Members of the 2010 freshman class will have the option of living in one of three new Living Learning Communities.

Residence Life will be adding three new LLCs to the list of residence halls beginning in fall 2010 after the success of the social justice community and global understanding community this past year.

LLCs are sectioned residence areas where students with a common academic interest live together and take at least one class together during their freshman year.

The themes of the new communities will be natural science, honors, and business and leadership.

Christy Brown, residence director of Teresa Hall, said there was a noticeable increase in student interest and Residence Life had to turn people down.

Between five and 10 students who applied to live in the LLCs this past year were denied entrance into the program due to limited space, Brown said.

“I know a couple of people who wanted to be in the LLCs, but because of space they were turned away or waitlisted,” said Amarette Edmonson, sophomore and resident assistant of the global understanding community.

Junior Laura Sandoval, resident assistant of the social justice community, said that the increased interest in the LLCs is partially because of the recruitment of incoming freshman by students in last year’s communities.

“My freshman year, we did not have to recruit students from the next class,” Sandoval said.

Brown said Residence Life chose these themes after making a presentation to the different schools on campus and by soliciting proposals. The School of Natural Sciences, the School of Management and Business, and the Honors program all responded positively.

The School of Natural Sciences wanted to form a natural science community primarily to aid the schools’ retention rates, said Richard Kopec, professor of computer science. The natural sciences learning living community will be located in Le Mans Hall.

Barbara Filippidis, director of the Honors Program, said that the program chose to form an honors community to create a strong sense of community among students.

“It’s also an opportunity to work with them outside of the classroom,” Filippidis said.The honors community will be located in Dujarié Hall.

The School of Management and Business chose business leadership as a living learning community theme to follow the mission of the university.

“We want to expose students to additional leadership opportunities in the Austin communityand elsewhere,” said Helene Caudill, director of New College BBA Program and associate professor.

If enough students apply for the business leadership community, which will be located in Basil Moreau Hall, the School of Management and Business is willing to create two communities.

This spring, professors, academic counselors and hall directors will plan the classes and projects the students will partake in next fall.

Brown said that they would plan some parts of the LLCs during the fall semester in order to consider the students’ interests.

 “We base our speakers on what the students identify as interests,” Jen Wichman, resident director of Dujarié Hall, said.

Students who live in the LLCs attend class, monthly dinners and service projects together.Both the natural science and business and leadership communities require students to join at least one student life organization.

“The School of Natural Sciences is hoping to get the science students involved with the natural science organizations,” said Brown.

Residence Life has funded the two current LLCs through funds from the Teresa Hall and Dujarié Hall budgets, but academic affairs will fund the communities next year.

The School of Natural Sciences is also seeking funding for the natural science community through a grant from the National Science Foundation.

Kopec said that the School of Natural Sciences submitted the paperwork for the grant in September and that it would be another two months before they know whether they will receive the grant.

Residence Life has yet to hire new resident assistants for the new LLCs, because the application process is ongoing.

Brown said that many factors contribute to resident assistant selection including the unique qualities of each building.

“Someone might work really well with the global understanding community but not fit into the Teresa Hall community,” Wichman said.

Current students will not be able to participate in the new LLCs because the program is only open to new freshmen.

While Brown said that an LLC for upperclassmen is not in the immediate future, she did not rule out the possibility.

“We want to get the five communities for the 2010-2011 school year working,” Brown said, “If they are successful, who knows.”