U. outlines sweeping changes to residential life

Two reports propose a new system organized around multi-year "communities," along with majro renovations. The vision for residential life at the University developed over the past year will transform campus housing into multi-year "residential communities" that unify living and academics while maintaining the high level of student choice already available. Administrators will release the recommendations of two studies of University housing today, and the plans will serve as the framework for a series of changes to the physical structure and programmatic aspects of on-campus living. The Biddison Hier consulting firm -- which the University hired in August 1996 to analyze the condition of current facilities -- offered a plan focusing on structural changes to the buildings that could support more community-based residences. And a report from a committee chaired by Art History Professor David Brownlee detailed programmatic aspects of the residential communities, building on Biddison Hier's recommendations. Administrators hope implementation of the new system will strengthen a sense of community -- which Vice Provost for University Life Valarie Swain-Cade McCoullum called "one of the gems of the Penn experience" -- and increase students' choices of living options, while providing academic and advising support systems within the residences. Building on the reports and on existing programs, the new system aims to integrate academic and residential life. "Academic work and academic life are a seamless whole," the Brownlee report states. "Real human community and face-to-face contact remain vitally important to intellectual life." When the recommendations are implemented, campus housing will be divided into about 16 "residential communities" of 400 to 500 undergraduates. Administrators envision an erasure of the existing boundaries between first-year housing and upperclass living. Students of all years can choose to live in the community they prefer -- some of which will be based around common interests or academic pursuits, like the existing college house and living/learning programs, but others will not. Each community will house students of all years. For example, a community in the Quadrangle could include typical first-year style double rooms alongside a few three-bedroom apartments with kitchens and bathrooms for upperclassmen. While some buildings -- due to their location and configuration -- might appeal more to upperclassmen than freshmen, and vice versa. The goal is to create a much more mixed environment, administrators said. The officials involved in the plans emphasized that students will retain an unparalleled range of choices. No one will be forced to live on campus -- moving into Greek houses, or off campus altogether, will still be an option -- but the reports aim to change the residential system so that more students want to live in it. "The proposal is simple and flexible," Brownlee said. "Students must be able to choose their environment in order for it to be successful." Every community will provide certain functions to all on-campus residents, including around-the-clock advising and academic support in disciplines like math, writing, computing and foreign languages. The communities will also all include study and common space and computer labs, and officials plan to provide designated areas for each community in the dining halls around campus. The system will also need to attract faculty into residences. Each community will house a faculty master, other professors and a resident dean. The deans would oversee administrative aspects with the assistance of student staffers. About 10 graduate students will live in each community, supplementing residential advisors and assisting the faculty in residence. With the implementation of communities, administrators hope to encourage an additional 10-12 percent of undergraduates to remain in campus dormitories. The current residential system is about 88 percent occupied, and administrators expect a 95 percent occupancy rate under the new system. Most of these communities will be located within existing dormitory buildings, which will undergo major renovations to meet new functions included in the recommendations. Although demolition of the high rises was one of the options considered, administrators confirmed that the buildings will remain standing. Renovations and new construction will completely overhaul and redesign the inside of the high rises, each of which could contain two or three communities. Administrators also foresee new apartment-type housing and retail sprinkled throughout Superblock to create a more vibrant, "village" feel. The Quad is also targeted for major renovations, which will allow it to house several communities. Other existing dorms -- like King's Court/English House and Hill House -- could accommodate the reports' recommendations without many structural changes. During the renovations, the Sheraton Hotel at 36th and Chestnut streets -- which the University bought last fall -- will serve as a temporary dorm. The Brownlee committee's recommendations stem from research conducted by Biddison Hier over the past year, including focus groups and interviews with students and faculty. Their findings indicated that both students and faculty would want to live in on-campus housing organized around community models that provided important services and programs. But those core functions will be available to all students, even those who choose to move out of the residential community system, according to English Professor Al Filreis, who chairs a council of professors who live on campus and worked on the reports. By the fall, administrators will have a rough timetable for implementation, Provost Stanley Chodorow said. Business Services Director Steve Murray said he expects completion of all the projects to take about 10 years. Officials said they don't know how much the projects will cost, or exactly how they will fund them. But Chodorow said the administration is firmly committed to the plans. "This is an exciting vision, but an expensive vision," said Executive Vice President John Fry. "I don't want to have to strain my academic resources to fund it." Administrators will begin to develop a financial model within the next few weeks, and a list of funding options will be available by September, Fry said. "The quality of the two reports and the ambition at Penn speaks highly to the commitment the administration has made to residential communities," said Associate VPUL Larry Moneta.