When OSU-Cascades opens its new west-side campus next fall, students will find classrooms, study spaces and labs, but no dorm or dining hall.

The university said this week it has decided on a staggered approach to completing its 10-acre, four-year campus. While an academic building is set to open in fall 2016, the residence and dining halls won’t be ready until January 2017. As a result, administrators are working to arrange for transitional housing and regular meals for students who planned to live in the dorm.

The campus is located off the SW Century Drive and Chandler Avenue roundabout, from which the three-story frame of the academic building is now visible. Work on the foundation of the residence hall is underway, while only preliminary progress has been made on the dining hall, which will also hold additional classrooms.

Director of Communications Christine Coffin said a legal challenge to the campus’ development limited the school’s ability to move forward on the entire campus at once. Because the housing and dining buildings generate revenue for the university, they also require more in-depth financial planning, Coffin said.

As a result, the university moved ahead first on the academic building in the summer and didn’t begin building the other two structures until this fall. While they won’t be complete until 2017, Coffin said the exteriors should be done when classes start, and some ground floor spaces may be ready.

Originally, the university intended to open its campus this fall, but decided to delay its opening due to the legal challenges. A number of rulings have been made in the university’s favor, and the case is currently before the Oregon Supreme Court, which hasn’t yet signaled if it will review the case.

Coffin acknowledged the staggered opening “does make the recruiting picture different,” but added, “We’re not the first university to manage transitional housing for students.”

The dorm will be able to accommodate 300 students, but the university is expecting only 100 students to live on campus in its first academic year.

“We’re in conversation with (Central Oregon Community College) and area hotels and other long-term housing providers, but we haven’t contracted with anyone yet,” Coffin said, adding that some hotels are “very conveniently” located near the campus.

While students may not have a traditional campus experience during the first 10 weeks of school, Coffin said the school is doing everything it can “to make students feel very connected to fellow students, faculty and student life.”

“We have a team working on what those 10 weeks will look like in terms of building camaraderie, developing floor traditions, movie nights, outings to the ice skating rink and Halloween night,” Coffin said. “We’re trying to make it an experience that is not separate from the rest of their university experience.”

To make sure students don’t go hungry, Coffin said the university may work with catering services or shuttle students to some meals.

“No matter what, we know it needs to be convenient for students,” she said. “Well-fed students do better in class.”

To help offset the inconvenience, the school is looking into what Coffin called “attractively discounted (housing) rates and dining plans.”

— Reporter: 541-633-2160, tleeds@bendbulletin.com

Editor’s note: This story has been corrected. In the original version, the year when an OSU-Cascades academic building is set to open was incorrect. The Bulletin regrets the error.