The Guest Services department has 23 apartment units to accommodate visitors.
Recently, Guest Services has expanded from its two previous Upper Stateside apartments, Tennessee and Mississippi, acquiring Kentucky in November.
Having accommodation available on campus has provided prospective students and families with a more complete experience of Southern’s campus.
“When we are having View Southern events, the families stay here in Guest Services,” said Sandy James, guest services and loading manager. “They previously stayed in hotels. If you are here to see the campus, what better way to experience it but staying on campus?”
Guest Services isn’t only for prospective students and families. It is also open for visitors attending main events on campus like SonRise, graduations and Asian Night. SonRise and graduation are the busiest times for Guest Services and they are usually booked six months to a year in advance because of the demand for the apartments. For this year’s SonRise and graduation, all the apartments are fully booked and apartments for May 2019 are soon to be waitlisted. Some students may not be aware that Southern offers this service to the community.
“If I would have known that Southern offered housing for guests, I would have reserved an apartment for my family that was coming for my graduation this May,” said Avonlea Bodi, senior industrial organization psychology major, “but luckily, I live off campus, and I have enough space to accommodate them.”
If you are interested in apartment pricing and reservations, contact Guest Services at (423) 236-7000.