Designing an Academic Home Away from Home

Institutions of higher education in America warmly embrace the original tenants of the residential college experience that blends the constituent parts of academic, co-curricular, and residential life into a seamless whole. Liberal education aims to integrate students into the fullness of campus life as a precursor to well-ordered lives in the world.

To further this aim, a few notable colleges and universities have carefully planned and developed well-designed “villages” for their senior students that keep them on campus providing leadership as they transition from four years on campus to successful lives in the community. In each case, academic leaders created the atmosphere for apartment-style living that incorporates academic and social spaces often including career path amenities in the mix. And, in each case, these initiatives served to retain senior leadership and presence as a vibrant part of the overall collegiate environment. In this exercise, we sought to uncover the students’ perspective to better understand the senior village success story.

Let us tell you about our work to design and build a Senior Village integrated into the fabric of these four inventive colleges and universities: Wofford College (SC), Randolph-Macon College (VA), the University of Richmond (VA), and Elon University (NC).