The Journal of College and University Student Housing - Volume 38, No. 2 & Volume 39, No. 1 - 98

James A . Wallace

Erickson (1974), in his “eight stages of man,” seems to support the thesis that such crucial characteristics as trust, autonomy, and initiative begin to develop primarily in relationships among child, parent, and sibling. Coons (1974) states that perhaps the college situation, involving the geographical separation of the student from parents in an environment focused on the reexamination of all things previously taken for granted, offers a unique opportunity for university housing to have a similar impact on a student’s future development. Erickson (1974) uses the word “crisis” to designate a necessary turning point, a crucial moment, when a person’s development must move one way or another, marshalling resources of growth, recovery, and further differentiation. It is expected that crises are the rule rather than the exception for college students. The university, therefore, becomes a surrogate family as it must address itself to these stages of development and growth.

Interesting comments on the future of the community experience have been made by several authors in the field of student personnel. Fifteen years ago, Riker (1965) wrote in College Housing as Learning Centers: “In the future, housing units will be incorporated into the academic community so that the informal learning will have purpose and direction consistent with the objectives and curriculum of the institution.” Brown (1967), commenting on the residence hall environment, stated: “A situation which throws people together in a university but provides little shared intellectual experience will quite naturally lead the students to seek ways of interacting that are not necessarily congruent with the purpose of the university. Therefore, the university should consider new ways of grouping students in the curriculum, in the residential arrangements, and in scheduling so that large numbers will have some common shared life which will serve as a foundation for intellectual and social interaction.” If the university separates learning from living experiences, it is teaching the lesson that intellectuality is separate from real life. If it teaches by the condition of its buildings that ugliness and overcrowding are acceptable as the price to pay for efficiency, then all the words in the classroom cannot counteract that lesson. Heyck (1978) speculates that a large, sterile, plastic residence hall teaches that (1) impersonal living arrangements, with little or no public life, are acceptable in modern society; (2) large institutions must be inhumane and bureaucratic; (3) cost analyses (e.g., in the design of a residential building) should take into account only the narrowest range of factors; (4) our lives can be compartmentalized, with the social

Housing administrators must develop and support a program that ensures the creation of a living environment within which the needs of students are met, their behavior is dealt with, and learning can take place. In providing a commonly shared experience or sense of community, the educational value of the residence hall experience is unique .
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THE JOURNAL OF COLLEGE AND UNIVERSITY STUDENT HOUSING
The Journal of College and University Student Housing - Volume 38, No. 2 & Volume 39, No. 1

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of The Journal of College and University Student Housing - Volume 38, No. 2 & Volume 39, No. 1
