Email This StoryCommittee designs prototype for future residential living
April 9, 2009
By Ashleigh Schmitz
Reporter
The 21st Century Summit met Wednesday to discuss what Baylor's prototype residence facility will look like.
The group included Baylor students, faculty, staff and administration who met with facilitators and representatives of the Association of College and University Housing Officers -International.
The participants in the meeting collectively came up with this statement of Baylor's prototype vision: "Our vision for the prototype residential facility that will be built on the Baylor campus is that it will serve 1000 student members, which will represent a diverse cross-section of the university population including members of the School of Social Work, student groups such as athletes and other living-learning programs."
To create a new and innovative residence hall meeting the needs of the future, participants discussed the five tenets of the 21st Century Project: community, flexibility, sustainability, technology and innovation.
"The conversation among the participants focused on how we will intentionally design a facility to support learning, but in a broader sense to support community life, life inside and outside the institution and the life students will lead after the institution," said Dr. Doug Rogers, associate dean of the School of Education.
The community tenet will focus on purposeful common spaces that are inviting to studying. Nashville, Tenn., freshman Dustin Williams said that since the study rooms in many residence halls have been converted into living spaces there is no longer a common, quiet study area, which is important to include in the prototype.
Intentionally designed spaces such as chapels and study areas, as well as common areas for food and coffee were also presented with the community tenet.
An Association of College and University Housing representative Jason Willis urged the participants to think about special relationships and blend the spaces. He proposed a coffee shop with group meeting space and a laundry area so that students could take care of many things at once. "Make the spaces multitask like the students do," Willis said.
The flexibility tenet discussion brought new ideas forth about how furniture is allocated and arranged for students. Discussion members said the notion for students to be allowed to choose their furniture from a menu of sorts was discussed, as well as using an online software that would let students design their own room using different articles of furniture and placing them in a way that works best for the individual.
"Moveable furniture should meet the unique needs of the students, not the other way around," said Karen Hall, director of Kokernot Residence Hall.
When discussing the sustainability tenet, participants decided that the building should be a tool for instruction about sustainability.
They said they want to build the residence facility from recycled resources and encourage changes in student behavior regarding the way they use resources such as water and electricity. The discussion on technology centered around the Internet and cell phone coverage as well as improved laundry services and changing the card-swiping process of entering the residence facility to use biometrics.
The innovation tenent in particular, that Rishi Sriram, assistant dean for student learning and engagement, and Dr. Sara-Jane Murray, associate professor of Great Texts and faculty master of the Honors Residential College, discussed is a two-sided media wall. The media wall would have a screen on both the inside and outside of the building and would be the center of East Village.
"Professors could use the screen on the inside for lectures and presentations," Murray said. "The outside could be used to broadcast away games or be an outdoor movie screen," Sriram said.
After attending the 21st Century Project Summit meeting at Baylor, as well as the other two colleges, Colorado College and the University of Indiana, facilitator Jim Troxel said that Baylor's vision exceeds the creativity of the other colleges.
This is the "Genesis period," Willis said. The next steps include working to incorporate the ideas into residential communities existing and finding funding for the project.
"My priority is to build on the momentum, enthusiasm and ideas of people spending an entire day discussing the dream that has always been to build three villages upon the conclusion of the Baylor 2012 vision," said Frank Shushok, dean for student learning and engagement.
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