Ohio University administrators hope that in the future, residence halls won’t just be a place to watch TV shows or catch a few hours of sleep, but rather an extension of the classroom.
A group of OU administrators will meet Tuesday to brainstorm ways to integrate academic life into dorm buildings at OU in the future, starting with the two residence halls scheduled to open in 2014.
One idea that will be discussed will be “living and learning communities,” which would emphasize an academic presence in students’ living environments.
“When you require students to live on campus for two years, you want to make sure they’re in the right living and learning environment,” Vice President for Student Affairs Kent Smith said. “It’s not just about living here; it’s about providing the opportunity for students to learn.”
The living and learning communities should be attractive to potential students and help with student retention, but their primary goal is to increase student success, Dean of Students Ryan Lombardi said.
“The goal is not always just to hold onto students; it’s to have them thrive and do really well and succeed in their academic and co-curricular pursuits and then go off and do great things in jobs or graduate school,” Lombardi said. “And I think this has the potential to help contribute to all of those things.”
Although the idea is still at a very conceptual level, it could result in the creation of classrooms or seminar rooms within residence halls, space for faculty to live in residence halls or additional media equipment that would allow OU students to interact with students and faculty at other universities across the world.
“We’re helping you become a global student even though you’re right here in Athens, and you may be able to do that within the residence hall through the use of media,” Smith said. “That’s the kind of thing I think we have to look at: to totally change the scope of how we view residence halls. It’s not just a place where you live — it’s a place where you live and you learn at the same time.”
OU has precedent with several major-specific learning communities that are available now, including a learning community in Lincoln Hall for fine arts students.
The “Experience the Arts” learning community provides Lincoln Hall residents with an art studio, computer lounge with art and music software and equipment, rehearsal space for dancers and performers and equipment for theater students, according to the College of Fine Arts website.
“This is an exciting opportunity for us to be purposeful and intentional in how we design our new spaces for our students, and it’s wonderful to have academics on the table when we’re talking about residence halls,” said Wendy Merb-Brown, director of learning community programs.
bv111010@ohiou.edu
