New deans set to oversee dorms

The 12 college house deans are being trained to handle their administrative and academic roles. When undergraduate students return to on-campus residences in the fall, they will find a number of new faces leading them into the college houses of the 21st century. Alongside the twelve faculty masters -- one each for the University's 12 college houses -- and the accompanying faculty fellows, the University has named the dozen house deans that will be responsible for both the administrative and academic support within each of the houses. The college house plan -- announced last October -- calls for the organization of the University's dormitories into 12 college houses with increased staffing and support services. The house dean position replaces the administrative fellow and assistant dean in residence positions in many of the houses. "No team of leaders could bring together more talent and experience than the new house deans," Director of College Houses and Academic Services David Brownlee said. "Working with them has already been a pleasure for us, so the students can look forward to a strong start for the college house system." Brownlee said that "well over 100" applications were received for the 12 open slots, for which the University conducted a nationwide search. Five of the new house deans -- Sonia Elliot of DuBois College House, Jane Rogers of Goldberg College House, Tracy Feld of Hill College House, M'Hamed Krimo Bokreta of Kings Court/English College House and Deborah Yarber of Spruce College House -- previously held ADR or administrative fellow posts at Penn. Others, including Hamilton College House Dean Roberta Stack and Community House Dean Rick Cameron, held other posts within the University's residential system. Although several of the other house deans are new to Penn, administrators insist that their unfamiliarity with campus will not be a problem. David Fox, associate director of the Office of College Houses and Academic Services, said that the recent arrivals to Penn will bring "new blood and new vision" to campus. And Brownlee emphasized that all of the deans -- regardless of time previously spent at Penn -- are currently undergoing several weeks of intensive training to ready them for their new positions. "For the new-timers and the old-timers alike, much of this is new information," he said. And already many of the deans are using those resources to prepare programs and activities to set their houses apart from the rest. Harnwell College House Dean Leslie Delauter plans to make the house a "more comfortable, attractive and usable space," by creating a library in the High Rise East rooftop lounge where students will find both the reference books and the cups of coffee they will need to survive late night study sessions. In the Quadrangle, Rogers plans to give students a larger role in the house through establishing a "student-run house governance structure." Similar bodies already exist in residences like Hill House, which adopted the college house format before the concept went University-wide. Ware College House Dean Katherine Becht -- who applied to become a house dean after serving on a University committee examining Penn's academic support services -- said that getting those services to students will be her "top priority." "[Penn] has a myriad of high quality resources to enrich the college experience for every student on campus, but many students do not take full advantage of them," she said. "I believe the college house system will make these resources easier to navigate and more accessible." And for old college houses that will not have to adapt heavily to the new system, this is a time of optimism. "Many of the old college houses were forever blazing trails, which is fun, but tiring," Hill House's Feld said. "Now, many of those trails are not only blazed, but also mapped and paved, and there are new travelers coming up behind us and next to us."