Student feedback to a recent Duke Student Government survey reveals a lack of support for a proposed change to the house model set to begin Fall 2012.
The survey questioned students about a DSG proposal that would give unaffiliated students the option to continue living with students from their freshman residence halls for the next three years. About 60 percent of respondents said they were neutral, opposed or strongly opposed to the implementation of the “continued communities” proposal. The survey was administered to 3,000 undergraduates in December and received a 38 percent response rate, garnering 1,139 responses.
“After seeing the results of this survey, that about half of students oppose continuing communities, we’re investigating how to go through with it as a partial roll out,” said DSG President Pete Schork, a senior.
Moving forward, DSG will consult with the student body on how best to address the “continued communities” proposal, as launching it in partial form poses logistical challenges, Schork said. He added that DSG has not yet made a decision to support or oppose continuing communities, though it is leaning toward opposing the proposal.
Schork said the other results of the survey were not particularly surprising.
“What may actually be surprising is that we found that students are more knowledgeable about the house model than we thought they were,” he said.
The survey indicates that nearly half of students have a good understanding of the house model that will begin Fall 2012, and 51.5 percent noted that they understood well how the transition would affect them personally.
Although a significant percentage of students said they are well informed about the housing transition, DSG would like to see that number improve, Schork said. He added that students have also become better acquainted with the model since the survey was administered in December.
“We’re continuing to get inconsistent feedback about student knowledge of the house model,” Schork said. “We are working with the administration to continue to augment understanding of the model, and we’ve been heartened by the ability of administrators to be available for comment.”
Some students who oppose the house model believe that the transition poses some changes—including the decision to cap block sizes at six rather then 12—that will end up disturbing relationships, especially for returning upperclassmen, sophomore Jeremy Hsiang said.
“I understand the system working for freshmen, when you don’t know people, but it is unfair to split up groups of established friends,” Hsiang said.
Although upperclassmen who have been through the previous Room Picks system may have concerns about fairness, rising sophomores’ primary concerns seem to be about uncertainty, freshman Altamash Hassan said.
“It put a lot of people on edge about what their living arrangements may be for next year,” Hassan said. “It may have pushed more people to rush selective living groups.”
Despite the house model transition’s uncertainties and possible shortcomings, students also see problems with the current housing situation.
Junior Niloy Ghosh said students realize the potential upsides of the house model.
“There is a good chance that it will help foster greater interactions among the classes, something that independents especially may not be currently doing much,” Ghosh said.
Similarly, Joe Gonzalez, associate dean for residence life, said students generally support the overall goals of the house model.
“There is wide agreement on the goals of the transition but disagreement on how we should get there,” Gonzalez said.
In an effort to improve student knowledge of the house model and address problems illuminated by the survey, administrators will continue to offer information and assistance to students, Gonzalez said.
“Much of our current efforts have been on helping students get through the Duke Houses process to sign up for housing,” he said.
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