Dorm plan faces short-term obstacles

In its implementation, officials must address student attitudes and physical limits of residences. Nearly a month after the release of the University's new residential plans, it appears that -- in the short run, at least --Eseveral formidable obstacles challenge the successful creation of 12 college houses by next fall. For the plan to be an immediate accomplishment, the physical limitations of the current residences and prevailing student attitudes about dorm life will need to be addressed. Elements of the plan like multi-year housing and increased residential programming may be hard to implement given the dorms' physical state. Some buildings, particularly in the Quadrangle, have a scarce amount of common space for community activities and currently lack the type of rooms that would attract upperclassmen. As part of the plan, the University has committed to renovating some of the residences, particularly the older portions of the Quad and the interior of the high rises, over the next decade. In the meantime, the University will do some short term residential improvements by next fall in order to provide apartments for additional faculty and graduate fellows and a new dining hall for one of the high rises. But the more expensive and complex renovations planned for the next 10 years are integral to the success of the residential plans, Art History Professor David Brownlee indicated in his report last spring. That report serves as the basis for the current residential plans. College junior Rachael Goldfarb -- who, as chairperson of the 21st Century Project Undergraduate Advisory Board, served on Brownlee's committee -- said the "quick fix" renovations planned for next fall are a start but will not be sufficient for the project to succeed entirely. But the complete renovation of campus residences should provide adequate support in the long run for the programs outlined in the plan. But the physical limitations are not the only challenges facing the new plans. In order for the program to succeed, administrators, faculty and students connected with the project must change long-standing student perceptions about the residential experience. Since the plan's release, some students have objected strenuously to the idea of integrating academics into dorm life or mixing students of all years into one college house. Others predict that the new system won't change anything. To some extent, this split is reflected by the program facilitators, who maintain that the program will go a long way toward improving residential life, but stress that no students will be forced to eat in their house's dining hall or attend programs. The system won't destroy anyone's residential experience, they argue. Participation in any of the new programming features -- from house-specific activities to academic support options available within the residences -- will be entirely voluntary. Residential Faculty Council Chairperson Al Filreis, who serves as faculty master of the Van Pelt College House, said the program's success does not depend on 100 percent student participation. The program will have little effect on uninterested students, he said. "We have created a system where there are houses of low-level involvement and houses of high-level involvement," he said. "For people who want low levels of involvement nothing will really change, but for people who want high levels of involvement they can have it." Yet while criticism of the plan based on opposition to the new programming may be based on a faulty understanding, negative student attitudes could still prevent the plan from having its intended impact. While administrators expect residence life to flourish under the plan, exciting new programs are unlikely to develop in dorms that now lack them if students don't think they can succeed. And the multi-year houses can only come to fruition if all undergraduates choose to reconfigure current residential patterns -- which will require students to overcome their initial pessimism about the plan. Administrators admit they expect the current housing patterns -- freshman concentrated in dorms like the Quad and upperclassmen mostly in the high rises -- to continue for at least the next few years. But can the program be both a successful, high-involvement forum for some students and a hands-off experience for others? Filreis explained that since there are hundreds of students in each college house, there will always be "student activists" to make sure that programs exist, even if other students do not wish to participate or take the initiative. At the same time, he added that a baseline of support like tutoring and computing aid will be available.

Please note All comments are eligible for publication in The Daily Pennsylvanian.