By Katie RessmeyerThe Daily Northwestern

A new committee will advise the administration on how to improve student housing, including ways that Northwestern can bridge the gap that exists between the classroom and the dorm room.

The committee will assess the condition of on-campus housing and make recommendations to University Provost Lawrence Dumas for future changes.

“We already have a great housing system,” said Ronald Braeutigam, associate provost for undergraduate enrollment and co-chair of the housing committee. “The purpose of this committee is just to make it better.”

The committee will review current living situations in the residential college and residence hall systems and make recommendations on a variety of issues.

One of the primary concerns for the committee is the connection between classroom learning and residential life activities.

Residential colleges have been able to bring the classroom to the dorm through the use of firesides and the connections of faculty fellows. But Braeutigam said it is important to continue reinforcing this link.

“At most universities, residential life ought to provide some extension of the classroom,” Braeutigam said.

The committee plans to assess how to build a stronger campus community by studying communities within individual dorms, Braeutigam said. This committee will examine the dorm layouts and facilities to see how they affect community.

The committee also plans to recommend aesthetic improvements to the residence halls.

Recommendations will be based on factors specific to NU and comparisons to housing systems at peer institutions.

“It is more a goal to reassess where we are and how our programs compare to what our peers are doing,” Braeutigam said.

Vice President for Student Affairs William Banis will chair the committee along with Braeutigam.

The committee will be composed of an undergraduate student, a graduate student, a recent alumnus or alumna, faculty members and representatives from the offices of Student Affairs, University Enrollment, Facilities Management, Information Technology, Budget and the Provost.

The specific members of the committee are still being finalized, said Al Cubbage, vice president of university relations.

The committee will be assisted by Biddison Hier, Ltd., a consulting firm that specializes in management services and planning for universities.

The committee will act only as an advisory body and will not vote on any of its recommendations, Cubbage said. But he said he expects the committee’s recommendations to bring about positive changes to campus residence halls.

“We are looking for a good thorough review of housing,” Cubbage said.

Not only will programming changes be recommended, but Cubbage also said that he expects physical changes will come about as a result of the committee’s final report.

The committee plans to meet for the first time in the next few weeks and will attempt to provide its recommendations by the end of the 2006-07 school year.

Reach Katie Ressmeyer at [email protected].