A special Residential Campus Committee has spent the past year drafting a plan that will transform Elon's living-learning environment. Through a new website, the committee is inviting a campus conversation about the details of this initiative, a major goal of the Elon Commitment strategic plan.
Committee members studied extensive literature on the best residential campuses in the country and visited a dozen universities.
“The committee’s draft report envisions a groundbreaking approach to campus living, a four-year pathway that meets the needs of students at each stage of their intellectual and social development,” says committee co-chair Kevin O’Mara, professor of management.
Co-chair, Jeff Stein points out that “this initiative is not a bricks and mortar plan for student housing or new construction.” Instead, the goal is to enhance Elon’s intellectual community and connect housing more directly to the university’s mission and values.
The plan is built on the following interwoven structures:
Pathway: an intentional four-year pathway through the residential experience, that groups students by, and focuses on, specific class year development and needs
Neighborhoods: intellectual neighborhoods that orient and ground students intellectually and socially, including groups of residential “houses”, affiliated faculty and staff, peer mentors, classrooms, common social and academic spaces, dining, services, and unifying traditions
Bridges: intentional bridges to academics, faculty, staff and upper division students, through courses, faculty-in-residence, faculty affiliates/mentors; intentional partnerships with academic units and targeted support services; and layered mentoring connecting residential students to students (TAs, tutors, mentors), faculty, and staff
Integration: intentionally aligning and complementing major programs on campus as well as greening and linking residential neighborhoods and developing outdoor gathering spaces.
Join the conversation about the future of living and learning at Elon:
- Visit the new website: www.elon.edu/residentialcampus
- Read the upcoming cover story in the Magazine of Elon
- Send your comments and ideas to committee co-chairs Kevin O’Mara or Jeff Stein, or to any of the committee members listed below
Committee Members
Eugene Daniel, Class of 2011
Lauren Ellis, Class of 2010
Elisabetta Cooper, Class of 2012
Michael Nowak, Class of 2011
Sandra Haime, Class of 2010
Bryan Baker, Senior Audio Producer
Connie Book, Associate Provost, Professor of Communications
Stephen Braye, Professor of English
Neil Bromilow, Director of Planning, Design and Construction Management
Ayesha Delpish, Assistant Professor of Mathematics
Russell Gill, Professor of English and Distinguished University Professor
Nancy Harris, Associate Dean of Elon College, the College of Arts and Sciences
Nancy Midgette, Associate Provost, Professor of History
Brad Moore, Associate Director of Planning, Design and Construction Management
Sylvia Munoz, Director of the Spanish Center
Coleman Rich, Lecturer, Operations and Supply Chain Management
Jodean Schmiederer, Assistant Dean of Students
Niki Turley, Director of Residence Life