Dean of the College Lee Pelton will allow the Student Life Task Force, formed earlier this term in response to his call for an examination of undergraduate social life, to submit its final report Winter term instead of at the end of this term. Kristin Canavan '97, who co-chairs the committee with Director of Health Resources Gabrielle Lucke, said she and Lucke requested an extension of the deadline because the group will need more time to examine the complex issue.
Canavan said an extra term will allow the group to conduct more research and receive more support for any recommendations they make.
The committee's current approach involves surveying different student groups to determine their views of social life at the College, Canavan said.
The task force plans to present Pelton with "an assessment of where we are and recommendations to go from there" this winter, she said.
John Pryor, the College's coordinator of evaluation and research and a member of the task force, said the group will hold a public meeting early next term.
Pryor said the task force is "trying to go by more than just the people in the task force by bringing in the whole Dartmouth community."
Pryor said he has worked with the task force on the use of focus groups in research.
"I've talked to them about research on undergraduate life, since that's the area I work in," he said.
"We've looked at how students define social life and how to measure their satisfaction," he said, since opinions of Dartmouth social life vary according to how each individual defines the term.
"It's a huge and complicated issue," Phillip Lord '97, another member of the task force, said.
"Right now we're figuring out the best ways to collect information and put it together," he said. "It takes a lot of time."
Lord said the committee has met with several student organizations, including the '99 and '00 class councils, and they have scheduled other groups to meet with early next term.
He said the task force has broken down into groups which will explore different aspects of social life, including the use of social space and the role of the Greek system.
Each group is presently doing independent research on a specific topic and also attending the task force's weekly meetings to report on their progress, Lord said.
"We haven't really talked specifically about recommendations that we will make," Lord said. "We've raised issues."
Tikia Hamilton '98, a member of the task force said the committee is trying to "pay more attention to the voices of students."
"My only concern is that people take it seriously and report their complaints," she said.
The task force is comprised of about 12 members, the majority of whom are students.
