College life just got a little “suiter” for about 180 University of Wisconsin-Parkside students who will live on campus.

Pike River Suites residence hall is the latest addition to the school’s array of living facilities.

Unlike the dormitory setup of Ranger Hall where up to 25 students on one wing share a central bathroom with several showers and toilets, the $17 million project features suite-style living arrangements where four or five share one common bathroom and shower.

Most suites feature two rooms, with two people per room. Dayrooms outside the suites on the first floor feature expanded living areas with a flat-screen television and comfortable furniture and a microwave. Down the hall is a computer lab, laundry area, full kitchen, conference room and fitness center that will have a treadmill, weight machine and stair stepper.

Whatever you do, don’t call it a dorm.

“A dorm is about a place to live, but a residence hall is a community,” said DeAnn Possehl, director of student life. “A residence hall brings people together with a common cause and builds on the community concept.”

Ranger Hall, completed in 1997, was the last time Parkside had built a place for students to stay.

The new building can house up to 250, and so far 180 people are signed up.

Ranger Hall had been overflowing with no lounge or a place to quietly study. The new residence hall gives that room back, plus provides plenty of space for newer students moving into the suites.

All told, Parkside has room for 1,100 students to live in-residence — about 23 percent — but Possehl said plans include bringing in more people to stay on campus. When she first started at Parkside in 1988, there were only 400 places for students to stay.

She said eventually Parkside would like to grow to as many as 1,400 on-campus residents.

“We believe the more people stay on campus, it makes them more community-oriented and gives them a bigger allegiance to the school,” Possehl said.

The new residence hall was designed with students in mind, and at least four of them were on the committee that made the initial plans.

Furniture for each room was added so student residents could design their living space in several different fashions. The beds can be separate, turned into bunk beds or turned into a loft-style arrangement so other furniture can fit underneath.

Although the living space is about the same as Ranger Hall, “one of the benefits here is the walk-in closet,” Possehl pointed out.

Students have the option of bringing in their own television and buying their own cable, as well as a dorm-size refrigerator.

Although freshmen move in Sunday from noon to 4 p.m. and the rest of the students on Tuesday, Pike River Suites had some students on hand Friday for residence assistants training. The RA’s were running through different scenarios as to how they would work with students who live in the different facilities.

The general consensus was Pike River Suites was a big improvement.

“It’s new, it’s nice and it’s very comfortable,” said Cedric Griffin, 18, a sophomore from Burlington. “I lived in Ranger Hall last year, so I’m not going to say one is better or different, but I do like it. I’m looking forward to my air conditioning working.”

Lana Chenoweth, a senior from Burlington, had a special reason to be excited, since she was on the planning committee.

“This is my baby, so I’m extremely excited,” she said. “The common areas here have very nice furniture, and that makes you more comfortable. It’s going to build a strong sense of community here.”