As summer approaches, students will be moving out of the dorms to either head home or sublet over the next few months. During this time, the dorms are filled with a wide range of inhabitants, many of whom are unknown to the student body.
\We have about 90 groups over the course of a summer ... anywhere from 13 to 16,000 guests in about 10 weeks,"" said Sharon Seagre, UW-Madison director of conference services for University Housing.
Approximately 80 percent of those put up in University Housing over the summer consist of SOAR students and youth programs, including athletic camps, music camps and pre-college programs while the remaining 20 percent are research-based adult groups, Seagren said.
A unique group Seagren mentioned, who stay for two days in the summer, is called Grandparents University.
""Grandparents and their grandchildren come and take classes together and stay in Sellery Hall,"" Seagren said. ""They go around campus and learn about campus life.""
According to Seagren, various summer groups stay anywhere from two days to the full 10 weeks and encompass all ages from eight through 70-plus.
UW-Madison Associate Director of Housing and Food Service Bob Fessenden said all five cafeterias serve diverse menus to satisfy tastes of the different age groups.
Fessenden said the adult conference groups are served an upscale version of the academic year-they have seafood, steak, prime rib and tenderloin. Youth-group
menus feature simple foods like macaroni and cheese, pizza, hot dogs and hamburgers.
""We used to feed all our youth camps the same menu as ... the academic year,"" Fessenden said. ""Five or six years ago we got complaints ... they were more interested in comfort foods.""
As far as private dorms, Executive Director of Private Residence Halls Margaret Watson said ""We run the whole gamut ... everything from athletic camps to senior citizens that come up to different high school groups.""
This summer, Watson said the Statesider, the Highlander and the Langdon will be closed for remodeling, while the Towers and the Regent will house the numerous groups.
UW-Madison junior Jenny Greene shared some of her experiences working as an RA with the Madison Senior Scholars in the Statesider last summer.
Greene said a group of senior citizens came up from Florida to escape the heat and partake in a number of activities.
""There were classes provided for them Monday through Friday at classrooms located in the Statesider and in the Towers,"" said Greene.
Although Greene said the group could be grumpy, picky and demanding, she said. ""It is the nice ones that you become friends with that make it worth while.\
