According to
US News and World Report
, college students complain most often about their classes, residence halls, and dining hall food. Luckily, Hamilton is currently addressing two of these qualms (sorry foodies).
The College is in the process of implementing its new strategic plan. One of the three core initiatives of the plan is an enhanced residential experience at Hamilton. The College hopes to make comprehensive changes to both residential life and mental health in its efforts to “develop a model residential experience that provides students with extensive opportunities for leadership and engagement, and intellectual and personal growth.”
In meeting this objective, the College hopes to eventually create developmentally-appropriate student housing — housing that increases independence throughout a student’s Hamilton experience.
It might look something like this: during students’ first year, they will continue to live in traditional residence halls, as these have proven to be the best way to build community initially. As students become upperclassmen, however, their living situations will mirror their maturity and help transition them into adulthood.
One option the College is considering is an integrated housing village where juniors and seniors would live among faculty and staff members. The students would live in new apartment-style housing while staff would live in townhouses. The community would include combined social spaces, dining halls, and daycare centers to encourage community engagement. Also, there is the possibility of adding life skills programming for students, like cooking classes or seminars on how to do taxes and lease apartments.
This model would seek to benefit both students and faculty. Students would be able to develop independence and reintegrate into campus after returning from off-campus studies. The College and its community would benefit from staff moving closer to campus, and it could even be used as a recruiting tool for new employees.
Ashley Place, Director of Residential Life, explains that the administration is “working on establishing what [this initiative] looks like and what steps are needed to get there,” and that the strategic planning committee will be “inviting students to engage in the conversation throughout the process.”
In addition, the College is looking into adding more living and learning communities like the Residential Engagement in Academic Life (REAL) program. Joey West ’22, a first-year in the newly added Wilderness Outdoor Leadership Floor (WOLF), noted, “I love living on the WOLF floor and would highly encourage the College to create more special interest communities.”
Hamilton is also looking to renovate the current first-year residence halls to include more common spaces. These spaces would be larger and meant to encourage a greater sense of community within a residence hall. These could also be used as event spaces for floor bonding activities as well.
Complementing the new Health Center and, broadly, its focus on mental health issues on campus, the College is also looking into options to reduce stress and increase wellness for students through changes to their current academic calendar. One option currently under consideration is the addition of a “J-Term” or “Maymester” before or after second semester, similar to programs in place at NESCAC peer institutions like Williams and Middlebury Colleges.
Such a program would require students to take one 3-week class in a relaxed atmosphere on a more “niche” topic than would be offered during a regular semester. Students could also elect to use this time to participate in an internship or a brief career-related program outside of Hamilton.
Similarly, the planning committee is exploring a “no grades” or “optional grades” policy for first-year students’ first semester to help them adjust to the expectations of coursework.
Of this proposal, Elise Lainer ’22 says, “I would love to have no grades first semester so that I could get an idea of the rigor of Hamilton and where I stand, but not be penalized as I adjust to the workload.”
The senior staff has begun the process of implementing the strategic plan. They have started working on new special interest housing and plans to renovate common spaces. The developmentally-appropriate student housing and academic calendar are still being reviewed but would be introduced in the coming years.
