Higher Education News from the Collegiate Way

Residential Colleges & the Renewal of Campus Life

These news items about residential colleges, house systems, and the renewal of university life are posted for readers of the Collegiate Way website. For more about residential colleges and collegiate universities please visit the main Collegiate Way page.

Collegiate Way News · Subset: Membership and Administration

¶ This topical subset contains news, views, and recommendations on the membership and administration of residential college systems in universities and house systems in schools. (Return to the complete news index.)

• Portrait of a College Founder (8 April 2009)

  ‘Be not solitary; be not idle.’

• From Charter Schools to Charter Colleges? (7 April 2009)

  Can the residential college movement learn anything from the charter school movement?

• Visiting Vassar’s House System (2 April 2009)

  A leading liberal arts college considers how to strengthen its existing residential programs.

• The Fierce Varieties of Men (20 March 2009)

  ‘The man who lives in a small community lives in a much larger world.’

• How to Sharply Improve the Quality of Residence Life (7 March 2009)

  Fill all the residential staff positions open this year across the country with Ph.D.’s.

• Students Against Theme Halls (2 March 2009)

  ‘Every dorm on campus should have the benefits of a residential college.’

• Academic Advising in House Systems and Residential College Systems (19 January 2009)

  Decentralized student advising is a characteristic feature of collegiate universities.

• The Residential College Movement in Review (31 December 2008)

  In 2008 the collegiate way of living made encouraging advances around the world.

• House Systems as Mutual Aid Societies (10 October 2008)

  What can house systems offer to students in community colleges?

• Mississippi’s First Residential College Takes Shape (9 September 2008)

  Applications are now being accepted for the college’s opening in Fall 2009.

• Value-Designed Models of Undergraduate Education (26 August 2008)

  Vance Fried incorporates a house system into his low-cost college proposal.

• A Graduate College for the University of Kent (13 August 2008)

  Virginia Woolf College will be Kent’s fifth residential college.

• A Residential College is a Great Household (21 February 2008)

  Membership, not residence, is the key relation, but the language of membership is conspicuously absent from most of American higher education.

• Ole Miss Understands Residential Colleges (11 February 2008)

  Students need cross-sectional residential colleges, not segregated theme halls.

• A Middle East Ivy League? (11 February 2008)

  If American higher education is to be exported, let’s export the best it has to offer.

• Woodrow Wilson: British Colleges, German Universities (3 February 2008)

  ‘They have never thought of the university as a community of teachers and pupils.’

• The Collegiate Way Comes to Birmingham (20 January 2008)

  The University of Alabama at Birmingham could be a model for other public campuses.

• A Review of the Residential College Movement in 2007 (30 December 2007)

  It’s been a good year for friends of the collegiate way of living around the world.

• Magistri: Hodgson of Newnham and Stewart of Lowell (12 December 2007)

  Humane profiles of the life and work of two residential college masters.

• “Against Theme Halls” in Student Affairs Leader (15 November 2007)

  Themed housing is easy to sell, but in education what’s easy isn’t always best.

• Annals of Vulgarity (9 November 2007)

  Profiles in philanthropy: Donald Bren vs. Edward Harkness.

• Clegg Recommends House Systems for All Schools (9 November 2007)

  The collegiate way, at the school level, is part of a major British education proposal.

• Baylor University Plans its Second Residential College (6 November 2007)

  An existing living-learning program will become Baylor’s next collegiate society.

• A New Graduate College for the University of Otago (15 August 2007)

  Abbey College on the Dunedin campus will be the university’s first graduate college.

• Faculty-in-Residence at McKendree University (29 July 2007)

  The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports on a good first step toward a collegiate system.

• The New York Times on Residential Colleges (29 July 2007)

  In the Education Life section, Bruce Weber reports on ‘The Residential Collage.’

• On the Virtues of the Harvard House System (6 June 2007)

  ‘There I experienced formal dinners celebrating everything from new sophomores to illustrious past House residents, apple pickings and barbecues, and dining hall conversations about politics and philosophy that went on late into the night.’

• The Indian Collegiate Way (21 May 2007)

  Valson Thampu is the new Principal of St. Stephen’s College, Delhi.

• Graduate Tutors for Princeton’s Residential Colleges (11 April 2007)

  Graduate students in residence will enrich the life of the campus.

• Ole Miss and the Collegiate Zeitgeist (7 April 2007)

  Residence life on American campuses has ‘come full circle.’

• “What drives us closer to our Vision gets prioritized” (20 March 2007)

  Marketing slogans and vacuous vision statements come and go, but mottos endure.

• Collegiate Progress at the University of Mississippi (19 March 2007)

  Three residential colleges are being planned for the Oxford campus.

• Students Nudging Virginia Back to the Collegiate Way (16 March 2007)

  When it comes to the collegiate way of living, sometimes the students take the lead.

• Families Enrich the Life of Every Residential College (9 March 2007)

  Ustinov College at the University of Durham shows the way.

• The Associated Press Reports on the Collegiate Way (5 March 2007)

  Residential colleges and faculty in residence draw national media attention again.

• An Open Book Revolution for Higher Education (25 February 2007)

  Oregon State University’s public accounting system should be a model for the world.

• House Systems in Secondary Schools (7 February 2007)

  The Goleta Valley Junior High School in California has created a house system.

• House Systems and Residential College Systems (10 January 2007)

  Both seek to divide a large school into smaller, human-friendly components.

• Hogwarts U: The Collegiate Way at Inside Higher Ed (28 November 2006)

  ‘The future of higher education may lie in the English-speaking world’s oldest model of university organization, writes Robert O’Hara.’

• Snapshot of a Collegiate Conversion (16 November 2006)

  Princeton University establishes a new residential college website.

• McDonalds Does Not Have a Gong (25 October 2006)

  But at least one residential college dining hall does.

• Avoiding Self-Parody (15 October 2006)

  They’ll always make fun, but that doesn’t mean we have to provide them with material.

• Student Commentary on Yale’s Collegiate Expansion (11 October 2006)

  Well-reasoned proposals from students are always worth listening to.

• Princeton’s Tilghman on Residential Colleges (26 September 2006)

  A four-year collegiate system is the university’s most important development.

• Henry to be First Master of Brooks College at Baylor (25 August 2006)

  Baylor University’s first residential college will open next fall.

• Australian Educators Recommend the Collegiate Way (23 August 2006)

  ‘Residential college communities feature in all the finest institutions.’

• Half of Top 25 Universities Have Residential Colleges (20 August 2006)

  And none of the bottom 50 universities in the US News rankings do.

• Oxford’s Last Women’s College to Admit Men (8 June 2006)

  St. Hilda’s College at Oxford University will soon become mixed.

• Southern California to Expand its Collegiate System (30 March 2006)

  ‘I’ve witnessed the dramatic increase in intellectual vitality when a faculty member is in charge of the programming for [a] residential college.’

• US Schools Move to Break Up Central Administrations (16 March 2006)

  The second important story in as many weeks on educational decentralization.

• Even Vietnam is Decentralizing Higher Education (10 March 2006)

  And if Vietnam is decentralizing, isn’t it time the United States did the same?

• Reach, Grasp (and Grasp), or What’s a University For? (9 January 2006)

  Is the University of South Carolina a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Columbia Chamber of Commerce?

• Membership, Not Residence, Makes a College (6 January 2006)

  Notes on non-resident membership from the Northwestern University colleges.

• At Minnesota, Average Students Get Short Shrift (17 December 2005)

  A residential college is proposed, but only for the top of the class.

• Garrison Keillor Understands Residential Colleges (26 November 2005)

  Does an entertainer understand the collegiate idea than a university president?

• Residential College Plans Advance at Ole Miss (10 November 2005)

  The University of Mississippi may be the next American Oxford.

• Yale Colleges Nod to Graduate Student Membership (4 October 2005)

  The idea of graduate membership in the residential colleges is broached again.

• Harvey Rosen to be First Master of Whitman College (22 September 2005)

  An economics professor will head Princeton University’s next residential college.

• Cornell University Starts Along the Collegiate Way (24 August 2005)

  An important turnaround is underway on the Ithaca campus.

• Four-year Colleges for Princeton University (26 May 2005)

  Princeton’s two-year college system is expanding to include all four classes.

• New Master for the University of Miami’s Hecht College (22 February 2005)

  ‘I love to see students grow and develop, and this is one more opportunity to do so.’

• An Historian for Trumbull College at Yale University (17 February 2005)

  Every residential college should have its own historian.

• A Week in the Life of a Residential College Master (14 January 2005)

  From pastoral care to plumbing, a college master looks after it all.

• For Collegiate Diversity (and against theme halls) (8 January 2005)

  The ‘theme hall’ fad runs counter to the goals of liberal education.

• The Role of Residential College Deans (in a nutshell) (3 January 2005)

  ‘To be fierce to the foolish and kind to the crumpled.’

• The Collegiate System at the University of Durham (20 December 2004)

  Durham’s colleges are an international model worthy of emulation.

• Franklin College Thrives at the University of Georgia (29 August 2004)

  ‘It provides something that is needed—a connection between students and professors.’

• Collegiate Ideals in the London Times Higher (20 August 2004)

  Bob O’Hara on the collegiate way in the London Times Higher Education Supplement.

• Residential College Advocacy By and For Alumni (11 August 2004)

  Essays from Charles Seymour (Yale) and Derek Woodard-Lehman (Messiah College).

• Collegiate Tip-of-the-Month: Raise Your Web Visibility (12 July 2004)

  Are you proud of your college system? Then make sure online visitors can tell!

• Harvard Residential College Proposals from Years Past (20 June 2004)

  Frank Bolles and Abbott Lawrence Lowell on the origin of the House System.

• You Think Your College Has Problems… (1 June 2004)

  Have rampaging monkeys brought your college to its knees?

• Two New College Masters at the University of Ghana (25 May 2004)

  Reports from Ghana’s Oxbridge-style residential colleges.

• A Collection of Published Residential College Histories (16 May 2004)

  A library of local histories with an international collegiate appeal.

• Review Procedures for Residential Colleges (8 April 2004)

  Advice from New Zealand on how to sustain quality in collegiate life.

• Praise for University of Miami’s Residential Colleges (30 March 2004)

  ‘Today, student life in these residential colleges is among the university’s most cherished and singular traditions. They are much more than traditional student dormitories.’

• Insight From a Great University Reformer (15 March 2004)

  ‘I’ve been struck by how little the average administrator, particularly the average president, knows about undergraduate life at his or her institution.’

• The Daily Mississippian on Collegiate Plans for Oxford (4 March 2004)

  ‘Provost Carolyn Staton’s dream is to see a residential college established at Ole Miss.’

• A Syllabus for a Course on Residential Colleges (20 January 2004)

  Bring your students and faculty together for a seminar on collegiate life.

• Collegiate Life and the Forgotten Graduate Students (18 November 2003)

  Residential colleges need graduate students, says Nicholas Stephanopoulos.

• The Gates Foundation Supports Decentralized Schools (19 September 2003)

  The residential college movement is one with the worldwide educational Zeitgeist.

• Summer Introductions Give a Head Start on the Year (9 August 2003)

  Your students should feel at home in their college, even before they arrive.

• The Washington Post Features Residential Colleges (25 February 2003)

  Eliot Applestein tells us about ‘a neighborhood in a dorm.’

• Creeping Managerialism versus Cohesive Social Life (16 February 2003)

  Good leadership is personal and empathetic, not managerial.

• “The Professor Down the Hall” at American University (1 February 2003)

  John Richardson brings the collegiate way of living to Washington, D.C.

• Social Cohesion Helps Prevent Psychological Injury (10 January 2003)

  The work of military psychiatrists has much to offer university educators.

• The Middlebury Campus Profiles the Collegiate Way (4 December 2002)

  The Middlebury College student newspaper reports on the residential college movement.

• The Chicago Tribune Reports on Residential Colleges (10 November 2002)

  Patrick Kampert asks, ‘Is there a doctor of philosophy in the house?’

• Tip-of-the-Month: Counteract Age Segregation (15 October 2002)

  Most advocates of ‘diversity’ ignore the importance of age diversity on campus.

• Collegiate Developments at Durham and Princeton (8 October 2002)

  Durham appoints a dean of colleges, and Princeton’s residential college system expands.

• The Boston Globe Reports on Residential Colleges (30 September 2002)

  Jenna Russell interviews residential faculty at Wheaton College and Assumption College.

• The Role of a Residential College Master (7 August 2002)

  A profile of the work of Stephen Toulmin, master of North College at USC.

• “How to Build a Residential College” Appears in Print (4 January 2002)

  A brief introduction is now available in SCUP’s Planning for Higher Education.

• Magisterial Profiles: Princeton and USC (14 December 2001)

  What’s it like to be the master of a residential college?

• Tip-of-the-Month: Your Website Through the Seasons (2 December 2001)

  Your artistic students can help to brighten your college website from month to month.

• “Back to the Future” With Residential Colleges (1 November 2001)

  The Collegiate Way appears in The Irascible Professor.

• Ryan’s A Collegiate Way of Living Now Available (4 September 2001)

  Mark Ryan’s collection of essays is the best book in print on residential college life.

• The Mastership of Emmanuel College (Need a Job?) (1 September 2001)

  The role of a residential college master is the same everywhere around the world.

• “Four Foundations for University Renewal” Available (17 August 2001)

  A new introduction to the Collegiate Way website is now online.

• The University of Durham Collegiate Example (25 July 2001)

  Lessons from Britain’s third great collegiate university.

• “Generative Sequence” to Create a Residential College (13 March 2001)

  A collegiate assembly plan in the style of Christopher Alexander’s ‘Pattern Language.’

• “Residential College Buildings and Grounds” is Online (6 March 2001)

  Detailed recommendations for residential college buildings and grounds are now online.

• Tapper and Palfreyman on Oxford College Governance (2 February 2001)

  Efficiency may be important in industry, but it isn’t necessarily an educational value.

• “Membership and Administrative Structure” Available (14 January 2001)

  Detailed recommendations for residential college administration are now online.

• “How to Build a Residential College” Available (18 December 2000)

  A major summary section of the Collegiate Way website is now online.

• Duke University Campus Life: The Willimon Report (27 November 2000)

  Duke’s problems with alcohol abuse and anti-intellectualism are national problems.

• “The Collegiate Landscape of the Future” Available (25 November 2000)

  An essay on residential colleges and the future of higher education is now online.