Hubbard to pilot new community dorm plan

University officials plan to launch a pilot program of the planned neighborhood concept next fall in Hubbard Hall, featuring a revamped student support services system.

MSU Provost Kim Wilcox, as well as Vice President for Finance and Operations Fred Poston and Vice President for Student Affairs and Services Lee June, asked three university officials in a memo sent Sept. 8 to devise a list of recommendations outlining the development process for a new, integrated student support services model by Oct. 16.

Support services include university-offered academic and health help for students, including those offered by the Writing Center and Olin Health Center, among others.

Senior Associate Provost June Youatt, Assistant Vice President for Residential and Hospitality Services Vennie Gore and Senior Associate Vice President for Student Affairs and Services Denise Maybank received the green light Nov. 25 to move forward with planning for the new model.

In a Nov. 25 memorandum, Wilcox, Poston and June endorsed the group’s proposal to model student support services on a neighborhood concept and use a two-phase process to implement it.

Wilcox, Poston and June asked the group to craft a plan that will create five specific outcomes: integrating residents’ support into the dorms, unifying academic success and engagement services across neighborhoods, creating a system to deliver health and wellness services to on-campus residents, promoting academic success and engagement for academically at-risk students and promoting inclusion, globalization and internationalization within the neighborhoods.

Gore said the first phase of the plan, which involves engaging students and other stakeholders in focus groups to gather feedback, began last week.

The group expects to spend a large portion of next semester continuing to collect data and feedback on the proposed changes. Gore said they will look to several student organizations, such as ASMSU and the greek community, for recommended focus group participants.

A mid-March deadline for the group’s interim report will not be problematic, Youatt said.

“Developing a model from the interview data, from the work of some faculty, staff and student groups and the research literature on student success should be attainable by March,” Youatt said in an e-mail.

June said he expects to receive a proposal in March that will include feedback from stakeholders and various recommendations, such as what types of technology should be included in neighborhoods.

“At this particular point in the process, we expect back a proposal in terms of indicating how the various stakeholders view the neighborhoods ought to be organized, as well as what kind of cutting-edge services they feel — as well as students feel — need to be in the neighborhood,” June said.