Subject: Programming and Support notes Date: Fri, 24 Sep 1999 00:10:12 -0400 From: "Shawn K. Kelly" Here's what we have so far. The last few sections need to be written. . . The current residential system fosters strong communities within the individual living groups. These communities provide a preliminary structure for campus wide interaction, while also contributing a strong base of support for students. Student happiness here It is essential that the residence system encourage interaction between all members of the MIT community, including undergraduate and graduate students, alumni, faculty, and staff. Interactions of this sort, while sometimes spontaneous in nature, often require an additional degree of organizational support. The idea is not to force interactions, but to break down the barriers that prevent these interactions and increase the total number of possibilities. Goals Quotes from other sources Examples of current good things Address any relevent points from RSSC 8888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888 Smaller communities as building blocks Sarah's idea of gears - desgrees of separation certain groups tend to interact with each other more Interaction both between residential communities and other members of the greater campuswide community Community structure as starting point for more intentional support structure fo r students The happiness factor - if they aren't happy they won't learn The residences can improve and maintain the happiness by offering formal and informal interactions (students and trained supporters) Campuswide comm interaction should be encouraged Programming within residences and programming between residences Support for students How to get the community involved in various events - programs Community - grad students, faculty, alums UG's Peer advising and support 8888888888888888888888888888888888 Goals: Increase amount of community interaction All aspects of community FSILG's and dorm interaction - partnerships Improve and strengthen both formal and informal forms of peer advising, '''nonpeer advising encourage and support independent leadership within the dorms - govn't ideas for implementation for goals - suggestions for programming that will accomplish our goals: create rlslp position who works with frosh class council to create programs that foster interaction - offer ideas here dorm govn't should take a more proactive role in inviting faculty to their livi ng group same for FSILG's class council sponsored interactions student govn't sponsored interactions faculty house fellows- $x in funding to research, pool of money for faculty to use to do things with their house residential programming board as part of student life council, chaired by programming coordinator for residential life Faculty-student interaction. Many documents have established the need for a stronger commitment to faculty-student interaction. [quote from task force]. MIT students are surrounded by some of the world's most prestigious and enthusiastic professors, yet many students have never even spoken personally with a member of the faculty. In turn, the faculty wonder why they are so distant from the students whom they see each day in class, but who rarely approach them with questions. Currently, MIT has implemented a few programs to improve the situation, but more and better support is needed. The House Fellows program has brought a handful (insert numbers? 10? Matt will ask) of faculty in contact with undergraduate residential life; the housemasters of dormitories provide another handful of involved faculty. However, both of these programs are woefully undersupported by the administration. House Fellows The House Fellow program needs to provide an incentive and a means for faculty to get involved. The program coordinator for residence life should work hand in hand with students to seek appropriate house fellows for the individual cultures of each residence. Faculty who volunteer for this program should be compensated in a manner similar to freshman advisors; that is, they should receive on the order of $1000 in research grants. Ideally, the number of house fellows should be approximately the same as the number of GRTs in the dorms and FSILGs. The administration must provide more financial support for programs and events sponsored by the house fellows, both because of the increased participation, and to allow more significant programming. The range of programming should include academic, cultural, social, real-world skills, community service [edit this]. Faculty could arrange trips to Red Sox games, the Boston Pops, hiking, service days, or even just dorm study breaks or house activities like installing a hammock. House Masters To facilitate residential programming, the administration should provide staff support for housemasters. This support should be in the form of one half-time assistant for each housemaster; seven full-time or fourteen half-time staff members would be required for the current system, at a cost of approximately $250,000 per year. These support staff could assist faculty in the day-to-day dealings of the residence, and in planning student events for the residence, leaving the faculty with more time to interact with students. The current event funding level for housemasters is adequate, and should be maintained. Other Faculty Subcommittee ***FOO*** of the Student Life Committee will be responsible for events and programs to encourage student-faculty interaction. By sponsoring events and by facilitating student implementation of events, (yuck!) the subcommittee can generate interaction between students and faculty, both inside and outside of the residences. Promising events include student-faculty gatherings in the Bush Room, faculty invited to dinners or study breaks at livi ng groups, and family-friendly events such as carnivals or picnics. The Subcommit tee should have a budget of $100,000 per year for such events, and they should also provide grants to residences for community-building and intellectual events. GRTs In addition to their current student support role within the living groups, the GRTs and RAs should plan and implement residence-wide and campus-wide event s. Each tutor should be responsible for one dorm-wide social or educational event per term. In addition, the tutors of each dorm should collectively be responsible for one campus-wide event, held outside of the residence hall. The ORLSLP will provide appropriate funds for GRT events. Community-wide Events Regular campus-wide events maintain and foster campus-wide community. To this end, living groups shall be responsible for one event per year which is open to the community and held outside of the living group. These events need not be large enough to accomodate the entire community, but should be of interest to a variety of students, faculty, staff, and alumni. Occasional larger events may be co-sponsored by several living groups. To facilitate planning of these events, MIT needs to reorganize its administrative structure to engender cooperation amongst the various program coordinators, e.g. CAC, athletics, departments, living groups, ORLSLP. Weeknight events, such as "Tuesday night at Baker," should be encouraged. Professional Development Peer Advising and Support Rewards and Recognition