(07-18-2023 11:52 PM)JMaddy Wrote:  

(07-18-2023 08:41 PM)Longhorn Wrote:  

(07-18-2023 05:32 PM)JMURocks Wrote:  

(07-18-2023 04:36 PM)Longhorn Wrote:  

(07-18-2023 03:08 PM)PGJMU Wrote:  i graduated before 2000, lets leave it at that. my choice was between jmu & va tech - no brainer in my mind. both schools accepted at equal rates and accepted students were as likely to commit to jmu as they were to va tech. Now, as i understand it, of students accepted to jmu and tech, they get 7, we get 3. sure, we have doubled in size since i graduated and with that our admit rate has gone from 35% to what? 70%. Va Tech admit rate has gone down and their commitment rate has gone up. i live in nova and va tech has elevated in perception while jmu has been stagnant. Va tech is a hot commodity while jmu his viewed as a solid choice.

as a proud jmu alum, that is revolting. dont get me wrong, we have made a ton of progress, & JMU > than VT every day - but JMU is still a sleeping giant in Nova perception. with student growth leveling off and the success of our athletic teams and new facilities, I am hopeful that our gem of a school becomes more widely known and in demand. Increasing applications (i know they have gone up the last 2 years), falling acceptance rates and increasing commitment rates.

commitments > than previous years / expectations - may be the first sign that perceptions are changing.

All good LH, I just thought by now there would have been a bigger perception change in NOVA.

I think your “perception” meter might be in need of an adjustment.

Since you graduated some 20+ years ago, have you spent much time on campus? “Stagnant” is a descriptor that definitely doesn’t apply to JMU.

PG is not entirely wrong regarding public perceptions in the NoVa region.

VT has invested a significant amount in setting up satellite campus graduate programs and partnering with Amazon. Would like to see JMU take similar actions and expand connections here.

IMO JMU should continue to work on expanding its D.C. presence for purposes of placing government and business internships, for both undergraduate and graduate students, however, a full-blown “satellite campus” in NOVA would require the kind of resources better used (and still needed) on JMU’s main campus. You’ve gotta know who and what you are, and play to your strengths. The Amazon NOVA connection to VT is a one-off, unique kind of deal, and has little to no impact on the generation of undergrad applications. People in NOVA easily seduced by the image of VT and what they “perceive” are quality academic programs are entitled to be wrong.

JMU’s undergraduate on-campus experiences and study-abroad opportunities still beat the ever-loving heck out of VT. It’s worth pointing out that JMU (not VT) remains an aspirational model for many similarly oriented institutions, and that JMU does not aspire to become another VT…or UVA, or W&M. Neither is JMU necessarily in competition with just VT for students, or the same kind of student. And that’s a good thing.

All JMU grads should be proud of their Alma mater, and reject the idea that VT has become the best measure of how to gauge JMU’s educational value. Current antidotal evidence in NOVA may sway some people, but in 2019 a study by the Wall Street Journal revealed that JMU was the #1 most recommended university in the country. Stanford was ranked #2, and VT #3. https://www.jmu.edu/news/2018/10/24-wsj-...king.shtml

There’s a reason JMU led that Wall Street Journal ranking. While there are many challenges still left to address in an effort to improve JMU, thoughts that JMU has somehow “stagnated” or slipped behind the competition are misplaced. JMU is better and stronger than ever.

The biggest thing JMU can do to fix the perception problem vs VT is expand our STEM and specifically Engineering programs.

VT offers 15 undergrad engineering programs (UVA has 11): Aerospace Engineering, Biological Systems Engineering, Biomedical Engineering, Building Construction, Chemical Engineering, Civil Engineering, Computer Engineering, Computer Science, Construction Engineering and Management, Electrical Engineering, Industrial and Systems Engineering, Materials Science and Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Mining Engineering, and Ocean Engineering.

VT is a top 20 undergrad Engineering school and top 10 in several specialties (Civil, Industrial & Systems and Environmental) and has 11,000 students 9,385 undergrad students and 2,168 graduate students. VT College of Engineering

Conversely we have just a basic Engineering program and as of 21/22 we had 453 students in the program. While our Engineering, ISAT and Science programs are all great, they aren't perceived as being nearly as big a deal or a top choice as some other VA schools, notably VT and UVA. Close that gap and we 'fix' a lot of the perception discrepancies.

I am trying like hell to get JMU to start a program to build tiny research satellites (think 5lbs and 3 liters in size) -- it'd be a great way to merge physics, engineering, and computer science, and depending on the science mission of the satellites, other fields such as astronomy, earth science, and whatever else comes up. it's well within the technical and financial reach of JMU, but it's really hard getting the decisionmakers' attention. Someone PM me if you know anyone at JMU who might be able to help me get that going.

Thanks!

take note JMU designers...a version of this (if not larger) replacing the APC would be super sweet

i'd pony up for those end-zone seats

(07-19-2023 02:45 PM)bcp_jmu Wrote:  take note JMU designers...a version of this (if not larger) replacing the APC would be super sweet

i'd pony up for those end-zone seats

Because they are box seats/chairbacks, or other amenities? I have noticed there is a trend now to build premium seating in endzones, including club areas, party decks, etc. Believe Troy fans posted this was one of the first sections to sell out.

FC Dallas has done something similar in Frisco. For soccer games, thats a happening area, and also has their El Matador fan club located in the corner (their version of section 109, but with instruments)

FC Dallas "endzone"/goal area. The canopy/shade is a nice touch for Dallas heat, not sure what that costs. A few football stadiums are starting to add similar features.



Northwestern's stadium renovation is super nice, but very pricey also (~800m for 35k capacity)

According to a blog post from Populous a few years ago the trend is turn end zone and corner seats into different forms of premium seating (lounges, bars, loges, boxes, clubs, etc.).

If you can’t sell them on a bad location as a chair back, you give them something the chair backs dont have with any one of those features.

JMURocks, I think NW nailed it on the head for a smaller school (8,000 undergrad which is tiny compared to the median B1G school) with wealthier alums to go for the premium but smaller stadium. I think all Bridgeforth would ever need is 35-40k so it would be nice to see us throw in new premium seating arrangements like beer gardens and the like. We’ll never hit Penn St. or TAMU enrollment levels so we don’t need a 100k stadium. Heck, UVA probably regrets making Scott 60,000.

NW is nice....though word here in chicagoland is that it will never happen...bigtime alum and bigwigs saying it does not represent the values of the university

I think we could do the corners and endzone even better than Troy....a little taller, a few more rows, love the colonade/pedestrian area - probably has bathrooms that are dedicated to just a couple thousand seats,nice.

Construction from the JMU Library Twitter. Some nice aerial shots to complement Deez’s pictures.

Deez, I hear if you set your phone camera to a 5 second countdown and throw it up in the air that you could add to your repertoire for construction photos without a drone. No hassle with getting drone permits. Go professional as Deez Pictures.

I would love to see JMU make changes to the APC that included some sort of seating.
One thing I would really like to see is some sort of change when it comes to the video board. It would be nice to have it in a place where everyone could see it.
Or perhaps put a smaller board in the other end zone. Hopefully a litter bigger than the original minitron.

Carrier addition is a little bigger than I expected. Looks like it may more than double than space. Anyone know the square footage change between old and new?

(07-20-2023 09:11 AM)JMURocks Wrote:  Carrier addition is a little bigger than I expected. Looks like it may more than double than space. Anyone know the square footage change between old and new?

Adding 56,887 sqft of new space and 138,224 sqft of renovations to existing space

Anyone have any idea of the timeline for completion of the first new Village Dorm? Would assume it will be ready for Fall 2024 classes?

Brian

^ doable if demo is fast....that's a large building - it may even be steel structure, but that's faster. It's a reasonable target and they will be sweating it a little next summer

(07-20-2023 10:51 AM)bcp_jmu Wrote:  ^ doable if demo is fast....that's a large building - it may even be steel structure, but that's faster. It's a reasonable target and they will be sweating it a little next summer

August 2025 is completion date. Demo is going on. Lived there 3 years back in the day, could watch baseball from our suite.

https://app.oxblue.com/cameras/bfd0282b4...ge-housing

oh good...there won't be much sweating then :)
that makes me think it won't be steel - you can do "4 stick over 2 concrete /CMU", that's my guess at least.

(07-10-2023 12:20 PM)POTUS#4 Wrote:  

(07-10-2023 09:42 AM)Deez Nuts Wrote:  demolishing a dorm comes at a tough time for JMU having had a surge in commitments this year resulting in more students enrolling than planned... we're soliciting proposals for 150 rooms to house students this year. Where are our Rockingham Hall/HoJo posters?

Yeah that's unfortunate. I was curious what JMU is looking for so went to look at the RFP. JMU says they're looking for one site as opposed to two or more. I'd be surprised if there are a lot of hotels looking to tie up that many rooms for the year. I would think most hotels near JMU (they're looking for hotels within 2 miles of campus and on bus line) are all booked up for many fall weekends at this point. They don't have much time - I hope it works out.

Well, JMU has given up on the hotel idea and will use triples instead. I had a feeling that the hotel thing wasn’t going to work out.

(07-22-2023 08:21 PM)POTUS#4 Wrote:  

(07-10-2023 12:20 PM)POTUS#4 Wrote:  

(07-10-2023 09:42 AM)Deez Nuts Wrote:  demolishing a dorm comes at a tough time for JMU having had a surge in commitments this year resulting in more students enrolling than planned... we're soliciting proposals for 150 rooms to house students this year. Where are our Rockingham Hall/HoJo posters?

Yeah that's unfortunate. I was curious what JMU is looking for so went to look at the RFP. JMU says they're looking for one site as opposed to two or more. I'd be surprised if there are a lot of hotels looking to tie up that many rooms for the year. I would think most hotels near JMU (they're looking for hotels within 2 miles of campus and on bus line) are all booked up for many fall weekends at this point. They don't have much time - I hope it works out.

Well, JMU has given up on the hotel idea and will use triples instead. I had a feeling that the hotel thing wasn’t going to work out.

Ugh, triples is an awful solution. JMU should be giving those students a 'discount' room & board b/c triples in dorms is absolutely horrible coarse of action. Seemed like the admission office and construction planners were clearly not in sync on this and dropped the ball badly.

(07-27-2023 08:33 AM)ShadyP Wrote:  

(07-22-2023 08:21 PM)POTUS#4 Wrote:  

(07-10-2023 12:20 PM)POTUS#4 Wrote:  

(07-10-2023 09:42 AM)Deez Nuts Wrote:  demolishing a dorm comes at a tough time for JMU having had a surge in commitments this year resulting in more students enrolling than planned... we're soliciting proposals for 150 rooms to house students this year. Where are our Rockingham Hall/HoJo posters?

Yeah that's unfortunate. I was curious what JMU is looking for so went to look at the RFP. JMU says they're looking for one site as opposed to two or more. I'd be surprised if there are a lot of hotels looking to tie up that many rooms for the year. I would think most hotels near JMU (they're looking for hotels within 2 miles of campus and on bus line) are all booked up for many fall weekends at this point. They don't have much time - I hope it works out.

Well, JMU has given up on the hotel idea and will use triples instead. I had a feeling that the hotel thing wasn’t going to work out.

Ugh, triples is an awful solution. JMU should be giving those students a 'discount' room & board b/c triples in dorms is absolutely horrible coarse of action. Seemed like the admission office and construction planners were clearly not in sync on this and dropped the ball badly.

They’ll pay proportionately less. But, I agree.

(07-27-2023 08:33 AM)ShadyP Wrote:  

(07-22-2023 08:21 PM)POTUS#4 Wrote:  

(07-10-2023 12:20 PM)POTUS#4 Wrote:  

(07-10-2023 09:42 AM)Deez Nuts Wrote:  demolishing a dorm comes at a tough time for JMU having had a surge in commitments this year resulting in more students enrolling than planned... we're soliciting proposals for 150 rooms to house students this year. Where are our Rockingham Hall/HoJo posters?

Yeah that's unfortunate. I was curious what JMU is looking for so went to look at the RFP. JMU says they're looking for one site as opposed to two or more. I'd be surprised if there are a lot of hotels looking to tie up that many rooms for the year. I would think most hotels near JMU (they're looking for hotels within 2 miles of campus and on bus line) are all booked up for many fall weekends at this point. They don't have much time - I hope it works out.

Well, JMU has given up on the hotel idea and will use triples instead. I had a feeling that the hotel thing wasn’t going to work out.

Ugh, triples is an awful solution. JMU should be giving those students a 'discount' room & board b/c triples in dorms is absolutely horrible coarse of action. Seemed like the admission office and construction planners were clearly not in sync on this and dropped the ball badly.

I was in a similar situation for my first semester. Believe they put 6 of us (3 bunk beds) in a room designed for either 2 or 4. It was a bit tight. Don't recall any adjustment/discount, but they did work to resolve it, and some of us were able to relocate the following semester. I remember being overjoyed at moving to a bluestone with only one other roommate.

Not sure if they gained additional capacity, or some students moving off-campus, etc. It wasn't the best situation, but we survived.

(07-27-2023 02:59 PM)JMURocks Wrote:  

(07-27-2023 08:33 AM)ShadyP Wrote:  

(07-22-2023 08:21 PM)POTUS#4 Wrote:  

(07-10-2023 12:20 PM)POTUS#4 Wrote:  

(07-10-2023 09:42 AM)Deez Nuts Wrote:  demolishing a dorm comes at a tough time for JMU having had a surge in commitments this year resulting in more students enrolling than planned... we're soliciting proposals for 150 rooms to house students this year. Where are our Rockingham Hall/HoJo posters?

Yeah that's unfortunate. I was curious what JMU is looking for so went to look at the RFP. JMU says they're looking for one site as opposed to two or more. I'd be surprised if there are a lot of hotels looking to tie up that many rooms for the year. I would think most hotels near JMU (they're looking for hotels within 2 miles of campus and on bus line) are all booked up for many fall weekends at this point. They don't have much time - I hope it works out.

Well, JMU has given up on the hotel idea and will use triples instead. I had a feeling that the hotel thing wasn’t going to work out.

Ugh, triples is an awful solution. JMU should be giving those students a 'discount' room & board b/c triples in dorms is absolutely horrible coarse of action. Seemed like the admission office and construction planners were clearly not in sync on this and dropped the ball badly.

I was in a similar situation for my first semester. Believe they put 6 of us (3 bunk beds) in a room designed for either 2 or 4. It was a bit tight. Don't recall any adjustment/discount, but they did work to resolve it, and some of us were able to relocate the following semester. I remember being overjoyed at moving to a bluestone with only one other roommate.

Not sure if they gained additional capacity, or some students moving off-campus, etc. It wasn't the best situation, but we survived.

Oh I hear ya.....and not really a question of surviving.....just sorta sucks if you are some of the unlucky ones to get the privilege of being tripled up.

(07-18-2023 08:41 PM)Longhorn Wrote:  Current antidotal evidence in NOVA may sway some people

LH out here poisoning the Campus Construction thread.