Nursing and business students now not only take classes together, but live, eat and study in the same residence halls.
Just as journalism and telecommunications students are "clustered" in Brayton/Clevenger halls, business and nursing majors are living in the same residence halls, a change Housing and Residence hopes will improve students' education.
"Certain classes seem to be 'stoppers' where students just don't do well academically," Cathy Bickle, assistant director of Residence Life, said. "Students really benefit from extra assistance and resources to better focus. That is what the academic clusters provide."
The academic clusters bring in tutors, faculty and alumni; providing study groups, lectures and networking opportunities. The pre-nursing cluster includes a resource room in Woodworth with anatomy charts, reference materials and labs.
Preliminary discussions about developing education academic clusters are underway, although Bickle said there are many issues in trying to find space because the program is so large. One possibility is to break the education cluster into specialties, with elementary, secondary and special education housed in different clusters.
This is the first year for the pre-business and pre-nursing clusters. 150 students are living in the pre-nursing cluster. Women are located in Woodworth Complex and males are in DeHority Complex. 225 students are living in the pre-business cluster in Knotts/Edwards halls.
Brian Tomlinson, director of the Knotts/Edwards halls, said the new pre-business cluster has teamed with Freshmen Connections, the Learning Center, Career Center, Miller College of Business, Bracken Library, the Information Systems and Operations Management Department and the Math Department.
Because of these resources, the hall has been able to provide supplemental instruction in many of the freshmen core business classes, Tomlinson said. 36 students showed up for the first tutoring session of the year, he said.
The TCOM/journalism cluster has proven "very successful" according to student and faculty surveys, Bickle said, with students saying they understand their chosen major better and have more faculty interaction. Although the other two academic clusters just opened two weeks ago, at the start of the semester, Bickle said there is already positive feedback and an interest in the specific tutoring sessions that are being provided.
"The RAs have said that their first year students this year are much more focused on academics than in the past," Tomlinson said. "Better resources with easier access are helping engage students and excite them about academics right from the beginning of the year."
Resident Assistants are generally placed in academic clusters based on their major because it adds to the overall atmosphere and provides yet another role model for incoming students, but there are special circumstances, such as a low number of nursing students who apply for RA positions, Bickle said. Tomlinson said five of the seven male RAs in the pre-business cluster are business majors, but none of the seven female RAs in the building are.
"RAs are hired first and foremost based on how qualified they are to be an RA," Tomlinson said. "But if two equally qualified students apply, the business major will get the job because they can relate to their residents on yet another level."
Bickle explained how preferences are taken into consideration when academic clusters are available to students. Honors housing is filled first and, for example, a student who is both in the Honors College and a TCOM major would be placed in Honors housing over the TCOM cluster in the Brayton/Clevenger halls. After that, academic clusters are the most important factor when placing students in residence halls. and negate other student preferences like requests for a particular hall, Bickle said. One of the few exceptions is for students requiring handicapped accessible housing options.
Read More
Three Air Jam teams take home the win
October 12, 2012Nineteen teams shimmied, shook and flipped for a sold out John R. Emens Auditorium on Thursday night during the 25th annual Air Jam.
Bill Clinton Speaks at North Central High School
October 12, 2012Former President's Speech Could Have Effect on State Senate Race
