A six-page form and faculty recommendations will be required for entrance into Metcalf's Bridge Program this year, making the procedure more stringent than in the past. Before the change, students simply had to check a box on a Residential Life form to indicate their preference for Metcalf.
The application includes short-answer questions asking what programs prospective residents would like to see, and why they feel the Bridge Program is appropriate for them. The program is intended for students who want a dorm experience which includes dialogue about current affairs and increased interaction with faculty.
Residence Life Coordinator Dean Gendron said the change is actually a re-introduction of Metcalf's original application. The system is designed to ensure that students are truly interested in the Bridge Program.
"There are two fundamental components to Bridge's success - faculty collaboration and an atmosphere that is not only tolerant of intelligent discourse, but celebrates it," he said. "The application...asks students to be introspective about their individual commitment to the mission."
Several Metcalf residents, however, were not happy with the reinstitution of an application system. Sophomore Marta Selinger, a former Metcalf resident, said she preferred not having to fill out an application for Metcalf.
"I thought they did away with the whole application to encourage people. It surprises me that when they brought it back they made it twice as complicated," Selinger said.
Junior Eric Mitton said the requirement of a faculty recommendation was the least desirable addition. "The whole idea of getting a faculty sponsor is really unnecessary, because for certain students who are in engineering and such, many of their professors don't know them on a personal basis," Mitton said.
Some students said the faculty recommendation requirement is a burden on freshmen who don't necessarily know their professors on a one-to-one basis.
But Gendron said the faculty recommendation is the part he's most excited about. He said he didn't believe the application would discourage students from the Bridge Program. "It has been my observation since Bridge was born in fall '92 that this campus attracts more than enough students who are genuinely interested in the mission Bridge champions."
Other additions to the application were met with a more positive reaction, including the short answer questions regarding student preferences. "I think that having short essay questions ensures that people don't use it to just get into a really nice dorm in the center of campus," he said.
Most students asked were not planning on reapplying to Metcalf next year, but said this wasn't a result of the new application. Instead, many students aren't aware of the program in the first place. Many students even replied "What Bridge Program?" when questioned on the experience.
Metcalf veterans nostalgically compared this year's lack of programming to the plethora of speakers in past years. "We had a speaker every week, sometimes twice a week," Selinger said. "You could tell that the RAs were trying very hard."
In past years, though, RAs were helped by a Scholar in Residence, which Metcalf does not have this year. Regardless, the task of being an RA in Metcalf often isn't an easy one.
"My RA last year said she really liked living in Metcalf, but that the amount of programming was enough make her decisively against doing it again," Selinger said.
Gendron said there were other staff shortages and fewer resources available for the Metcalf staff this year. He said that the program will pick more functional next year, with a new Scholar in Residence.
"There is a contagious enthusiasm in Residential Life and the Dean of Students Office to get back on track with last year's success."
