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February 9, 2007|Volume 35, Number 17


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Yale to consider feasibility of
adding two residential colleges

President Richard C. Levin has announced that Yale will begin assessing the desirability of adding two new residential colleges.

In a letter to the Yale community on Feb. 8, Levin said he has asked Yale College Dean Peter Salovey to coordinate the work of two committees: one to examine the impact of increasing enrollment on our academic programs and the other to consider the impact on student life.

"Before we decide to proceed with new colleges, we want to be certain that the quality of the Yale College experience would be maintained or enhanced, and not diminished," wrote Levin.

"Yale's residential colleges achieve the nearly impossible: they provide both a sense of community akin to that of a small liberal arts college and access to the abundant resources of a great research university," added Levin.

"The combination of a vital, flourishing residential and extracurricular life with an extraordinary academic program sets Yale apart, and no doubt contributes to the college's exceptional record in educating leaders in all walks of life for this country and the world."

While there has been discussion about adding residential colleges for more than 30 years, said Levin, recent developments have given the idea new momentum. These include:

* Applications to Yale College have nearly doubled in the last decade, requiring the University to reject a large number of qualified candidates "who would clearly benefit from a Yale education and contribute to the Yale community," said Levin.

* Yale's mission has expanded to embrace the education of leaders for the world, not simply for the United States. Levin noted that increased enrollment would create more opportunity for Americans as well as international students.

* The University is making substantial investments in the curriculum of Yale College -- enhancing support for writing, languages, science instruction and quantitative reasoning. "These efforts could be appreciated by a larger student population," said Levin.

* The expansion of faculty that would be required by the increase in the student body -- especially in departments and programs that are under enrollment pressure now -- would have "substantial benefit" for graduate education and research, according to Levin.

* In addition, a larger enrollment would have "positive and perennial benefits" for the economy of New Haven, arising from the expenditures of students themselves, the University's expenditures on their behalf and new employment opportunities, he added.

"Despite these obvious and substantial benefits of expansion, we need to consider carefully all the associated costs and collateral consequences," noted Levin. "We need to identify the costs that are quantifiable, and we need to ponder the important, non-quantifiable impact of additional enrollment on the culture of Yale College. The committees that I am appointing will take up this challenge."

The Committee on Academic Resources -- chaired by Joseph Gordon, dean of undergraduate studies -- will consider where additional faculty positions would be needed to preserve the opportunity Yale students now have to enroll in small classes in the freshman year, and, in most departments, to take seminars as juniors and seniors led by members of the ladder faculty. This committee will also consider such issues as what supplemental library and information technology resources would be needed to support a larger student body, and how much additional classroom space would be needed.

The Committee on Student Life -- chaired by William Sledge, former master of Calhoun College -- will investigate the staff resources required to maintain the quality of student support services in areas ranging from shuttle buses to the Offices of the Bursar, Financial Aid, Career Services and International Education and Fellowships, to the University Health Services Center. This committee will also consider how new colleges located on Prospect Street between Canal and Sachem Streets might be made to feel "closer" to the current center of campus, or whether the "perceived center" might be moved northward through the addition of classrooms, late night dining and exercise facilities in proximity to the new colleges. Finally, the committee will consider to what extent the capacity of two new colleges, if built, should exceed the increase in enrollment, in order to relieve overcrowding of Yale's 12 existing colleges.

Penelope Laurans, associate dean of Yale College and special assistant to the president, will serve as vice chair of both committees and assist Salovey in coordinating their work. Both committees will be supported by the Budget Office in forming estimates of the comprehensive cost of expansion, "which, as we know from preliminary studies, will substantially exceed the incremental revenue provided by several hundred additional students," said Levin.

The president has asked each committee to report on its findings early in the fall semester, so that Yale administrators can prepare a recommendation, "one way or another," on the advisability of expansion to the Corporation by the end of the calendar year. "If we decide to proceed, I would then form a planning committee to work with architects on the programming and design of the new facilities," said Levin.

He also noted that he has asked the Yale College Council to nominate three student members for each committee. As soon as they are chosen, the names of the remaining faculty and staff members of the committees will be posted on the web, and the work of the committees will get under way.

"The prospect of expansion presents an opportunity to augment Yale's capacity to contribute to the strengthening of our nation and the betterment of the human condition globally," Levin concluded. "If we are to seize this opportunity, we must be confident that we can preserve the extraordinary quality of academic and extracurricular life in Yale College. This will be a year of exploration -- an inquiry undertaken with all the seriousness and rigor of the academic enterprise to which we are all deeply committed."


T H I SW E E K ' SS T O R I E S

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Levin calls for action on global warming

'Goals for Goals' is boosting awareness of maternal health issues

YaleGlobal Online crosses 100-million mark in number of 'hits'

Fleury named new director of YINQE

'Made for Love' explores ways affection was depicted in art

Divinity School hosting 'Voices and Votes' symposium

Yale Opera to stage a new production of Puccini's romantic tale . . .

Research shows mitochondrial protein maintains appetite during fasting

Molecule's role in congenital brain malformation is identified

Design innovations of Amsterdam-based UNStudio are the focus . . .

Study questions intensive monitoring of infants at risk for group B strep

Study: Better communication needed regarding mammogram results

Scientists learn how leading cause of food-borne illness . . .

Talk will examine ways to restore America's 'damaged foreign policy'

Implications of road development in the Amazon to be examined

Shot-putter breaks 57-year-old record

IN MEMORIAM

Correction

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