The Residential and Social Life Task Force released its June 24 report to the Trustee Steering Committee for the Student Life Initiative, containing the 30 proposals submitted by students, graduate students, faculty and administrators, to the public yesterday.
The 47-page report includes background information on the Initiative and summarizes the submitted proposals and feedback on "the perceived substance" of the Initiative.
It also includes Student Assembly resolutions and College administrative mailings. An appendix contains the 30 complete proposals submitted to the Task Force.
Acting Dean of the College Dan Nelson said the report summary cross-indexes the proposals so that the original documents can be consulted.
In an interview with The Dartmouth, Trustee Peter Fahey '55 laid out a timeline for the Initiative.
He said the members of the Trustee Steering Committee will meet in Hanover in two weeks to discuss the report. It will submit a finalized proposal to the Board of Trustees by the end of the fall for changes to take place as early as next spring.
Dean's Area Working Groups composed of College deans and administrators compiled four of the proposals. An additional four came from Dartmouth Outing Club affiliated groups such as the Organic Farm and Ledyard Canoe Club.
Although student reaction to the Initiative was largely centered around Principle 3, which calls for the substantial coeducation of residential areas, few of the received proposals directly discussed this Principle's possible implications on the Greek system.
Of the 23 proposals that discussed Principle 3, many recommended that the social scene offer more options for students including pubs, dance facilities, decentralized dining and improved recreation facilities.
One proposal skirted the Greek issue by denying that change was necessary to coincide with the Five Principles. It calls for "recognition that the [Greek] system is already 'substantially coeducational.'"
An administrative group including Dean of Student Life Holly Sateia, Collis Center and Student Activities director Mark Hoffman, Assistant Dean of the College Lisa Thum and Assistant First-Year Dean Gail Zimmerman, contained a different opinion on single-sex organizations.
Single-sex organizations can exist at the College, the proposal states, but only if they are non-residential.
Principle 5, regarding alcohol use, was the least addressed in the proposals but the topic for which the suggestions were most similar.
The Task Force divided the proposals on the fifth principle into three different groups - education, social space and policy.
On policy, the report states that "the College should take the stance that alcohol will always play into the lives of college students," although it calls for further education and more responsible drinking habits.
The Dean's Area Working Group on the alcohol issue - including Hoffman and Dean of Residential Life Mary Liscinsky - says changes to College policy may have little effect on the culture associated with drinking, including keg stands and the "boot and rally" mentality. The proposal states that "the group does not believe that any policy can address such deeply inbred issues."
The working group recommends that a bartender be hired for all alcoholic events held by campus organizations and any event attended by more than six students, an idea seconded by a proposal by the College Committee on Alcohol and Other Drugs.
The CCOAD proposal also includes the suggestion that all first-year students receive 12 hours of education about alcohol and other drugs, completion of which will be compulsory for graduation.
Separate first-year student housing was proposed by six groups including an administrative group consisting of Liscinsky, First-Year Dean Peter Goldsmith, Residential Life Director Lynn Rosenblum and Associate Dean of the College Janet Terp.
Class of 2002 survey responses are also included in the appendix of proposals, which returned, among other things, an overwhelmingly negative reactions to the idea of first-year housing.
The report also includes a section regarding other suggestions introduced in the proposals outside of the Five Principles.
The most frequently mentioned were academics, the D-Plan, improvements to campus climate, upgrades to health services, examining the student support network, environmental recommendations and improved computing facilities.
