Several summer Student Life Initiative committee groups have submitted their recommendation reports to the Dean of the College and the Provost, who will share the reports with the Board of Trustees at their meeting later this month.
The six committees focused on adjudication, social alternatives, social and dining facilities, hazing, alcohol and other drugs and athletic and recreational facilities.
"They are all different processes, coordinated to a certain extent, but with a lot different timelines," Senior Associate Dean of the College Dan Nelson '75 said. "I would expect that all facilities related reports to be reviewed in the context of each other."
According to Student Assembly President Jorge Miranda '01, the committees have been meeting regularly this summer and are in different stages of submitting their reports. While some committees will continue to meet Fall term, others have already finished their reports, such as the social alternatives group.
New social options
The social alternatives group is basically looking at things that can be done within the next half year to three years to improve student life, committee member Molly Stutzman '02 said.
One overarching recommendation to bolster current social options is the possibility of providing alcohol at events. Stutzman said different groups on campus, other than Greek houses, could register a party and rent out dance space, such as in Westside for example, and have alcohol present.
The group was charged with creating more social options by better using existing space in Thayer Dining Hall and the Collis Center until major Initiative sponsored changes -- like physically building more social space -- take effect.
According to Stutzman, proposals for Thayer included turning Westside into a kosher deli and dance floor space, which could be rented out to student groups.
The underutilized Hovey Grill space in the basement of Thayer could be turned into a quiet study space, Stutzman said. Though previous plans envisioned a social lounge, a structural analysis revealed the room could not withstand a high level of activity.
The group also suggested creating a sports bar with a big screen television, comfortable couches and platters of junk food in the room adjacent to the billiards room in the basement of Collis as well as opening Collis Caf on the weekends.
Other recommendations included reducing fees for different gym and art classes and refurbishing Tom Dent cabin so it could be used for retreats.
The idea of a weekly community hour was also suggested, Stutzman said. The goal was for the vast majority of students to be free at a common hour in the week by not scheduling class or sports practice at that time. Such an arrangement would make it possible for the campus to be available to attend an important speech or other timely activity.
Athletics
Recommending plans for improving athletic and recreational facilities at the College was the mission for the athletic and recreational facilities committee, chaired by Nelson. The report has already been turned into the Provost's office.
According to committee member Nina Markey '02, Centerbrook Architects designed three different plans to expand the athletic and recreational facilities on campus.
We distinguished among the proposals and supported the one calling for the expansion of Alumni Gym, Kresge Fitness Center and Davis Varsity House onto the Red Rolfe baseball Field adjacent to Memorial Field, she said.
"You get the most for the money that way rather than building a whole new separate [facility]," she said, noting some controversy may result over relocating the baseball field to Sachem Field to accommodate the new structures.
The 380,000 square foot increase in floor space would almost double the current extent of the facilities, Markey said.
Additional recommendations include upgrading both the varsity and recreational the fitness centers and constructing a new 50 meter pool to replace the current one.
More indoor recreational basketball and volleyball courts, rooms for the martial arts and dance, multipurpose activity rooms, classrooms and meeting rooms were also included in the recommendation report, Markey said.
Finally, expanded locker rooms and sports medicine facilities as well as a juice and snack bar and lounge were recommended to accompany the other expansions.
Nelson is also the chair of the adjudication group charged with establishing a single overarching judicial system for all student organizations and a hazing group to develop a more stringent College policy.
The reports for the hazing and adjudication committees are due to the Dean of the College at the end of Fall and Winter terms. These committees plant to meet throughout Fall term, Nelson said.
Student nominations to these Initiative implementation groups started in the beginning of Summer term, Miranda said.
"In my campaign, I talked about the importance of including students in implementation process," Miranda said, noting this summer he tried to make the selection process more open to public.
