.edu/studentengagement/114821.htm Both the Garst and Blair-Shannon Dining Centers are open this weekend so residents can start eating anytime!  The new food vendors in the Plaster Student Union are opening this weekend as well.  For more information on the vendors in the Union, please go to: http://www.dineoncampus.com/missouristate/show.cfm?cmd=_diningBlog&blogID=510 You can feel free to use your BearFare at these locations or you can always use cash at these vendors.

Better ingredients….Better Pizza…..Papa John’s!

It’s an exciting time to be at Missouri State!

We are spending over $7 million dollars this summer to renovate our halls!

–go here for more details!

We are seeing the new Student Rec Center take shape daily!

–go here for details on how you can enjoy this 100, 00 square foot facility!

We are starting a new era of men’s NCAA Division I Basketball

–go here to see more about Coach Lusk!

We want to make sure you have reserved your space To Be Here Now!!

Visit my.missouristate.edu to secure your place to live during these exciting times at Missouri State!