Learn everything there is to know about the under-construction College Halls at Vanderbilt
“I have no idea what’s going on.”
I don’t understand why it’s happening.”
“I think it’s about … actually, never mind.”
While these may seem like comments about an upcoming calculus exam, they are actually student responses to the question: What do you know about College Halls at Vanderbilt and specifically the Commons'
Despite the cranes and bulldozers on the Peabody campus, many students said they were confused regarding what the Commons and College Halls are and what they will mean for the future of campus life.
What’s going on'
In 1999, Vanderbilt was at a crossroads. It needed to figure out what type of university it would become in the 21st century, and Thomas Burish, the provost at the time, noticed that its retention rates were lower than expected.
One of the reasons, according to Susan Barge, associate provost for residential colleges, was that “students who were leaving felt like they didn’t belong.”
“We look like a group hug, like a community, and we are, but there was something about the living-learning experience,” Barge said. “There was a disconnect between living on campus and then learning in the classroom and we thought, ‘We’ve got great students, great faculty and facilities that have reached the end of their life cycle. What do we do about this'’”
Fast forward seven years and you will find a university drastically different from the one that had trouble keeping its students.
“We have had to drop the admit rate even further,” Barge said. “We’re admitting thousands fewer students than we did even six years ago.”
Led by Chancellor Gordon Gee, who succeeded Joe B. Wyatt on July 31, 2000, the university is in the process of creating a residential college program that administrators hope will be unlike any other in the country – College Halls at Vanderbilt.
What sets this university’s system apart is the fact that it was not planned from the top down, but rather as a partnership between the faculty and students, Gee said.
In addition, he said that College Halls at Vanderbilt will provide “holistic programming,” rather than just serving as a place for students to live.
In the fall of 2008, the first phase of the system, the Commons, will open on the Peabody College campus. All first-year students will live in the Commons, which is a community of 10 residence halls called “houses.” Five existing residence halls will be renovated and converted to houses and five new houses will be built. Buildings C and E have already been completed and will be occupied by upper-class students until incoming freshmen move into the Commons in 2008.
“We’re putting all of our focus on the Commons because the success of the future of the college halls system depends on the success of the Commons,” Barge said. “It almost likens itself to the Children’s Hospital being part of the medical center. It’s a jewel, it’s a wonderful, incredible facility that happens to be part of a larger campus, but still very important on its own.”
From there, the plan is to tear down Kissam and rebuild a residential system over it, although the timetable for that project and others is not yet determined. More extensive planning will begin once the Commons is completed.
“Whether there are bricks and mortar or not,” the Commons will have an effect on the main campus, Barge said. “I think whether we have college halls or not, there will be a newness to the freshman experience and (students will) come over here as sophomores with a different feel for their class and a different feel for their relationships with faculty.”
Why is it happening'
Currently, Vanderbilt freshmen live in three different places – Branscomb, Kissam and Vandy-Barnard – and have three different experiences, a situation Gee references frequently in public appearances.
By having all freshmen living in 10 dorms in close proximity to each other and engaging in programming, the Commons will unify the freshman class, according to Howard Sandler, associate provost for special projects.
Gee also emphasized the importance of making sure that students are not defined by their residence halls.
“(At the beginning of each school year) I’ll start getting emails (saying) ‘Oh gee, my daughter is not in Branscomb, she’s not cool,’ or ‘My son is not in Kissam, he’s not smart,” Gee said.
Rather than having the residence halls characterize the student, Gee said “we should be about all of us being here, being cool and smart and balanced and fun and having a common set of experiences together.”
While people may perceive the Commons as an attempt to change the Vanderbilt culture, Sandler said it is actually a response to how Vanderbilt students have already changed.
“Students are a lot smarter, they’re a lot more intellectually oriented, I hear a lot more interesting conversations in Rand than I did four, five, six years ago,” Sandler said. “I hear more conversations about policies, about the world, about books (people have) read, and I think we want to respond to that.”
The purpose of establishing college halls for upperclassmen will be similar to the Commons.
“It will create neighborhoods across the campus rather than sort of freestanding, nomadic existence where you live in this building one year and move to that building the next year,” Barge said.
How will Vanderbilt be different'
The fundamental goal of College Halls at Vanderbilt, and the Commons in particular, is to create the best undergraduate experience in the United States, Gee said.
I believe that clearly we provide, right now, maybe the best education in the country at the undergraduate level,” Gee said. “This is just simply about solidifying those gains and furthering our commitment to the undergraduate.”
While critics say that Vanderbilt is just trying to keep up with Ivy League schools such as Harvard and Yale, which have had residential college systems since the 1930s, Gee said College Halls at Vanderbilt is a unique system that will ultimately set the bar in higher education.
“This is not about keeping up with the Joneses,” Gee said. “This is about the Joneses being left behind and us being ourselves.”
You know Vanderbilt is different when its school mascot seems to be not only the Commodore, but also the crane.
“You never want to be at a place in which there is no construction,” Gee said. “I believe that the most important mascot for the university is the crane because you want to be at place in which there is forward movement, in which people are engaged in making a difference both physically and fiscally, as well as intellectually, and certainly we’re trying to do that.”
Patience is a virtue
Gee is aware that people may question the decision to implement College Halls at Vanderbilt.
But, he also expressed his patience. Once they realize the benefits of such a change, Gee said that he believes their initial skepticism will turn to excitement.
“Not everyone is enthusiastic about it right now because ‘I came to Vanderbilt because I liked the way it looked and the way it was, and I don’t want you messing with it, Mr. Chancellor,’ and I understand that,” Gee said. “I would hope that we have a persuasive case to make, and once everyone sees it and someone experiences it, I think that it will sell itself.”
Want to know more about The Commons' Read more about:
Chancellor Gordon Gee's role in The Commons project
How the faculty will shape the residential college experience
Who is funding The Commons
The Commons' impact on campus culture
What happens after The Commons
What people are saying about The Commons
A timeline
View illustrations of The Commons
