Veritas, Vol. 25, No. 01, September 1984

              Vol. 24 No. 1
For the Faculty, Staff and Friends of the University of Miami
A model for future housing?
The Honors Residential College opens
Murfin receives parents of honors students in the spacious living room of the master's apartment during the recent opening of the college.
In keeping with a strong commitment to quality education, President Edward T. Foote II announced plans in May of 1983 for opening an Honors Residential College at the University of Miami. The residential system was introduced at the UM in order to enhance the relationship between students and faculty and to allow students to study and learn where they live and socialize.
A year in the making, the University" opened its residential college — the only one in the southeastern United States — in newly renovated twin towers of the 1968 Complex, on Aug. 19- The college comprises all 11 floors of Pentland Tower and the first five floors of McDonald Tower. This year the entire college is filled, with more students eager to enroll.
“The opening of this college is one of the more exciting developments at the University of Miami during this fascinating period of its transition, integrating all aspects of student life,” said President Foote. “The college is destined to be a model for future housing for students here.”
“We found that students tend to have a better educational experience when they had significant interaction with faculty,” said James L. Ash, Jr., associate provost for undergraduate studies.
“National studies show that students who have formed some kind of personal relationship with a faculty member at a university in their first year are more likely to succeed at the university and graduate from the institution —even though they’ve changed their majors several times and even though the faculty member may not be in the field they’re interested in,” he said.
“So, we were looking for a way to get faculty and students to interact in an educational and cultural environment that would be good for both,” Ash explained. “The residential col-
lege system is one that was developed precisely to meet that kind of goal.
“The president of Yale University recently made the comment to President Foote that the decision to convert Yale’s campus housing system to the residential college system, which was made about 30 years ago, was probably the best decision that Yale made in the 20th century,” Ash said.
Like its prototypes at Rice and Yale Universities, the college has a Master and faculty associates who help to plan events and guide the direction of the college. Ross Murfin, director of the Honors Program and associate professor of English, serves as Master, and with his family lives in an apartment within the college. Approximately 30 faculty members serve as faculty associates and help guide and participate in events for students.
“Dr. Murfin is unquestionably one of the two or three most popular honors professors on campus,” Ash said. “He is a nationally known scholar in the field of English literature and even though he’s one of our younger scholars, he is certainly one of the four or five most published and most distinguished faculty members in the humanities at the University.”
Murfin will be able to draw on his experience as an Executive Fellow for Branford College, part of the residential college system at Yale University.
At Yale, Murfin directed the effort of the fellows (Yale’s name for faculty associates) and served as a liaison between the Master and fellows. His enthusiasm for UM’s residential college is obvious.
“This is one of those rare jobs that was very attractive and one that I felt I was well-qualified for,” Murfin joked. “From experience, I know what doesn’t work in a traditional residential college,” he said. He added that he most likely will make successful components more central elements at the UM’s college.
Two other UM faculty members live at the college as resident associates. James Shelley, director of academic and research computing and an adjunct professor in the School of Mathematics and Computer Science, and Constance Weldon, assistant dean, School of Music, have apartments at the college and have planned special events for students.
Craig Ullom has recently joined the UM as director of Student Development Services, a newly created position in the Department of Student Affairs.
Ullom received his Doctorate Degree in Adult and Continuing Education from the University of Georgia, where he was involved in student development activities in the housing department for six years.
Prior to his work at Georgia, he served as a residence hall counselor at Eastern Illinois University. He has also worked for the housing departments at the University of Nebraska and at Radford University.
“The University was indeed fortunate to have recruited a person of Dr. Craig Ullom’s competence, experience, creativity and high self-motivation to serve as director of Student Development Services,” said William Sheeder, assistant vice president for Student Affairs and dean of students.
“Under his leadership, I am confident that the department he heads will offer comprehensive student development services unprecedented in the history of this University,” Sheeder added.
Ullom said that he was attracted to the position at the UM because of its primary focus on student development.
“There seemed to be a lot of potential here at the UM for working in this area and a lot of support for it,” Ullom said. In carrying out his duties, Ullom will rely on a philosophy of student development he has arrived at through his experience and study.
“Ross (Murfin) and I felt that Connie and Jim were just the perfect combination for resident associates for the residential college,” Ash said.
“We’re extremely fortunate to have Jim Shelley,” Ash said. He added that since Shelley has been involved with one of the more popular honors courses in computer science, he was a continued on page 8
“I see student development as being a holistic process, a process that takes place in student growth,” Ullom said. “It’s the process a student goes through in learning about him or herself — within and outside the classroom.”
The “key facilitators or stimulators” to a student’s development are individual values, priorities, and interpersonal relationships with other people — peers, parents, and faculty, Ullom said.
continued on page 2
Craig Ullom
Ding ling (left), professor and vice president for the Beijing Institute of Technology, presents a banner of friendship to President Foote during a recent week-long visit by a delegation of Chinese scholars to the UM. The visit was part of a three-year agreement between the University and BIT to exchange scholars, students and research information.
Student development director appointed