Student Union plans released

The Middle States Assessment (MSA) evaluators have come and gone, but the school improvement process for Hopkins is just beginning, again.

"Frankly, I'm glad the [review] is over so we can go back to improving with CUE," said Paula Burger, chair of the Committee on Undergraduate Education (CUE) steering committee and vice provost for academic affairs. The past two years' work has focused on fixing a number of problematic areas of life at Hopkins by increasing diversity and academic integrity, and creating a sense of community.

A number of changes are long-term, but the biggest tangible change to the Hopkins community is set to break ground this summer. The "Charles Commons," a student union and dining hall on the Northeast corner of 33rd and Charles Streets, has been approved by the city, and the final stages of the planning process are being finalized.

The new building, set to feature common dining spaces and meeting rooms, is a part of the administration's efforts to increase 'hang out space,' as well as guarantee housing for all four years of Hopkins.

While the venue will prominently feature a large dining hall, the nature of the dining services are "a concern," Burger said. The hall will most likely have Sodexho food services, she said: "It's hard for me to imagine that we can get by without food service or dining." But Burger says that she hopes to provide a varied food selection at the hall.

"We need to provide something more than pizza for students," Burger said, adding that they are looking to establishing a dining advisory committee for all of Homewood. While the nuts and bolts of the new union are underway, the next tentative step is to examine the physical layout of campus, including the possibility of a 'freshman quadrangle'- extending the freshman quad to include housing for all incoming freshmen west of N. Charles Street.

While physical improvements are being made, the more subtle changes suggested are underway. Within the past semester, the "Sophomore Succeed" survey process has surveyed 210 sophomores and 119 juniors about their Hopkins experience to bolster the information-gathering process.

Students responding to class-wide e-mails participated in focus groups, with the task force interviewing some 50 sophomores about both their social life and academic support. The emphasis on the sophomore year, according to Coordinator of Enrollment Information Researcher Susan Martin, was due to the typically difficult nature of the "middle year."

"The sophomore year has its own issues," Martin said. "There are academic adjustments that are happening, [and] it's much more focused. As time and housing changes, there are social adjustments that are going on there, too."

Dozens of sophomore responses later, the core group of administrators are trying to make sense of everything they have now heard.

"One of the things the task force will be looking at is how the recommendations will be used," Martin said. The qualitative research process will include seniors' impressions of their four years at Hopkins, and the task force is looking to continue using the interview-style feedback process.

"When you're trying to create a culture of assessment and evaluation, you've got to build it in," Martin said. Last week, 200 randomly chosen members of the exiting senior class were chosen to participate in exit interviews to share their Hopkins experiences. About 15-20 administrators will be speaking with the seniors and, in turn, looking to create recommendations from their surveys.

While this year is ending, the CUE process moves on. In almost every sector of Hopkins undergraduate life, the administration is looking towards evaluation. "I feel like everyone's pulling the rope in the right direction," Burger said.