Dean of the College Lee Pelton has organized the Task Force on Undergraduate Social Life to examine the social options available to Dartmouth students and make any recommendations for change by the end of the term.
All undergraduates will receive Pelton's letter explaining the task force in their Hinman boxes today. The letter specifies Pelton's intentions for creating the committee.
"In particular, I will ask the Task Force to pay special attention to social options available to first and second-year students-especially on weekends. It is important that late-night weekend activities provide safe and diverse opportunity for all students," Pelton writes in the letter.
"I want to the task force to review the current status of undergraduate social life, identify opportunities for improvement and make recommendations to myself and to [Dean of Student Life] Holly Sateia," Pelton said last night in an interview with The Dartmouth.
Pelton said he is particularly concerned about social options available to freshmen and sophomores.
"Once students get to their junior and senior years, they tend to have found their place on campus," he said. "First and second-year students are still exploring."
In Pelton's letter, he points out that Dartmouth has spent a considerable amount of money in recent years expanding facilities to better meet the changing needs of Dartmouth undergraduates.
The letter cites the renovations of the Collis Center and Robinson Hall as examples of these improvements.
In addition, the implementation of a student activities fee has allowed the College to allot substantial amounts of money to numerous student organizations on campus, including the Programming Board.
While these enhancements have helped to improve the quality of student life, Pelton said, it will be beneficial for the newly-formed committee to examine the process.
"I will ask the task force to submit its recommendations no later than the end of the Fall term," Pelton writes in the letter.
"Periodically it's useful to conduct an assay of the status of student social life," Pelton said.
In order to represent student social life in its many forms, members of the task force were chosen from a wide spectrum of College organizations, Pelton said.
"We've tried to represent every single aspect of Dartmouth social life," said Kristin Canavan '97, who will co-chair the task force.
Director of Health Resources Gabrielle Lucke will co-chair the task force with Canavan.
The task force also includes Director of College Dining Services Pete Napolitano, Health Services Program Evaluator for the College John Pryor, Assistant Dean of Residential Life Deb Reinders, and student representatives from Asgard, Dartmouth United and the Student Assembly.
Pelton said the students on the task force outnumber the administrators by one.
Canavan said she was contacted by Dean of Student Life Holly Sateia over the summer about co-chairing the committee. She said she believes the process of evaluation using student input is important to the College.
"We're going to evaluate what the resources are and possible ways of enhancing social life for the students," Canavan said. "I think it's a really good idea. Even if it reveals that students are happy with the social options at Dartmouth, then it's good for the school to know that."
Lucke was out of town and could not be reached for comment.
