This month, the Office of Housing and Residential Education (OHARE) is in the process of collecting and reviewing applications for the positions of resident advisor and head resident. Like always, applicants will be placed in one of seven dorm areas. For the first time though, the Commons will be fully operational and ready to hold the entire freshman class. The master plan to quarantine all of the freshmen away from the fraternities and close to the hospital will be complete. A new bridge was even built to connect the hospital and the Commons, speeding up the transfer of students from bathroom floors to emergency room doors.
Before the first freshman has the chance to start his college career off with a ninety-day probation, a new team of residential staff will return to go through training. Typically this occurs a week before residents are allowed to move into their dorms for the new academic year. The training focuses on meeting the multitude of campus resources, setting goals for the area’s staff, making door decorations so that students can graffiti without damaging university property, and finally learning how to write up a violation of university policy without resorting to methods seen on COPS.
For next year, however, the training schedule is still being formulated. In order to implement the ideas behind the Commons, training must be revised. Those fearless resident advisors who choose to brave the freshman hallways next year will be responsible for more than just helping residents acclimate and enforcing policy. In addition, these advisors will work with the faculty heads of house to set up a community feel unique to each house. As it stands now, the current system of resident advisor training is not deemed adequate to prepare one for this increase in responsibilities.
To this end, training will not only focus on the skills necessary to be a resident advisor but also those necessary to be a VUceptor. Apparently, the additional skills learned in VUcept training include learning how to work with adults, eating three catered meals a day, and talking about teaching in the most abstract manner possible. Putting the actual merits of VUcept training aside, a greater issue should be brought to attention. Though the current plan requires resident advisors for the Commons to attend VUcept training, Vanderbilt Visions and the hiring of VUceptors will continue like nothing has changed, save a shortening of the number of sessions.
Instead of transferring the responsibility of helping freshmen become acclimated to their resident advisor, the University spokesperson they come into the most contact with, VUceptors will still continue to aid in this process by leading weekly rap sessions about feelings, Greek life, and Vanderbilt stereotypes. It is true that there may be some merits to the continuing of this program. After all, some of Vanderbilt’s more technically inclined students might stay in their room all day if they weren’t forced to attend a once-a-week session or meet the delivery guy at the door. In addition, in today’s competitive job market, the job title of VUceptor looks great on a resume.
But are there any other practical reasons for continuing Vanderbilt Visions if the freshman resident advisors are required to go through the same training? This year there have been weekends with double-digit emergency room visits both nights for alcohol-related incidents despite the admonitions by one’s VUceptor. While it is true that there hasn’t been another Morgan shooting, lack of violence does not mean the program is working. The shooters didn’t attend any Vanderbilt Visions sessions. They didn’t even go to Vanderbilt.
Regardless of the number of Vanderbilt Visions session or their curriculum, college freshmen will be college freshmen. Some will make unwise choices and suffer the consequences. We can’t beat Emory and Duke in the US News rankings, though, if we don’t trim our student body. In the spirit of trimming the fat, Vanderbilt Visions must go the way of Interhall and Student Government should the current resident advisor training proposal be implemented. After all, this year’s class of seniors like the over 130 classes before it got through college without Vanderbilt Visions. Who’s to say next year’s freshman can’t do the same? After all they’ll be the best class ever, until the next year.
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