The Social Life Task Force Implementation Committee has already effected some of the recommendations made by the Task Force Committee, and the committee is currently discussing other proposals.
The Task Force, created by Dean of the College Lee Pelton in the fall of 1996 to assess the state of undergraduate social options, released recommendations on improvements to the College's social scene last spring. The report, written by Task Force co-Chairs Kristin Canavan '97 and Director of Health Resources Gabrielle Lucke, was based on an extensive survey administered last winter to over 1,000 students.
The report called for later hours in College buildings, as well as more creative use of campus space and diversification of social options.
Implementing the report's proposals is going to be a "very complex task," said Director of Student Activities Mark Hoffman, a member of the Implementation Committee.
A significant portion of the report dealt with the strong influence of the coed, fraternity and sorority houses in campus social life and methods of altering this influence.
One idea includes creating more "low-risk drinking environment[s]" like Lone Pine Tavern, Hoffman said.
Part of this change will require "getting student groups to interact across traditional boundaries," and "changing people's attitudes, feelings and culture" about social life on campus, he said.
According to Hoffman, one of the hardest tasks for the committee will be implementing a "change in student culture."
Dean of Student Life and Chair of the Social Life Task Force Implementation Committee Holly Sateia said the committee plans to have a dinner Spring term to address the issue of "fragmentation" on campus.
She said with the assistance of various student organizations working on the fragmentation issue, the committee hopes the dinner's open forum will initiate student suggestions that will assist the implementation committee with the proposal.
The committee has been talking to student groups around the College, Sateia said, particularly "culture-specific groups," because the Task Force's findings revealed many minority students at the College, especially African-American students, are "less satisfied with their social lives" than other students.
The committee has also implemented several other proposals this year.
This year's increase in the Student Activities Fee was one of the first proposals established. The report recommended an annual increase in the fee from $35 to $40 as a way of helping to fund many of the other proposals.
The committee also implemented the suggestion of extending the Kresge-Manley weight room hours, Sateia said.
Currently the implementation committee is working to "identify a policy to refine fundraising for student groups," Hoffman said.
Another of the committee's current projects is to draw more students into the Collis Center. The committee wants to "increase ownership of the building by students" with alterations such as improving the game room and making the first-floor lounge into more of a social space, Hoffman said.
During the Winter Olympics this week, Hoffman said he plans to have a television in the broadcasting events from Nagano, Japan.
One of the committee's first goals for the year is to ensure that all the College's departments have received copies of the Task Force's report. Once all the departments on campus have received the report, the committee also wants to ensure they read and understand the recommendations.
According to the committee's minutes from their meeting last week, "small teams" of two to three members of the committee "will contact the various departments mentioned in these recommendations to follow up with them to see what has happened since the report was issued."
By the end of this term, Sateia said, the committee will prepare a report to give to Dean of the College Lee Pelton, which will outline what the implementation committee has accomplished.
Other faculty members of the implementation committee include Lucke and Assistant Dean of Residential Life Mary Liscinsky. The student representatives on the committee are Case Dorkey '99, Frode Eilertsen '99, Jessica Ross '00, Kristina Klebe '01 and Rodrigo Mazon '00.
