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Renovated Dorm to Serve STEM High Schoolers

  • By Dian Schaffhauser
  • 07/23/21

A college in Huntsville, Ala., has just undergone a $6 million renovation. The first guests in the 100-room facility at Oakwood University will be high schoolers attending Alabama School of Cyber Technology and Engineering (ASCTE), which draws students seeking advanced engineering and cyber technology studies.

Oakwood is a private, historically black institution owned and operated by the Seventh Day Adventist Church. It has an enrollment of about 1,600 students. ASCTE is a public, state-magnet residential school specifically for students in Alabama with 150 students during the 2021-2022 school year, in grades 9-11. According to local reporting, the latest work was a collaboration between the two schools.

Peterson Hall at Oakwood University
Source: Oakwood University Photography

The structure was built in 1955. With completion of the renovation, the building now features 52 private rooms, four suites, meeting rooms, an auditorium, a business center, a laundry and vending areas and a sauna and exercise room.

About 60 ASCTE students are expected to move in next month. The room and board are free and will accommodate those STEM students who live outside of the area.

The expectation is that next year, the high school students will move to a different building currently under construction elsewhere in the city. Peterson Hall will then become a residence hall for university students.

About the Author

Dian Schaffhauser is a former senior contributing editor for 1105 Media's education publications THE Journal, Campus Technology and Spaces4Learning.

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