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The Times, Gainesville, Georgia | gainesvilletimes.com
Sunday, November 18, 2018 5A
Photos by AUSTIN STEELE I The Times
Left: Jay Long, left, a freshman with a major in Spanish
with a business emphasis, sits at a table with Diana Vele,
a junior political science major, in the Multicultural Student
Affairs resource center at the University of North Georgia
Gainesville campus on Friday, Nov. 16. Below: Libia Jimenez,
coordinator of Multicultural Student Affairs, stands outside
the University of North Georgia Gainesville campus.
HISPANIC
■ Continued from 1A
With a record 19,722
students at five campuses,
UNG’s enrollment increased
5 percent for the 2018 fall
semester, adding more than
2,000 students since the pre
vious spring.
With 8,160 students, the
Gainesville campus had the
highest enrollment of all
campuses.
Hispanics make up 22
percent of the Gainesville
student body, with 1,793
enrolled, up from 671 just
five years ago.
And this student demo
graphic accounts for 13.3 per
cent of enrollment univer
sitywide, with 2,629 enroll-
ees, a 2 percent increase
from the fall of 2016.
By comparison among
other minorities, the num
ber of Asian students
increased from 661 to 672
and the number of black stu
dents increased from 828 to
842.
Enrollment in the Uni
versity System of Georgia’s
26 colleges and universi
ties, which includes UNG,
totals 328,712 students, and
the average Hispanic enroll
ment across the system is 9.1
percent.
The trend lines are clear.
“That’s information all
universities and colleges are
looking at,” Paul said.
But preparing to meet the
demands the Hispanic popu
lation presents is an ongoing
challenge.
“Although sometimes I’d
like to be doing more for
that, I’m proud of the things
we are doing to prepare for
it,” Paul added.
The UNG Gainesville
campus provides many
different services to both
recruit and retain Hispanic
students, such as the Latino
Student Association, one of
the most active on campus.
For commuter schools
like UNG’s Gainesville cam
pus, participation in student
groups and activities is rare,
said Libia Jimenez, coor
dinator of Multicultural
Student Affairs and Latino
Success.
Other programs that sup
port Hispanics include the
College Assistance Migrant
Program, a first-year schol
arship for students from
migrant-working households
that provides academic,
social and financial support.
The Multicultural Student
Affairs office also works to
advise student groups and
support their endeavors.
“When you’re evaluating
your college, what’s won
derful about this office is
that it houses many cultural
groups,” Jimenez said.
Jimenez said bringing
UNG’s diverse student
body together is critical, for
example, because “issues
that affect me as a Latino
woman also affect my col
leagues and these students. ”
A focus on meeting the
needs of Hispanic students
has been a focus of the MSA
office, Jimenez said, and
that includes a new Spanish-
language orientation for stu
dents and their families.
Reaching out to address
cultural barriers and access
to education, particularly
within immigrant communi
ties, is one way the university
stays connected to the 42 per
cent of Hispanics that make
up the city of Gainesville and
28 percent of the Hall County
population — not to mention
the nearly 200,000 Hispan
ics residing in neighboring
Gwinnett County.
“Family is critical and
important to them,” Paul
said. “They may or may not
have been involved in their
(child’s) education” previ
ously because of language
barriers.
And as enrollment
increases, Jimenez said she
expects to see more support
services and outreach pro
vided to Hispanic students
through the admissions
office, the availability of
bilingual staff and broader
orientation sessions with
families.
“The need is there for the
majority of our students to
have these services avail
able in their native lan
guage, particularly for the
parents,” she added.
SCOn ROGERS I The Times
A development featuring three-bedroom cottages with rents of $1,650-
$1,800 per month approved by the Oakwood City Council has begun
on 2.3 acres at 2988 Frontage Road, near the Thurmon Tanner Parkway
entrance to the University of North Georgia.
HOUSING
■ Continued from 1A
2018. That’s a nearly 28 percent
increase since 6,391 in fall 2013.
Richard Oates, vice president of
the Gainesville campus, expects
that number to climb, possibly hit
ting 10,000 students by 2025.
“We’re looking at a healthy
growth of 31/2,4 percent... over the
next six to seven years,” he said.
The growth is “a combination
of several things,” Oates said. “It’s
natural growth of this region, with
the increase in high school gradua
tions in this area.”
New, trendy academic pro
grams also are a draw, he said.
And developers are taking
notice.
Oakwood has seen a steady
stream of rezoning applications in
2018, with many applicants citing
UNG’s growth.
Bill Stark Properties was one of
those.
Stark’s development will fea
ture three-bedroom cottages
with rents of $1,650-$1,800 per
month — or potentially up to $600
per roommate.
“There’s really a sore spot here
for not having housing for Uni
versity of North Georgia,” said
Gainesville lawyer Steve Gilliam,
representing Stark in a Sept. 10
meeting.
Stark said last week he hopes to
have the complex open by August
2019, in time for the fall semester.
A 348-unit apartment complex
off Mundy Mill Road got the Oak-
wood City Council’s first approval
Monday, Nov. 12.
“This property is designed spe
cifically to take advantage of the
growth of the University of North
Georgia (campus in Oakwood),”
said Kurt Alexander, principal
with The Residential Group.
The units would vary between
one and three bedrooms and be
spread out among nine buildings.
Also, the complex would feature a
swimming pool, an amenity area
and a small commercial area fac
ing Mundy Mill Road.
Alexander said after the vote
that if all goes well with the proj
ect, construction could begin in
the summer of 2019, with the first
apartments opening in the fall of
2020. The entire complex could be
finished by the spring of 2021.
He didn’t cite specific rents dur
ing his presentation.
Other projects, including town-
homes, have also been linked to
the student growth at UNG.
Students don’t typically buy
homes, but their parents might,
Brown said.
“If you go into some other uni
versity communities, you will see
people will purchase houses for
their kids to live in, then it becomes
investment property after they get
out of college,” he said. “It’s not
that uncommon.”
Brown also sees the student
growth at UNG affecting area
retail.
The area already boasts a num
ber of fast-food restaurants and
coffee places, as well as a college
textbooks store, Dorks.
The trend could intensify as stu
dents settle in as residents.
“I think you’ll see the Mundy
Mill Road corridor go through
some redevelopment leaning more
toward a student market,” he said.
Oakwood’s growth isn’t just stu
dent-related, said Frank Norton
Jr., president of Gainesville-based
The Norton Agency and real estate
market watcher.
Some of it’s related to South
Hall’s growing business and indus
trial base, he said.
Norton agreed with Brown’s
retail assessment.
“You’re going to see the need for
things that students need — quick
food, coffee shops, laundry,” he
said.
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