ORL blends academics with housing
By Roberta Wolfson
Jan. 13, 2008 11:39 p.m.
The wait for a revamped theme housing program is over; come fall 2008, the Hill will offer four new floor theme options in Dykstra Hall and Sproul Hall.
Two of these options will be ethnic studies floors, offered for the first time in UCLA history.
The different floor themes will center on four areas of interest: sustainability, African diaspora studies, health, science and medicine, and Chican@/Latin@ diaspora studies, spelled with an “@” sign, “in order to be more inclusive” since the sign encompasses both genders by combining the letters “a” and “o,” said Dr. Suzanne Seplow, director for the Office of Residential Life.
Currently, UCLA offers five theme housing floors: an academic floor, a social justice floor, an art floor, a community service floor and a health and fitness floor. But next fall, these floors will be removed in lieu of the new theme housing options, which will take on a more interdisciplinary focus.
“Each of these new floors will have components of the old floors,” said Greg Cendana, a fourth-year sociology and Asian American Studies student and student representative for the campus-wide committee in charge of redesigning the theme housing options. “We’re trying to integrate parts of the academic and social justice floors into the new floors, trying to make it more holistic.”
The upcoming 2008-2009 academic year will mark a time of experimentation, as ORL is introducing these four new themes as part of a pilot program intended to set the stage for a greater variety of redesigned theme housing options in the future.
This means the resident assistants and faculty-in-residence for these theme floors will be offering a variety of different, specially-designed programs, such as trips to museums, guest lecturers and discussion forums, in order to determine which ones spark the greatest student interest.
“Before we continue to grow (the program), we want to start small and make (these initial themes) successful,” Seplow said. “We’re going to be doing ongoing assessments, so if we have to adjust to make the themes successful, we’ll do what we need to for our students.”
Depending on the success of these initial new theme floors, the ORL will introduce additional themes in the following years. These new themes will be based on several umbrella topics, including gender, sexuality and society, digital society, law, politics and society, health and fitness, archives, artifacts and the environment, and arts, culture and the imagination.
The new theme housing options mark the ORL’s effort to tailor the Hill’s theme programming more closely to the student body’s diverse concerns and interests.
While UCLA has offered theme housing for many years, less than 30 percent of students living on theme floors in the past have demonstrated any particular interest in the given themes, Seplow said.
“When we’ve had tons of themes in the past, it’s been hard to make sure each of them is successful,” Seplow said. “We want to go slowly and spend time and energy and effort to make sure that each (new) theme is working.”
In order to make sure the new themes will interest students, the ORL has asked for input from a number of focus groups in the residence halls, Seplow said.
Additionally, the committee has contacted a variety of different student and academic groups on campus to garner support and enhance programming.
“We’ve been reaching out to other student organizations to see if they will be affiliated with the theme floors,” Seplow said. “For example, for the sustainability floor, we’ve contacted the E3 group (Ecology, Economy, Equity) and Sustainable Bruins to see if they will be a potential partner.”
Efforts to rejuvenate the UCLA residential community’s interest in theme housing have not gone unnoticed. Dr. La’Tonya Rease Miles, the associate director for the Academic Advancement Program and a faculty-in-residence for De Neve Plaza, has already agreed to participate next year as a faculty-in-residence for the sustainability and African diaspora studies floors.
“I’m really looking forward to it. I believe a living, learning community will provide a great environment for our students,” Miles said. “I’m also interested in learning more about these issues, especially sustainability. I’m hoping to go on a journey with my students.”
Miles said she is so excited about the theme floors that she has been keeping a notebook of her ideas for various theme programs.
Her ideas include taking the students on a toxic tour of Los Angeles, conducting a trip to the Watts Towers and inviting guest speakers.
Jasmine Goindi, a first-year undeclared life sciences student, said that though she does not plan to apply for theme housing she appreciates the university’s efforts to get students more involved in theme programs.
“I’m glad that the school is trying to give students more opportunities to get involved in cultural, environmental issues,” Goindi said. “It helps make students more aware of the issues around them.”
In future years, the ORL plans to expand the academic programs related to the themes, Seplow said.
“Our hope in terms of growing (the program) is to work with academic departments to develop academic requirements for those who live on a theme floor,” Seplow said. “The goal is to go beyond the speakers and workshops and programs but to actually have (students) in classes together.”
Goindi said requiring students to take classes might “be a bit much,” as students often have many other commitments and obligations in their schedules.
But she also recognized the benefits of encouraging academic class participation.
“I think that if you choose to sign up for a theme floor, you must be interested in the subject, so you’ll probably want to take classes,” she said. “It might be difficult (to squeeze into your schedule), but I don’t think it will negatively impact your ability to graduate.”
Applications for theme housing will be accepted until Jan. 29. Visit the ORL Web site at www.orl.ucla.edu for more information.
