Residence Life Enhancements for 2011-12

Fall 2011 Housing Options

[PowerPoint with Photos of New Hall Available]

With the blessing of a new residence hall on campus for Fall 2011 comes the ability to reassess the current residential experience and to dream about ways to enhance life at LETU; we have the opportunity to evaluate our facilities and to identify best uses that address solutions for both. At the end of this evaluation process and after conversations across the University, the ResLife team has evaluated and affirmed many aspects of the residential program and has also recommended a few changes in living areas to serve the broad student body well. Our hope would be that the new options are a net gain for our entire student body: they meet real needs, generate new leadership and service opportunities, add overall variety to the options available, and continue to match the needs we have with the best facilities to fulfill them.

For this next academic year, here are the exciting programmatic needs and desires we are pursuing: (1) International Housing, (2) Single Occupancy and Graduate Student Housing, and (3) Honors Program Housing. These enhancements will create opportunities to serve the evolving needs of our residential population and are just the beginning of our commitment to adapt to and serve the unique populations that choose to make LETU their home.

The most obvious change to use our space most efficiently for these enhancements is that we are asking the men of the Quads and the women of Davis 1 to relocate to the first and second floors of the new residence hall. At this time, those two areas are the only living areas invited to make a transition in their entirety; the remaining vacant spaces on the first two floors of the new hall will be divided between returning students (not whole floors or large groups from floors) and new students. We are not planning on opening the third floor at this time.

Items evaluated and goals affirmed:

Commitment to Quality and Excellence – LETU has consistently invested in–and the Board of Trustees recently affirmed–the residential campus. This includes all of the “ physical plant”: residence halls, athletic facilities, classroom space, and student community space. In the coming months and years, you will continue to see enhancements to these facilities as we strive to provide excellent resources and an inviting environment for our residential and commuter students in Longview.
- Translation: We want to make sure you have a comfortable and enticing campus.
Minimal Disruption – while this might seem obvious, the ResLife staff seeks to make the greatest impact with the smallest actual change to the existing structure. Often, what may be best from a facility standpoint is not “best” overall simply because the domino effect or potential disruption to traditional student life is perceived as too great.
- Translation: We will do our best to avoid what most people would consider to be major changes, but sometimes, we have to act in a way that some could perceive as significant, and we just have to make the best of it.
The Benefits of Floor Unity, when balanced with (1) the complementary desire to build campus unity, and (2) the acceptance that regardless of the intensity of our own personal experience, some of our students do not desire to be a part of a floor with such an intensive community-building floor component.
- Translation: We want to highlight the positive aspects of floor unity and design our spaces to enhance it, but we want to avoid the pitfalls of exclusivity or of forcing it on folks.
Intergenerational Housing – While research outlines both pros and cons of freshman-only living areas, we affirm the LETU heritage and the academic and developmental benefits of students of every classification living and learning together in our residence halls.
- Translation: We will not create freshman-only living areas.

Here were some dreams and considerations:

We desire to add to the variety and scope of residential areas on our campus to meet with the changing needs of our evolving student body.
We desire to create an optional space for intercultural dialogue and temporary international student support.
We want to create an open and inviting environment throughout campus to ALL students, regardless of their background or experience: international, older, younger, studious, social, independent, transfers, and commuters alike.

New Options

International Housing

In consultation and collaboration with our international leadership (as well as benchmarking and researching the latest best practices, we believe that our current efforts to meet the needs of our international students could be enhanced with the addition of internationally-themed housing. This space would be available–not required–for (1) four-year, degree-seeking international students who need or desire special assistance in getting acclimated to our language and culture and (2) returning American or international students who are interested in assisting these students and in engaging in cross-cultural exchange. In this first year, we are reserving space for 1 RA, 1 Chaplain, 10 domestic/returning international students, and 12 new international students in each Quad (one for males and one for females), with the intentional that the international students would make connections and friendships across campus and move to another location after one or two semesters.

The initiative is multi-faceted: success-oriented for the new students who arrive with various language/comprehension skills, and also to provide a location where our domestic students can benefit from serving and interacting with international students in an intentional way.

Looking at international housing locations at colleges across the globe, we are seeking to take advantage of their experience and wisdom to fashion something good for LETU. The goal is not to take away or replace any of the successful initiatives and care that many living areas have offered our international students–many have provided an incredibly hospitable environment. We simply want to come alongside and provide a specific place where we will be intentional about our hospitality and ministry, our programming, and our activities for students that seek this initial “safety net” or “landing zone” before being introduced in the American academic culture at-large.

International housing would be an optional place for international students and for interculturally-minded domestic students to:

Receive and offer specialized attention from the Offices of Student Support Services, Residence Life, and International Studies:
- enhancing language and culture learning;
- localizing specific assistance for everything from tutoring to shopping to room inspections to attaining ability to work; and
- sharing faith and the lifestyle expectations of a Christ-centered university in a supportive environment.
Engage in cross-cultural dialogue that transcends the classroom and cultivates others-centered students with global minds and compassionate hearts.
Live together, share together, and grow in their understanding of God’s character by learning to appreciate the breadth and depth of His creation.

As we have mentioned, the goal would not be to prolong the inevitable “diving in” to American college culture and life or missing out on any part of life at LETU; our intent and hope is to be proactive and intentional about living, learning, and serving together for personal development and international student growth on our campus. This group would share meals together, have game/movie nights, “culture nights,” weekly fellowship, etc. all designed to brings students together and learn from each other.

Carlton Mitchell and Linda Higgs (both from the Office of Student Support Services) have served international students for several years. Along with Dan Buller (from the Office of International Studies) and Christian Lehman (the resident director for International Housing), they will provide professional oversight to this residential program. Our new IMPACT leadership organization, Mosaic, will be a student group tasked with serving this population and increasing general intercultural awareness and dialogue across campus.

Key points to remember about international housing:

It is designed for long-term international students, not one-semester exchange students.
It is optional; international students will not be required to live there; only those who desire to receive special language, engage in intentional dialogue and programs related to intercultural awareness, or just need a buffer zone to provide a more gradual entry into full college life.
It is short-term; international students may only stay there one or two semesters, after which other floors will welcome them with open arms (domestic students seeking to serve and minister to this special population may remain longer than one year).
As we develop this program, we will be convening focus groups of international students and those who have lived in ‘international housing’ in another location to gain the best insight into things that work and things that don’t.

Single-Room and Graduate Student Housing

An increase in the number of non-traditional-aged students as well as the introduction of residential graduate programs necessitates a unique space to meet their needs. Seniors in good standing, students 21 years of age or older, graduate students, and even faculty/staff may apply to live in Quad 1 or 2 which will be designated single-occupancy housing. The Quad spaces will supplement the use of the Village Apartments and provide a communal space with greater efficiency. It will also minimize the awkwardness of finding an individual space in the apartments amidst three other students who know each other well.

Key points to remember about single-occupancy and graduate student housing:

It is optional for students in the traditional program; a 25-year-old single student who desires to live in a traditional residence hall may still apply for that space.
It provides another space–in addition to residence hall floors–where someone may have a single room.
As long as space is available, every other living area will still be able to have at least one “ single room” on their floor.

Honors Program Housing

The final area of growth is in the Honors Program. The steering committee of the Honors Program feels that a focused place to connect and engage in an intellectually rich environment will benefit dozens of students who apply and choose to participate. This multi-disciplinary and multi-generational living area will be enhanced with special programs and regular involvement from faculty and staff (as well as the upper-division honors students), all within an environment conducive for regular studying and academic interaction.

The Honors Program will provide ultimate leadership for this area, but Honors RAs and Chaplains will continue to be chosen through the IMPACT selection process. Based on numbers of beds and the divided first-floor, Davis Hall is an optimal option for the early stages of this program. Naturally separated by a large lobby, there is sufficient space for about 20 men and 20 women to reside near each other with lounge space and a kitchen nearby.

Key points to remember about honors housing:

Dr. Mason and the Honors Program committee will ultimately determine the requirements and guidelines for life in this living area; residence life is creating the space for this to occur and will gladly advise at the committee’s request.
The idea would be not to isolate the students who live here; on the contrary, the goal would be to develop a similar community that students experience everywhere else on-campus and still maintain an environment that is conducive to extensive study and interactive learning.