DeKALB | Commuter and non-traditional students have two new places to call home while on campus.

The Commuter and Non-Traditional Student Services office moved to Holmes Student Center, Room 023, over the summer and in addition to the office, created a new non-traditional lounge where students have access to a refrigerator, microwave and coffee maker. The lounge also has tables and chairs where students can eat or study, couches for relaxing or watching TV and computers students can use throughout the day.

Another commuter lounge is located in the northeast corner of the Chick Evans Field House. This lounge offers similar comforts to those of the HSC lounge, but there are currently no computers. Instead, plans are in the works to set up wireless Internet access.

“The goal of [Commuter and Non-Traditional Student Services] is really creating these deliberate places for commuter students,” said Troy Melendez, director of Commuter and Non-Traditional Student Services. “Meeting their needs of having somewhere to keep perishable food throughout the day, a place to heat things up, a place to congregate and a place to get quick access to a computer.”

Nate Yankaitis, a junior psychology major and commuter student, has frequented the HSC lounge since the fall semester began. He and his wife commute from Cherry Valley and use the lounge as a place to store their lunch and study.

“It’s nice to have one spot that we can always meet at,” Yankaitis said.

In addition, the spaces serve as a news source for students not living on campus. It acts as a way to re-connect them to campus after they have moved out of the residence halls and they no longer have a community advisor posting things in the bathroom stalls or on their residence hall room doors, Melendez said.

The lounges were also planned as a place where students can get to know other students who are commuters or non-traditional.

“In addition to being a place where people can come for programs and services, there is a desire to build community in these spaces, helping students to build their own social communities and connect with other social communities that they might not have access to in other situations,” Melendez said.

Melendez would like to see students interacting and getting to know each other. As part of that, the department has created two new student associations, the Commuter Student Association and the Off-Campus Student Association as a way for these students to meet each other and voice their needs on campus.

“I think the department has been very friendly and helpful,” said Jessica Gorney, a senior sociology major. “They even sent me information about the lounges and services they offer before the semester started.”

Commuter and Non-Traditional Student Services will host an open house from 11:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 28, in HSC 23.

Stephanie Kohl is a Campus Reporter for the Northern Star.