A survey on the recommendations of the Committee on the First-Year Experience found that more than 65 percent of students do not support the establishment of primarily first-year residence halls.
The survey of 3,899 students, conducted as part of an education class by Ronald Kimball '97, received 787 responses. Of those 787 students, 161 supported first-year clusters, 514 were opposed to the idea and 112 were undecided.
Seniors were most likely to support primarily-freshman clusters, with 26 percent saying they were in favor of the idea. Twenty-two percent of freshman supported the recommendation.
Just 16 percent of juniors and 15 percent of sophomores said they supported the idea. About 63 percent of the juniors, sophomores and freshman surveyed said they would not consider living in a primarily-freshman cluster as an Undergraduate Advisor.
Dean of the College Lee Pelton, who chaired the Committee on the First-Year Experience, praised the "thoughtfulness" of the survey but said he was disappointed it did not ask students whether they had read the report.
"It is important to know [how many students had read the report] because it is important to know what base they are working from," he said.
Pelton said it was interesting that about 60 percent of students did not support first-year clusters while at the same time 58 percent of students said first-year clusters would not influence their decision to attend the College.
Kimball's survey also asked students whether they believe the implementation of primarily first-year clusters would help achieve the committee's goals, including increasing intellectualism outside the classroom.
The survey found the majority of students believed the goals of the committee were worthwhile but that primarily first-year residence halls would not help the College to realize most of these goals.
The survey noted that "the most significant factor in students' opinions seems to be personal experience." In addition, Kimball noted at the end of the survey that "a significant factor in opposition to [first-year clusters] is misunderstanding of the recommendations."
Pelton said the findings of the survey may indicate students understand there is a trade-off between having continuity and stability in upperclass housing and retaining mixed-class housing.
The plan proposes that upperclass students would live in the same residence hall cluster from their sophomore through senior years.
Pelton said the majority of upperclass students he had spoken to said they would forgo the stability and continuity offered by the first-year plan in order to retain mixed-class housing
"The other thing I've learned is that the report itself is perceived as complicated," he said. "With students it always takes a while to unpack the various recommendations and to see how the various pieces are placed together."
Pelton said there is not overwhelming student support for all recommendations. He said he will include students criticisms' in his final report that he hopes to release in May. He will bring his recommendations to the Board of Trustees in the summer.
