Cole-Newkirk and Dye speak to Con

Conservatory faculty pass two proposals

At the Conservatory Faculty meeting on Tuesday President Nancy Dye and Dean of Student Life and Services Charlene Cole-Newkirk presented some of the results of the long-range planning focus groups.

They focused on the topics of residential life and the ways that residential life can effect community building.

The faculty also unanimously passed two proposals to make minute changes in the first-year advising system and studio assignments.

A more formal presentation and discussion on residential life will be incorporated into next week's General Faculty meeting.

"Our dorms and our student center do not work particuarly well as facilities for late 20th century," Dye said. "Oberlin really lacks much common space. The old facilites are a bit dingy and kind of unfortunate looking."

Cole-Newkirk said that when she returned to Oberlin she was surprised to find that facilties had changed little since she was a student in the '70s.

Faculty members questioned the cost of large restructuring projects and suggested a few other facilities that could benefit from a renovation.

"When I heard you talking about long corridors and isolated rooms, I thought you were talking about the conservatory," said a faculty member.