Housing & Residence Life

Campus North Residential Commons

5500 South University Ave Chicago, IL 60637

  • 8 Houses
  • Room Types: Singles, Doubles, Apartments
  • Dining Hall: Baker Dining Commons
  • Built: 2016

This signature facility, designed by Studio Gang, led by renowned Chicago architect,  Jeanne Gang,  was constructed in collaboration with Mortenson Construction. Ground was broken on the project in 2013 and the facility opened for students in Autumn 2016.

Campus North Residential Commons is located in the northern part of campus, a few minutes walk from the main Quadrangles. The Hall houses eight vibrant communities, each with their own complement of Resident Heads and Resident Assistants, charged with community building.  The Hall has Resident Deans,  who act as intellectual stewards for the residents.

Together with Smart Museum and Court Theatre, Ratner Athletic Center, and the Henry Crown Field House, Campus North Residential Commons is considered the gateway to the campus.

Assistant Director of Residence Life: Mason Harrington

Assistant Director of Operations: Brian Dodge

Standard Room Furniture:

  • XL Twin Bed
  • Dresser
  • Wardrobe or Closet
  • Desk and Chair

Resident Deans

James and Jeannie Evans, and three daughters.

James and Jeannie Evans

Resident Dean Campus North Residential Commons – East

James and Jeannie have served as Residence Deans for Campus North Residential Commons-East since Autumn 2016.

They fill their lives with adventure; they enjoy everything from snowshoeing through Jackson and Washington Parks to swimming in Lake Michigan, as James has even been known to do in the winter. As Resident Deans, the couple share their love of adventure and the city of Chicago while connecting with students and their passions.

James and Jeannie grew up in Southern California and met at Brigham Young University, where James earned a BA in Anthropology and Economics and Jeannie received a BA in Political Science. Jeannie earned her Juris Doctor degree at Harvard University and James earned his MA and Ph.D. in Sociology at Stanford University. James is an associate professor of Sociology, Director of the Knowledge Lab, and Senior Fellow at the Computation Institute. He also directs the new two-year master’s program in computational social science as of fall 2016. Jeannie is a trial lawyer at Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro LLP, a national class-action and complex litigation firm.

Steve Rings and Jennifer Iverson

Steven Rings and Jennifer Iverson

Resident Dean Campus North Residential Commons – West

Jennifer and Steve are both Associate Professors in the University’s Music Department. Jennifer is writing a book about synthesizers, while Steve is writing a book about Bob Dylan. They both teach courses in the Core, electives on subjects ranging from popular music, to avant-garde jazz, to disability studies, and train PhD music graduate students.

Jennifer and Steve both hail from Minnesota, Jennifer from a rural farming community (she is a first-gen college student) and Steve from Rochester. They earned PhDs from University of Texas (Jennifer) and Yale (Steve). Early in his career, Steve was a classical guitarist who lived, taught, and performed music in the Portuguese Azores islands. Together Jennifer and Steve are parents to four remarkable children: Elliott, Ian, Della, and Theo.

As Resident Deans, we enjoy introducing students to our amazing city, taking residents to operas, ballets, sporting events, and local concerts. We also host an open stage performance series called “Music@CampusNorth” and encourage shared music listening with our “Album of the Week” series. We regularly host self-care events such flower arranging to encourage relaxation and de-stressing. Our signature events include a Welcome Back Carnival and a graduating seniors yacht cruise on Lake Michigan. Building relationships with students is the best part of this job.

House Communities

East

  • Yuen House Shield
  • Boyer House Shield
  • Behar House Shield
  • Dougan-Niklason House Shield

West

  • Rogers House Shield
  • Strongin  House Shield
  • thangaraj House Shield
  • Trott House Shield