2008 Woodie Awards
Five years out, some CUE goals remain unmet
Issue date: 4/24/08
Five years after the Commission on Undergraduate Education (CUE) issued a comprehensive report aimed at improving the social and academic life of undergraduate students, several of the committee's recommendations remain unfulfilled.
The faculty, administrators and students making up the commission issued 34 recommendations in 2003, ranging from a desire to create more field space for intramural sports activities to a promise of guaranteed four-year student housing, both of which have not been accomplished.
In an e-mail to the News-Letter, President William Brody acknowledged that providing more athletic space remains a problem.
"I wish we had additional fields, but, obviously, we are constrained on the Homewood campus by the lack of open space. All urban universities face this challenge and many have to eventually put their sports activities at some distance from the campus. We are luckier than many," Brody said.
Bill Leslie, professor of history of science, chaired the subcommittee regarding student life; he agreed that the difficulty of physical expansion as the primary obstacle preventing the creation of more fields for student sports. As the University expanded across the Wyman Park area, space for intramural practices was eaten away. The only space that remains other than the practice field, Leslie said, is the freshman quad and the volleyball court next to AMR I.
According to Brody, the University is taking steps toward solving this problem in the near future, constructing a new track and improving the field on the Eastern campus, as well as planning to add turf to the new Decker Quad to provide more space for casual sports competitions and practices.
The CUE report also recommended that within the next 10 years, the University develop more residence halls to guarantee on-campus housing to all undergraduate students for all four years of their education.
Five years after the report was issued, students are still only guaranteed housing for their first two years.
The faculty, administrators and students making up the commission issued 34 recommendations in 2003, ranging from a desire to create more field space for intramural sports activities to a promise of guaranteed four-year student housing, both of which have not been accomplished.
In an e-mail to the News-Letter, President William Brody acknowledged that providing more athletic space remains a problem.
"I wish we had additional fields, but, obviously, we are constrained on the Homewood campus by the lack of open space. All urban universities face this challenge and many have to eventually put their sports activities at some distance from the campus. We are luckier than many," Brody said.
Bill Leslie, professor of history of science, chaired the subcommittee regarding student life; he agreed that the difficulty of physical expansion as the primary obstacle preventing the creation of more fields for student sports. As the University expanded across the Wyman Park area, space for intramural practices was eaten away. The only space that remains other than the practice field, Leslie said, is the freshman quad and the volleyball court next to AMR I.
According to Brody, the University is taking steps toward solving this problem in the near future, constructing a new track and improving the field on the Eastern campus, as well as planning to add turf to the new Decker Quad to provide more space for casual sports competitions and practices.
The CUE report also recommended that within the next 10 years, the University develop more residence halls to guarantee on-campus housing to all undergraduate students for all four years of their education.
Five years after the report was issued, students are still only guaranteed housing for their first two years.
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