When Miranda Morris found out in the Spring that Minton Residential College had to close for scheduled facility upgrades, she had two questions:
–What student-learning opportunities could this possibly present for the University?
–What will Minton Residential College be when the building reopens?
Following the UCA tradition of inventiveness and collaboration, two answers quickly emerged:
–Create a new learning community especially for off-campus students.
–Rebuild Minton green.
“We know that our commuter students are at the greatest risk for feeling ‘left out’ of the college experience because they are less likely to get involved in on-campus activities,” said Morris, the faculty-in-residence at Minton Hall. “Our new program, Satellite Minton — or SaM — will give these students the type of on-campus experience which allows for mixing community and learning.”
Sally A. Roden, Associate Provost and Dean of Undergraduate Studies, has been a strong advocate for learning in community and is excited about this new challenge. “No one else in the state has a program like this for commuter students, and we want these students to feel as valued and connected as our residential college students do.”
Starting in Fall 2007, SaM students will have several of their classes in a new classroom created especially for them in Baridon Hall. They will also have volunteer upper-class mentors who will help them get involved in UCA activities and tutor them in key general education classes. Monthly luncheons will be held for the students and organized academic and social events will bring them together with international students, on-campus students, faculty, and staff.
During that time, Minton Residential College will be re-configured as a Green program. According to Paul McLendon, Vice President for Financial Services, the renovations to Minton Hall will allow UCA “to promote consideration of environmental issues such as the use of recycled materials and the reduction of energy cost as achievable and cost efficient.” He further adds, “The responsibility in caring for our environment lies within our reach and now is the time to put the visions that have been seen by many, but practiced by few, into action.”
Indeed, the rebirth of Minton Residential College as a Green “Center of Learning” will allow a greater emphasis on environmental issues as matters of everyday living and learning. McLendon adds, “It will provide a study home for those who live within its walls and an example for others to follow around the state and nation.”
Since 1997, when UCA opened the first Residential College at an Arkansas public institution, UCA has opened a total of five living/learning communities for freshman and sophomore students. The third of UCA’s residential colleges, Minton Residential College is a highly successful living/learning community which blends the academic and social lives of students through shared general education classes, a technology-rich classroom, upper-class mentors, tutoring, cultural trips, social events, and a live-in element where a faculty member lives in the building, side by side with the students. In the 10-year history of the program, students spending their first year in a Residential College have higher rates of graduation and academic performance.
