December 1998: Vol. 78, No. 1December 1998: Vol. 78, No. 1Building a sense of community
 Michael F. Adams  |
t a big place like the University of Georgia, it is important to have a sense of community. We are the southeast's third largest public research university (only Florida and Florida State are larger). Only 18 percent of the student body lives on campus and half of our undergraduates enter as transfers. Even so, we can do a number of things, both physically and programmatically, to increase opportunities for community through individual and small group interaction.
Classrooms
A key recommendation of the Task Force on Undergraduate Student Life was to create on-campus spaces conducive to learning--not only in classrooms, but also in living areas and other out-of-classroom environments.
Gilbert Hall, vacated earlier this year by University Health Services, is undergoing extensive renovation to add modern technology for the teaching of Romance languages. Sanford Hall, the privately-funded, $6.7 million addition to the Terry College of Business, opened in October 1997. Each of its 900 classroom seats has a computer network connection and Internet access. Newly-outfitted computer labs in Tucker Hall, the journalism building and Memorial Hall also afford students the latest in computer capabilities.
Faculty-student ratios
UGA is bringing students and faculty closer together by adding more faculty positions to lower student-teacher ratios. We're offering nearly 100 freshman seminars of no more than 15 students each, and substantially increasing opportunities for undergraduate research.
Living areas
On-campus housing remains popular at UGA; our residence halls are full to over-capacity each fall. But the newest residence halls, Russell Hall and Oglethorpe House, were built in 1967. As you'll read in the housing feature in this issue, we could spend $60 million over the next 12 years in upgrading aged housing facilities. An excellent start was the renovation of 1918-vintage Soule Hall, completed in 1990 at a cost of $2.3 million.
This fall, some 300 students moved into Reed Hall following a two-year, $10.4 million renovation. Former double-occupancy rooms on double-loaded corridors were reconfigured into suites with privates baths, or baths en suite, as the British say. The building is fully accessible to disabled students, completely wired for computers, with enhanced public areas to encourage student interaction. The 40-year-old building previously housed 437 students with no security system, no air conditioning, asbestos-based flooring and aged plumbing fixtures. The upgrade is as remarkable as any new building.
The long-range campus Physical Master Plan projects an increase in on-campus housing to around 25 percent of enrollment. Having more on-campus residents not only would lower commuter traffic, it would enhance the sense of campus community by keeping the heart of the campus beating with student life around the clock.
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On lunch break outside Snelling, freshmen Lynsey Gardner, Sara Clower, and Laura Pearson compare notes with art history professor Tom Polk. |
Campus environment
No less important is life outside the classrooms and dormitories. The campus boasts three new or renovated student lounges: the Coca-Cola lounge in Sanford Hall, the Agricultural Activities Center in the Four Towers building, and the expanded Bulldog Cafe in the Tate Center.
The master plan calls for more green space, with the beauty of North Campus echoed in similar quadrangles on South and East Campus. Parking will be concentrated in decks on the periphery, bus routes will be broadened, and pedestrian and bicycle access enhanced. The new Student Learning Center, to be located behind the bookstore, will concentrate campus life toward the center as opposed to the outward expansion of the past several decades.
From a multitude of cultural offerings to the many opportunities afforded by the Ramsey Student Center for Physical Activites, from our 400 student organizations to the growth of affiliated religious fellowships, there are countless opportunities to be part of many engaging communities of interest. Enhancing the sense of campus community is a primary goal--one toward which, I am pleased to report, the University of Georgia is making measurable progress.
