Res. Living to oversee OCL

The Office of Off-Campus Living has been placed under the Department of Residential Living, Associate Vice Provost for University Life Larry Moneta said last night. Former OCL Director Eleni Zatz Litt recently left her position to serve as director of student advising for the Wharton School. Moneta said he had considered the integration of the two departments for a while and found this the perfect time to complete it. "I have always felt that the residential opportunities for students were too fragmented because there isn't enough collaboration and cooperation," he added. "This will create a much closer linkage between on-campus and off-campus." Residential Living Director Gigi Simeone is taking over the direction of OCL. Simeone said the OCL offices, located at 4046 Walnut, will remain where they are for now, and that the change will be "invisible to students." "We intend to maintain the same quality of services," she added. Moneta said students would not see changes to services over this semester, but that Residential Living staff will evaluate the integration and how to best deliver services both on and off campus. "I don't have a fixed outcome," he said. "We will do an in-depth assessment of how the services can be delivered and by the end of the semester we will determine that." The change of jurisdiction is part of a larger plan to streamline services offered by Residential Living and similar departments, Simeone said. "When the University has talked about streamlining, off-campus is part of that," she said. "It will all be under the same umbrella now. It will be completely together instead of two different departments." The move will also affect the University administration's future plans, Simeone and Moneta said. The administration's undergraduate education initiative includes a major residential component in hopes to combine academics with residential life. Simeone said the combination of OCL and Residential Living will involve students who live off-campus in this part of the initiative. "I really want to make these services comprehensive," Moneta said. Currently, Residential Living staff members are holding discussions with those working in the OCL office. In addition, many have gone to the OCL office to "learn about what's going on and fill in for [Litt]," Simeone said. "We have to figure out what the long term structure will look like," she added, saying that she did not know if staff members from Residential Living would remain in the OCL office, or if OCL staff would come into Residential Living.