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Volume 130, Number 1 |
July 14, 2009 |
News
The reorganization
CLASS: A new plan for Student Life
Posted 01-14-2009 at 10:02PM
Ben Levinn
Senior Reporter
Introduction
Gathered at a Lake George resort in the heat of early July, members of the Institute’s administrative leadership sat down to go over a detailed review of the residential systems in place at five other northeastern colleges and universities. The schools in question (featured on the opposite page) represent a diverse set of educational methods, community environments, and academic portfolios. Four of them share similar models of residential “clusters”: distinct sub-organizations of on-campus residence options that allow for additional opportunities for community affiliation. The fifth doesn’t have such a setup, but had recently underwent a major reformation of its greek life program.
The five studies were compiled by Laban Coblentz, the president’s chief of staff and the associate vice president for policy and planning; Prabhat Hajela, the vice provost and dean of Undergraduate Education; Eddie Ade Knowles, the vice president for Student Life; Jim Nondorf, the vice president for Enrollment; and Bill Walker, the vice president for Strategic Communications and External Relations. Together, the studies constituted one of the first concrete steps towards the implementation of a wide-reaching new vision for the Division of Student Life at Rensselaer. The initiative, dubbed Clustered Learning, Advocacy, and Support for Students, had been approved earlier this year by both President Shirley Ann Jackson’s cabinet and the Board of Trustees. Its goals were to improve the quality of the student experience at RPI by growing the support mechanisms for both undergraduates and graduates, fostering more communities that students could relate to throughout their tenure at the Institute, and more tightly integrating the academic and residential experiences to create rich living and learning environments. |
