One of the priorities for Norwich University is to grow our student body. We have been working very hard to accomplish that goal, and I am proud to inform you we have been successful thus far. The number of cadets and civilian students has increased steadily.

With growth comes a need to provide more on-campus housing. Many of you have experienced the urgency of the housing situation on campus, finding yourselves temporarily housed in lounges and in Plumley Armory. Though not ideal, we have done what was necessary to give each student a space to call his or her own. However, putting students in temporary housing has been just that -a temporary solution to our housing challenge. In addition, I feel strongly that we should never again be in a position where students who have met their obligations and have been told they have a room are, during the summer, told that on-campus housing is no longer available. The only way to ensure that this does not happen is to increase on-campus housing capacity.

Our Board of Trustees recently approved a plan that will not only allow us to house more Norwich students on campus but will also address a need to make substantial improvements to a building that is currently showing signs of age while remaining popular as a student residence. I am referring to Crawford Hall.

As many of you may already know, there are major renovations planned for Crawford Hall that will take place this summer. Those of you who are familiar with Crawford can well understand how pressing certain issues have become in the building. The plumbing must be upgraded, the flooring is worn, and the walls need new paint. The entire building would benefit from various improvements, from making the common spaces more livable to rewiring the building to better accommodate today's technologies. Rather than settle for selective upgrades and repairs, the Board of Trustees decided to completely revamp Crawford Hall and transform it into a top-flight residential facility -a housing model for future residence hall improvements.

So, what are we going to be doing to make this transformation a reality when you return to campus in August? The objective behind the redesign of Crawford is twofold: to increase the number of available beds on campus and to improve the physical space of the current Crawford Hall. The most dramatic change planned to address these will be the addition of another floor to the top of the building. We will literally be raising the roof on Crawford and adding an additional floor of student rooms, bathroom facilities and common spaces. In total, we will be adding 5,500 square feet to Crawford.

One essential area of improvement will be the removal of the current bathroom facilities. The current bathrooms, which present a number of challenges from basic plumbing issues to hygiene, will be removed. In their place will be top-quality central bathroom facilities. These new bathrooms, though shared by more than two people, will offer the best possible amenities, ones that will meet the needs of our students far better than what is in the building today. These new bathroom facilities will also be cleaned regularly by our facilities staff, something that is impossible to undertake with the current bathroom arrangement.

Every new room, once the removal of the current bathrooms is complete, will accommodate three students. That makes it possible to add 80 new beds in Crawford, which will help us provide more on-campus housing for our students.

All the carpeting will be replaced with attractive, more durable, and easy to maintain tiles. The walls will all be repaired and will receive a fresh coat of paint. The entire building will be overhauled and updated. New furniture will be added to all the dorm rooms and common spaces. We will also be adding to the laundry facilities to insure there are adequate machines for all Crawford's residents.

I understand that the work scheduled for Crawford Hall is a marked departure from the current Crawford Hall many of you know today. However, with growth comes change, and with change comes the opportunity for improvement. The Board of Trustees and I strongly believe the new vision for Crawford represents a significant improvement to the quality of life of our students who call this building home for nine months out of the year.

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