College system could bring big changes to Tufts

A potentially revolutionary "college system" is being recommended by The Task Force on the Undergraduate Experience as a method to create a more cohesive campus and improve student life. Although details of the plan have not yet been fleshed out by the Task Force, its effect on the University could potentially be enormous.

A residential college system would divide Tufts' student population into houses, allowing students to live with a smaller group of people within the University. Students would remain a member of their house for all four years at Tufts, and while living on campus, they would live in specific dormitories attached to their house.

Other universities with residential college systems include some of the best in the country, including Harvard, Yale, Princeton, and the University of Pennsylvania. Some schools, such as Harvard, have had their systems in place since the 1920's. Others, like Penn, instituted the college system as recently as five years ago.

At these schools, individual houses within the college system may include dining halls, common rooms, music rehearsal rooms, libraries and study spaces, game rooms, coffee houses, theaters and computer labs.

According to Task Force Chair Gilbert Metcalf, Tufts could implement some of the features of residential colleges as found in other schools, but it might not have the space or the funding to create a fully comprehensive system. Some changes would also be unpopular, regardless of the cost _ Metcalf cited separate dining halls as an example because the variety of dining options is considered a plus at Tufts.

The cost of constructing a college system at Penn was estimated at over $380 million, over a ten-year period. For the moment, however, elaborate plans for new dorm construction and massive renovations are being postponed while the school deals with funding problems, according to University spokeswoman Sue Smith.

"It's fair to say the exciting plans we had... are on hold" due to financial difficulties, Smith said. Penn has already spent $75 million on renovations to its quad, and expects to spend another $80 million this summer on renovations of three existing high rise dorms that house 2,400 students. But Smith said that after the current projects are completed, the more extensive plans will wait for more funding.

If Tufts institutes a college system, it will also be taking on a sizable construction project. Because a college system would limit students' housing options to dorms within their house, Metcalf said that all dorms would have to be renovated to the same standard.

Because of the magnitude of the project, the creation of a college system at Tufts would not be a short-term affair either, Metcalf said, and would take place within a six- to eight-year timeframe.

The Task Force's recommendations are expected to be the focus point of the University's next capital campaign that may start in the next few years.

The notion of a residential college system is exciting to Metcalf, who feels that it could be very beneficial at Tufts. Metcalf experienced the residential college system while he taught at Princeton. "The college system works very well at Princeton," Metcalf said. He said that a similar program here would allow students to have more contact with faculty, as well as give students a chance to get to know each other better. Residential colleges often have faculty advisors and tutors who live in the dorms to provide support for students.

For nine years, Tufts has experimented with a quasi-residential college. The Bridge program in Metcalf Hall attempts to create a more involved university atmosphere by featuring informal discussions with Tufts professors in the dorm.

Many students, however, have found the Bridge program to be less than successful. Last year, students complained that they did not notice any difference between Metcalf Hall and other dorms.

Although Metcalf _ the professor _ was not aware of issues in Metcalf _ the dorm _ he said that the problems facing the Bridge program could be avoided with sufficient planning. "If we're going to do something like this, we'll have to put together a carefully thought-out program," Metcalf said.

But in the end, he said, the Task Force's ideas are only recommendations, and that input from other groups will influence the final decision of what the final Task Force report says.