Cornell Announces Plan for Undergrads

Focusing on undergraduate education, Cornell University President Hunter R. Rawlings announced a plan last week that will affect Cornell undergraduates financially, residentially and academically.

The announcement comes following increased concern among educators about different aspects of undergraduate education.

Several Ivy League universities, including Harvard, have recently made plans to increase student financial aid. And last April the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching released a report criticizing research universities for treating undergraduates like "second-class citizens."

Rawlings announced a plan for Cornell to raise $200 million for undergraduate student financial aid.

"[The plan will] solidify our ability to maintain need-blind admissions here at Cornell," said Vice President for University Relations Henrik N. Dullea.

In September, Harvard announced a plan to add $2,000 to every student aid package.

Cornell has 12,500 undergraduates, compared to 6,635 at Harvard.

Changes to undergraduate residential life are another important aspect of the Cornell announcement. Currently, first-year students at Cornell are almost evenly divided between two campuses, North and West.

"The intent is to have the entire freshman class on North campus by the fall of 2001," said Facilities Project Leader John A. Kiefer. The plan will require the construction of new dorms on the school's North campus.

The goal of the project is to create a common first-year experience, which would be similar to the Harvard first-year living experience in the Yard.

"There's a major effort to develop greater class unity," Dullea said.

Part of the first-year housing plan--also called the North Campus Residential Initiative--involves faculty-student interaction.

The construction will include five newapartments for faculty in residence.

The relationship between the faculty inresidence and the first-year students ranges fromacademic advising to a more casual surrogateparent role.

"They tell me that during exam week [thefaculty] take ice cream around to the students,"Kiefer said.

Another residential change, which is still inthe planning stages, involves new plans forupper-class housing.

"We want to be able to guarantee housing oncampus for all sophomores and new transferstudents," Dullea said.

Unlike Harvard, Cornell does not guaranteeon-campus housing for its upperclass students.

A committee is exploring different housingplans for the upperclass students on West campus.

The committee visited universities includingHarvard, Yale, Duke and Stanford to observedifferent housing systems, and a house systemsimilar to Harvard's is under discussion, Kiefersaid.

The other component of Rawlings' announcementinvolved undergraduate advising.

Mary J. Sansalone, a professor of structuralengineering, was appointed as vice provost, and"she has been asked by the president to giveparticular attention to strengthening advising,"Dullea said. "There is a strong feeling that[advising] can be improved through attention."

Although research universities have come undercriticism for a lack of attention toundergraduates, Dullea maintains that Cornell'srole as a research university also serves toenrich undergraduate life.

"The president is not in any way drawing adistinction between research and teaching," Dulleasaid. "The teaching here is infused by theexcellent quality of the research."

At Harvard, news of the Cornell announcementwas greeted with reserved admiration.

"I read of the Cornell plan with interest and,lacking details, can only applaud their emphasison the undergraduate experience," said Dean ofStudents Archie C. Epps III. "It's crucial thatmajor research institutions remember the centralrole of their colleges as nurturers of futureleaders in the professions and in academic fields.It grounds them in the importance of thedevelopment of the whole person.

The construction will include five newapartments for faculty in residence.

The relationship between the faculty inresidence and the first-year students ranges fromacademic advising to a more casual surrogateparent role.

"They tell me that during exam week [thefaculty] take ice cream around to the students,"Kiefer said.

Another residential change, which is still inthe planning stages, involves new plans forupper-class housing.

"We want to be able to guarantee housing oncampus for all sophomores and new transferstudents," Dullea said.

Unlike Harvard, Cornell does not guaranteeon-campus housing for its upperclass students.

A committee is exploring different housingplans for the upperclass students on West campus.

The committee visited universities includingHarvard, Yale, Duke and Stanford to observedifferent housing systems, and a house systemsimilar to Harvard's is under discussion, Kiefersaid.

The other component of Rawlings' announcementinvolved undergraduate advising.

Mary J. Sansalone, a professor of structuralengineering, was appointed as vice provost, and"she has been asked by the president to giveparticular attention to strengthening advising,"Dullea said. "There is a strong feeling that[advising] can be improved through attention."

Although research universities have come undercriticism for a lack of attention toundergraduates, Dullea maintains that Cornell'srole as a research university also serves toenrich undergraduate life.

"The president is not in any way drawing adistinction between research and teaching," Dulleasaid. "The teaching here is infused by theexcellent quality of the research."

At Harvard, news of the Cornell announcementwas greeted with reserved admiration.

"I read of the Cornell plan with interest and,lacking details, can only applaud their emphasison the undergraduate experience," said Dean ofStudents Archie C. Epps III. "It's crucial thatmajor research institutions remember the centralrole of their colleges as nurturers of futureleaders in the professions and in academic fields.It grounds them in the importance of thedevelopment of the whole person.