Survey Nets
Recommendations for Smith's Housing System
Shortly after President Carol Christ arrived
at Smith last fall, she asked Maureen Mahoney, the dean of the college,
to "explore whether [Smith has] the optimal range of housing and
dining options for students and to consider the relationship of Smith's
residential system to the educational mission of the college." Working
with a student, faculty, staff, trustee and alumna task force, Mahoney
took a comprehensive look at long- and short-term options for housing
and dining, as well as the possibility of assigning housing according
to similar interests and the structure of supervision in the residences.
View
the report of the Residential Life Task Force >
The high response rate to a task force survey
conducted in October 2002 that asked all students about preferences
in dining and housing provided a significant amount of information
that helped
shape the direction of the project. The survey revealed that,
while a majority of students responding prefer to keep dining
and housing options
as they are now, a substantial minority (30–40 percent) would like
increased options.
According to its final report, "The need to retain
positive features of the current system while adding choices
that respond to the diversity of student preference continued
to be a theme in the
numerous focus groups and open campus discussion" conducted by the
task force during spring 2003. "A ‘one-size fits all' model
is clearly no longer adequate," says
Mahoney.
Although Smith's
house system has always had broad appeal and is one of
the college's many strengths, it has a downside as well. It works against
a broader feeling of community, Mahoney points out. "Students consistently
regret that they did not have greater opportunity to meet others from outside
their houses." Although the new Campus Center with its food court and various
lounges and activities is expected to be a lively gathering place, encouraging
activities across houses -- in programming, dining and the ability to move
to a new location -- would help students to get to know a broader and more
diverse range of peers. Making it easier for first-year students to move to a
new residence might also help retain those few who are unhappy with their housing
situations. Under the current system, such students have little choice but to
try to fit in or simply feel lonely and isolated.
Based on these findings, the
task force made eight general recommendations in
its final report:
•
Affirm that residential life plays an important role in the educational mission
of the college
•
Provide more options in housing and dining (including the possibility of theme-based
housing and an exploration of the trade-offs necessary to balance traditional
dining with other alternatives, including more flexibility in meal hours and
menus)
•
Increase faculty-student interaction in the houses
•
Increase student interaction among the houses
•
Facilitate students' ability to move between houses, both in living arrangements
and for dining
•
Build flexibility into the planning and implementation of residence and dining
assignments
•
Conduct periodic evaluation and assessment of housing and dining
•
Ensure collegewide planning and consultation for future house renovations
During
2003–04, the college will conduct studies of several of these recommendations
to assess their logistical and financial impact. -- AES
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