Move-in, Olson renovations, students in lounges?

As the University of South Dakota enters its second week of classes, students have settled into campus and into their new homes away from home. 

This year however, was different than previous as Olson Hall is currently closed for renovations. These renovations have led to the consideration of alternative housing options, with the possibility of students residing in resident hall lounges instead of traditional dorm rooms. 

USD’s official move-in day was Aug. 21. Housing Director Tristan Beck said this year’s move-in process was successful, in part because of the help of student volunteers and the proper labeling of belongings on behalf of incoming students. 

“We had a lot of help from various student groups, organizations, and a lot of our sororities, fraternities, athletic groups came and helped, AWOL,” Beck said. “Also all the staff and faculty that volunteered their time as well to help with that process was very helpful to the university as a whole.”

Olson Hall in North Complex began renovations this summer and will remain closed to residents throughout the entirety of the 26’ through 27’ academic year.

The hall is projected to reopen to residents in the fall of 2027, and will include updated amenities as well as an elevator.

“From what I can see, it looks like they’ve been removing a lot of things that need to be removed, and they’ve been adding a lot of the things that look like they need to be added. So to me it looks like it’s progressing on track,” Beck said.

With Olson Hall closed, Housing had to account for the loss of residence hall space by increasing the amount of housing exemptions allocated. Beck said the housing exemption process is closely tied to an off-campus lottery system for students looking to bypass the mandatory two-year on-campus residency requirement.

“We’re essentially able to do what’s called a maximum occupancy exemption through the Board of Regents policies, to allow some people off campus because we knew we would have fewer beds. So that way we weren’t bursting at the seams,” Beck said.

In previous years, when the university reached a high occupancy, some students were assigned to live in residence hall lounges. This year, Housing prepared several floor lounges for occupancy, but Beck said traditional residence hall rooms were found for all incoming students by move-in day.

“It is more so just like a tool for helping people have more of a peace of mind, we have a space for you to live. And the goal is that by moving day, nobody’s in these spaces,” Beck said.

The lounges are currently closed and locked, but Housing is working to deconstruct the makeshift rooms and return the spaces back to communal areas for students.

“To turn them from a lounge into a student room, we put bunk beds in there, which students can choose to un-bunk, but we just try to give them more space possible. There’s armoires in there for storing clothes. And then, we put what’s called a micro chill, which is like a mini fridge microwave,” Beck said.

Beck said USD’s residence halls can currently house about 1,800 students. Once Olson Hall reopens, the university will be able to house roughly 2,100 students.