Lesli Marchese, Campus Carrier News Editor

Lindsay Norman, assistant dean of students for residence life, spoke at SGA on Tuesday about residence life changes, including the future implementation of a new living-learning community.

A Living Learning Community (LLC) as a basic system provides “opportunities for students with similar educational interests to live together in residence halls offering structured learning environments,” according to Vanderbilt University. Although LLCs can take many different forms, and do at several universities, they are usually a community on a campus where students have the chance to live and connect with peers who share similar interests and goals.

Berry has LLC programs on campus currently, including the year of service cottages.

During SGA, Norman explained schools with similar programs have found them to be very successful.

We are always looking for “ways we can improve or create another experience for a student to prosper or benefit from,” Norman said. “This is one of the ideas we know is really successful, and there’s a lot of research in it.”

Berry will choose about 40 incoming freshmen in the 2016 – 2017 academic year through an application before the semester starts, to participate in the program. They will be in two BCC classes, and will live on two nearby or adjoining halls. They will also be enrolled in one or more classes together, specifically meant for students in the program.

The program will have an assessment at the end of the first year to check that the intended learning goals are being met and that students are benefiting from the initiative.

Residence Life currently plans on housing these 40 freshmen in Morgan or Deerfield Hall, typically upperclassman residence halls.

According to Norman, these buildings were designed to house similar programs, and have a set-up compatible for community building.

When announced, many students expressed their concern about freshmen living in the traditionally upperclassman hall.

“Freshmen living in Morgan, Deerfield is a tragedy,” sophomore Chandler Workman said. “Residence Life needs to assist the needs of upperclassman before freshmen – current Berry students want to live in Morgan, Deerfield because of the quiet atmosphere it offers.”

Norman has heard the concerns of many of the students and encourages students to “think about the situation and move past their initial reaction.” She believes that although she doesn’t expect opinions on the subject to change drastically, people tend to “gain a lot of clarity after a few days.”

Some students are concerned that putting freshmen in the dorms will segregate them and cause rifts in the freshman class and many upperclassman.

“You’re at different stages of your life at those points,” freshmen Beth Anne DeKeizer said. “I don’t think they’re thinking through it from a student perspective – they’re thinking through it from an administrative perspective.”

Junior Kadriye Atkepe likes the idea of the living and learning community, but is worried that it might cause jealousy between freshmen. She also believes that living in an upperclassman residence hall should be a privilege for students to work towards.

“You start from the bottom and you work your way up,” Atkepe said. “You come to Berry and you work your way up to get a better job on campus, or living in a better atmosphere. I guess it’s an unspoken rite of passage, and I think that’s why it’s making people mad.”

Many of these concerns were brought to Residence Life’s attention both during the SGA meeting and on Wednesday afternoon, when SGA president Ree Palmer sat down with Norman to express some of the concerns that had been brought to her by students.

“SGA has been great to filter some of that information and let us know what students are saying,” Norman said. “I think we need to listen to residents and know how they feel.”

Residence life is hosting several small group discussions with students for the chance at open dialogue, which students received an email about Wednesday night.

“Students are always going to challenge stuff and we can’t shy away from change because we’re afraid of criticism,” Norman said. “I know students will continue to be thoughtful and help us kind of figure out moving forward what is best for all Berry students – the current berry students and future berry students.”

Be on the lookout for more about online room selection, and other residence life policy changes and updates in the coming weeks.