In a somewhat remote corner campus office, Ball State harbors someone who is something of a celebrity. When the topic is trends in student housing, Alan Hargrave, associate dean of student affairs and director of housing and residence life, is the go-to guy for the nation's education reporters.

He fields calls from the likes of the New York Times, Newsweek and, most recently, the Seattle Times.

"I get calls weekly, sometimes daily. If there is some housing issue going on locally, I often get a call," Hargrave said. "The questions are of local interest, but the reporter often wants an international perspective."

Hargrave is in a unique position to offer an international perspective despite his geographic placement in the heart of East Central Indiana. He serves as president of the Association of College and University Housing Officers–International, an organization boasting more than 900 college and university members worldwide who serve nearly two million students.

Right now the biggest focus is on building trends, Hargrave said. That is because universities are in the midst of the biggest building boom since the 1960s. The questions he fields often deal with what is "normal" in the world of university residential housing.

"A reporter will want to know if what the local university is doing is out of the ordinary," Hargrave said.

Something that comes up frequently is the idea that universities are catering to students, offering them "luxurious" accommodations in the new buildings going up on campus. Hargrave tries to set the record straight when he speaks with reporters.

"It's not luxury in the Donald Trump sense," he said with a laugh. "It's simply more than their parents had. It's more than four cinder block walls."

Hargrave explained that universities are competing for students, and one of the factors students consider is the quality of the residence they will occupy.

Ball State is focusing on those factors in the construction of the new East Residence Hall, Hargrave said. The design was developed with knowledge gained from years of experience working with students and staff in residential communities. Student input was also collected and will be incorporated in the design of the new structure.

Hargrave was happy to point out some of the more interesting features that will encourage the building's future residents to develop a greater sense of community.

"We know we are very good about helping students build community horizontally on floors," Hargrave said, "but not so good about building community vertically among floors."

To address that problem, the new building will include two-story lounges that will encourage students from two adjoining floors to share space and get to know one another. In addition, stairwells will be out in the open, not hidden away, with windows in the stairwells and lounges that will allow everyone to see who is coming and going.

"This building will be short, only four stories, very human-scale," Hargrave said. "In very subtle ways, the design of the building will encourage interaction."

The process of students interacting with one another, building relationships and having a sense of community in their residence halls is important to Hargrave. He has been a housing and residence life professional for more than 20 years, starting as a resident assistant (RA) when he was an undergraduate.

"It is such a dynamic profession. With 7,000 students in Ball State residence halls and apartments, I can no more predict what my day will be like than I can predict the winning lottery numbers," he said.

In addition to directing his staff in housing and residence life, Hargrave has taken on the role of associate dean of student affairs; teaches a graduate course in adult, higher, and community education; and, in October, began chairing the retention task force.

Despite all his other professional responsibilities, Hargrave continues to find being director of housing and residence life a positive challenge.

"I have a real passion for it," he said. "It gives me the opportunity to get to know student life from a number of viewpoints. From the student point of view, obviously, but from the administrative viewpoint and even a glimpse of what faculty see. It's a lot of fun, and it gives me a chance to solve problems in a creative way on a daily basis."