A residential college is a division of a university that places academic activity in a community setting of students and faculty, usually at a residence and with shared meals, the college having a degree of autonomy and a federated relationship with the overall university. The term residential college is also used to describe a variety of other patterns, ranging from a dormitory with some academic programming, to continuing education programs for adults lasting a few days. In some parts of the world it simply refers to any organized on-campus housing, an example being University of Malaya. [1]
A prominent model for residential colleges is the Oxbridge model at the University of Oxford [2] and University of Cambridge, [3] where the colleges are legally independent constituents of the universities that are both residential and teaching institutions. [4] [5] This model was modified at Durham University, also in the UK, in the 19th century to create non-teaching colleges that were, in general, legally part of the university, but with a few independent colleges added in the 20th century. [6] With the arrival of residential colleges in the United States the model diversified further. The Durham adaptation of colleges being owned by the university rather than being independent corporations is generally followed [7] and many universities, including Yale [8] and Harvard, [9] also follow Durham in keeping teaching centralised. [10]
There is also a split between fully collegiate universities (e.g. the University of Notre Dame, where all freshmen are put in one of the 31 residential colleges [10] ) and those (e.g. Northwestern University [11] ) where not all students are members of colleges. Another variant at some US universities is residential colleges that do not cover all years at the institute, e.g. Princeton University's system of mandatory residency the first two years, with an option to move outside one's residential college as an upperclassman, [12] or Cornell University's West Campus House System, which only takes sophomores and above, [13] with most upperclass students either living off campus or in dorms unaffiliated with the residential colleges. Another point of variance is whether colleges are multi-disciplinary (as at Oxford and Cambridge) or focused on certain subject areas such as at Fordham University, which has dedicated residential colleges (Integrated Learning Communities) for upperclass students for various themes including global business and science, as well as separate first year residential colleges, including one for students considering pre-med or science majors. [14]
The primary difference between a residential college and a dormitory is often considered to be that while a student lives in a dormitory for a year, they are a member of a college for their entire student life, even when not living in the dormitories associated with that college: "Residential colleges are collegia in the original sense: societies, not buildings, and their members may reside anywhere". [15] However, as can be seen above, this is not common to all variants of the residential college system. In addition, the members of a residential college are usually expected to eat their meals together, as a unified body. Standard dormitories tend to have residents who move between dorm complexes every year, and who eat in dining halls largely mixed with residents of other dormitories. However, residential colleges can be self-catering (e.g. Josephine Butler College, Durham), yet still clearly identified as colleges. [16]
In the United States, as in many collegiate universities in the UK, the academic and residential functions of the residential college system are normally separated, with the colleges primarily as residential and social units. Although residential colleges in some universities offer some classes, these offerings supplement the offerings of the major academic which have separate facilities. Other US institutions not mentioned above that have residential colleges include Binghamton University, [17] Furman University, [18] Murray State University, [19] Rice University, [20] Washington University in St. Louis, University of Miami, Central Michigan University, [21] Southern Methodist University, the University of Oklahoma, [22] the University of California, San Diego, and the University of California, Santa Cruz. [23] Many other institutions use the system as well. [24] At the University of Virginia, students may apply to live in one of three residential colleges; acceptance rates vary widely. In 2001 Vanderbilt University decided to convert to a residential college system. Since that time, Vanderbilt has built and renovated residential facilities to suit this program, including The Commons for first-year students and several colleges for upper class students. [25] At UC Santa Cruz and San Diego, all majors are available to students of any college, but each college has its own curricular requirements, especially with regard to general education. [26] [27]
Collegiate structures in the United Kingdom and Ireland follow a variety of models. In Oxford and Cambridge, a residential college combines both the residential and part of the academic aspects of the university in one location. "Tutorials" (Oxford) or "supervisions" (Cambridge) are generally given within the college, but lectures are organised by the wider university. In most universities in the UK with residential colleges – Durham (from the 19th century) along with Kent, Lancaster and York (from the 1960s) – formal teaching is carried out only in academic departments. Their colleges are primarily residential and the focus for social and sporting activities, as well as for student welfare. In these universities, the colleges are (with the exception of two early 20th century colleges at Durham) owned by their parent university; this is also the case for three of the newer colleges at Oxford, which are formally "societies" of the university. [28] The University of Roehampton has four colleges (all founded in the 19th century) that joined to form the university. The teaching of the university takes place within the colleges, with academic departments being associated with a particular college. Roehampton colleges are, therefore, both residential and academic, but with the academic organisation on very different lines from Oxford and Cambridge. The University of London and the University of the Highlands and Islands are federal universities whose colleges are independent teaching institutes (some, in the case of London, being universities in their own right) rather than residential colleges. The University of the Arts London is similarly organised, with six constituent teaching colleges, except that these are all owned by the central university rather than being joined in a federal structure.
The University of Dublin (founded 1592) in Ireland has only one constituent college, Trinity College Dublin, which is thus effectively the whole university rather than a residential college. The University of St Andrews in Scotland contains three colleges, but these have neither a teaching nor residential role.
Many universities in Canada have collegiate systems similar to those in British collegiate universities. For instance, the University of Toronto and York University have a well-established collegiate system including a number of "federated colleges" and "constituent colleges". Initially, the University of Victoria maintained a system of residential colleges (including Craigdarroch College and Lansdowne College) built around central courtyards, before adopting a more centralized residential system which is now made up of Permanent Halls (e.g., Ring Road Hall) and Common Rooms. Other Canadian universities with residential colleges include the University of Waterloo, the University of Western Ontario, the University of Manitoba, the University of British Columbia, Trent University and its colleges, Paton College at Memorial University of Newfoundland. Three Canadian residential colleges are distinguished by being for graduate students rather than undergraduates — Green College, Vancouver and St. John's College, Vancouver colleges at UBC, and Massey College, Toronto at the University of Toronto.
In Australia, colleges perform different functions at different universities. Colleges at the University of Melbourne, University of Sydney, University of Queensland, University of Adelaide, University of Tasmania and the University of Western Australia provide academic, sporting and cultural programs in addition to those offered by their parent institution and each individual college has its own personality, history and traditions. However, they only serve a small fraction of the university population. By point of comparison, the colleges at the Australian National University provide a mix of the above and a singular focus on the provision of accommodation and Monash University provides a college experience, but mostly without any academic support, the exception is the affiliated Mannix College.
St Catherine's College in Western Australia is the first residential college in Australia to have a campus at two universities - the University of Western Australia and Curtin University.
Residential colleges or Halls of Residence in New Zealand are common across the country's universities, particular for housing first year students. University of Auckland has 6 Halls, while University of Otago in Dunedin has a particular strong set of colleges modelled on the Oxbridge system. Each of Otago's 15 colleges has its own distinctive 'personality', history, and traditions.
In Italy, the residential college model was adopted in 2003 by all of Milan universities, according to a joint program developed in collaboration with several private and public institutions, such as Microsoft and the Lombardy Region, at the Collegio di Milano.[ citation needed ]
In South Korea, the residential college system was first adopted by MIRAE campus of Yonsei University in 2007 and later extended to Songdo campus in 2013. Due to the lack of housing available to the students, only the freshmen year participate in the residential college. MIRAE campus operates 7 houses and the residential college campus in Songdo operates 12 houses.
There is another residential college in GIST(Gwangju Institute of Science and Technology) College at Gwangju, South Korea. GIST College has gained positive outcomes in undergraduate students' dormitory life as well as university life as a whole.[ citation needed ]
A college is an educational institution or a constituent part of one. A college may be a degree-awarding tertiary educational institution, a part of a collegiate or federal university, an institution offering vocational education, a further education institution, or a secondary school.
A campus traditionally refers to the land and buildings of a college or university. This will often include libraries, lecture halls, student centers and, for residential universities, residence halls and dining halls.
Oxbridge is a portmanteau of the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge, the two oldest, wealthiest, and most famous universities in the United Kingdom. The term is used to refer to them collectively, in contrast to other British universities, and more broadly to describe characteristics reminiscent of them, often with implications of superior social or intellectual status or elitism.
Universities in the United Kingdom have generally been instituted by royal charter, papal bull, Act of Parliament, or an instrument of government under the Further and Higher Education Act 1992 or the Higher Education and Research Act 2017. Degree awarding powers and the 'university' title are protected by law, although the precise arrangements for gaining these vary between the constituent countries of the United Kingdom.
Yale College is the undergraduate college of Yale University. Founded in 1701, it is the original school of the university. Although other Yale schools were founded as early as 1810, all of Yale was officially known as Yale College until 1887, when its schools were confederated and the institution was renamed Yale University. It is ranked as one of the top colleges in the United States.
In a number of countries, a university college is a college institution that provides tertiary education but does not have full or independent university status. A university college is often part of a larger university. The precise usage varies from country to country.
The State University of New York at Binghamton is a public research university in Greater Binghamton, New York, United States. It is one of the four university centers in the State University of New York (SUNY) system.
A dormitory, also known as a hall of residence or a residence hall, is a building primarily providing sleeping and residential quarters for large numbers of people such as boarding school, high school, college or university students. In some countries, it can also refer to a room containing several beds accommodating people.
A collegiate university is a university where functions are divided between a central administration and a number of constituent colleges. Historically, the first collegiate university was the University of Paris and its first college was the Collège des Dix-Huit. The two principal forms are residential college universities, where the central university is responsible for teaching and colleges may deliver some teaching but are primarily residential communities, and federal universities where the central university has an administrative role and the colleges may be residential but are primarily teaching institutions. The larger colleges or campuses of federal universities, such as University College London and University of California, Berkeley, are effectively universities in their own right and often have their own student unions.
The Memorial Quadrangle is a residential quadrangle at Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut. Commissioned in 1917 to supply much-needed student housing for Yale College, it was Yale's first Collegiate Gothic building and its first project by James Gamble Rogers, who later designed ten other major buildings for the university. The Quadrangle has been occupied by Saybrook College and Branford College, two of the original ten residential colleges at Yale. The collegiate system of Yale University was largely inspired by the Oxbridge model of residential and teaching colleges at the University of Oxford and the University of Cambridge in the UK.
In the universities of Oxford, Cambridge, and Dublin, Bachelors of Arts (BAs) are promoted to the rank of Master of Arts (MA), typically upon application after three or four years after graduation. No further examination or study is required for this promotion, which is a mark of seniority rather than an additional postgraduate qualification.
Salem State University is a public university in Salem, Massachusetts. Established in 1854, it is the oldest and largest institute of higher education on the North Shore and is part of the state university system in Massachusetts.
The tutorial system is a method of university education where the main teaching method is regular, very small group sessions. These are the core teaching sessions of a degree, and are supplemented by lectures, practicals and larger group classes. This system is found at the collegiate universities of Oxford and Cambridge, although other universities use this method to various degrees.
Colleges within universities in the United Kingdom can be divided into two broad categories: those in federal universities such as the University of London, which are primarily teaching institutions joined in a federation, and residential colleges in universities following the traditional collegiate pattern of Oxford and Cambridge, which may have academic responsibilities but are primarily residential and social. The legal status of colleges varies widely, both with regard to their corporate status and their status as educational bodies. London colleges are all considered 'recognised bodies' with the power to confer University of London degrees and, in many cases, their own degrees. Colleges of Oxford, Cambridge, Durham and the University of the Highlands and Islands (UHI) are 'listed bodies', as "bodies that appear to the Secretary of State to be constituent colleges, schools, halls or other institutions of a university". Colleges of the plate glass universities of Kent, Lancaster and York, along with those of the University of Roehampton and the University of the Arts London do not have this legal recognition. Colleges of Oxford, Cambridge, London, and UHI, and the "recognised colleges" and "licensed halls" of Durham, are separate corporations, while the colleges of other universities, the "maintained colleges" of Durham, and the "societies of the university" at Oxford are parts of their parent universities and do not have independent corporate existence.
A common room is a group into which students are organised in some universities, particularly in the United Kingdom, normally in a subdivision of the university such as a college or hall of residence, in addition to an institution-wide students' union. They represent their members within the hall or college, operate certain services within these institutions such as laundry or recreation, and provide opportunities for socialising. There are variations based on institutional tradition and needs, but classically the following common rooms will exist:
Doxbridge is a portmanteau of Durham, Oxford, and Cambridge, referring to the universities of those names. It is an expansion of the more popular portmanteau Oxbridge, referring to Oxford and Cambridge universities and similar to the portmanteau Loxbridge, referring to London, Oxford and Cambridge.
The Colleges of Durham University are residential colleges that are the primary source of accommodation and support services for undergraduates and postgraduates at Durham University, as well as providing a focus for social, cultural and sporting life for their members, and offering bursaries and scholarships to students. They also provide funding and/or accommodation for some of the research posts in the University. All students at the University are required to be members of one of the colleges.
Yale University has a system of fourteen residential colleges with which all Yale undergraduate students and many faculty are affiliated. Inaugurated in 1933, the college system is considered the defining feature of undergraduate life at Yale College, and the residential colleges serve as the residence halls and social hubs for most undergraduates. Construction and programming for eight of the original ten colleges were funded by educational philanthropist Edward S. Harkness. Yale was, along with Harvard, one of the first universities in the United States to establish a residential college system.
The history of Durham University spans over 190 years since it was founded by Act of Parliament. King William IV granted royal assent to the Act on 4 July 1832, and granted the university a royal charter on 1 June 1837, incorporating it and confirming its constitution. The university awarded its first degrees on 8 June 1837. It describes itself as the third-oldest university in England and is listed by the European University Association as one of Europe's oldest hundred universities in continuous operation.
The University of York has eleven colleges. These colleges provide most of the accommodation for undergraduates and postgraduates at the university. While lectures, examinations, laboratories and facilities such as the central library are run by the university, the colleges play an important role in the pastoral care of the student body.
Although the historical roots of collegiate organisation are to be found in Oxford and Cambridge universities, the corporate independence of Oxbridge colleges is not likely to be reproduced elsewhere. But there is a growing trend in US higher education to create decentralised residential colleges more along the lines of the colleges at Durham University than at Oxford or Cambridge, and this trend holds great promise for the improvement of student life.
Yale's residential colleges have nothing to do with majors or academic interests
{{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)