The Class of 2019 will be the first to experience a “neighborhoods” system, which will give upperclassmen housing in the same residential cluster for three years, residential education director Mike Wooten said.
The College will introduce “living learning communities” in the fall, Board of Trustees chair Steve Mandel ’78 announced March 21 in an email that also confirmed the “neighborhoods” system.
The “living learning communities,” open to upperclassmen, will include current affinity houses and new residential communities based around a common theme, but they will also offer a design-your-own option.
“Our real goal is to maximize the strength of community at Dartmouth,” Wooten said. “How we interact and how we live together has to motion toward the mission and goals of the College.”
Wooten said he envisions the system to work alongside the D-Plan, so a neighborhood’s rotating residents may recognize common faces after an off-term.
“We are working hard so that when you are here, you have a consistent pattern of knowing your neighbors,” Wooten said.
He said a full transition to the “neighborhoods” system could take up to 10 years.
Wooten said he hopes outside architectural firms will submit design recommendations by fall 2014. Any construction projects, including renovations, will be decided after a firm is selected.
The firm, Wooten said, will help the College understand what works and does not work with its current system, and it will collaborate with faculty and various administrative units, including campus planning and facilities, the office of residential education and the provost’s office.
Three “living learning communities” — which relate to entrepreneurial skills, global topics and LGBTQ issues — will launch in the fall, and East Wheelock will be relabeled as a “living learning community.” Other College affinity houses will be considered “special interest communities” within the program.
Students will also have the option to design their own communities.
Meghan Chamberlain ’17 said that she submitted a proposal for a river conservation community. She said the 16-person group, members of which are involved in the Ledyard Canoe Club, was interested in preserving rivers to continue kayaking and canoeing in the future.
Each design-your-own community will have an advisor and residency expectations like required workshops, trips or events.
The plan aims to connect students with common interests, promote residents’ personal and intellectual development and increase student and faculty engagement outside the classroom.
Five students interviewed expressed cautious optimism for the “neighborhoods” system.
Diana Salsbury ’15 said the office of residential life would have to level the quality of housing options for the system to work effectively.
Philip Son ’16 said he believes that the housing changes will bolster the sense of community in Dartmouth’s residential housing.
“I think it’s a good system because it’ll create a community that you can always go back to,” Son said.
Abby Reynolds ’17 said she thinks Dartmouth needs more community-oriented living spaces, but she is unsure if “living learning communities” will be effective, as people may use them as a way to live with friends.
The office of residential education is also considering improvements to faculty and graduate student housing options, Wooten said.
Similar systems are touted at other Ivy League universities.
Yale University assigns freshmen to one of 12 residential colleges before they arrive on campus, and students remain affiliated with their residential colleges throughout their time at Yale. Harvard University students, individually or grouped by blocks of friends, are assigned to houses after freshman year.
