3. Unified Houses

The elimination of upperclass accommodations in distant annexes will serve to reunite Houses now geographically split. Some 200 students will no longer have to hike between bed and board. Upperclass accommodations in Canaday will be eliminated entirely, while Claverly may be used, on a limited basis, to house sophomores from adjacent Houses.

4. Major Construction at the Quad

I urge that at the earliest feasible date, construction of a dining hall at South House, to cost approximately $400,000 should be launched. Proposed architectural plans have been drawn up by the Planning Office. Suggestions for construction of other facilities, in addition to the dining hall, are undergoing serious appraisal; these include the construction of a skating rink and squash courts. In addition, there will be improvements made to eliminate vehicular traffic in the Quad, and special efforts will continue to be directed toward renovation of South House and North House facilities.

5. Revision of Freshman Weekend Dining Arrangements

Recognizing that the present system has proven unsatisfactory to most participants (Houseresidents and staff, as well as the great majority of freshmen), we will give careful consideration to the various ways in which the Freshman Union might be reopened on weekends. It will require time to develop cost estimates for the various possible options (ranging from $50,000 to $225,000), and also to consider the advantages which might be derived from another form of freshman affiliation with, and access to, the Houses.

6. Re-examination of the House Assignment Process

We have made a start at this, with a preliminary reassessment of the criteria used in the present housing assignment system, to be discussed by the CHUL Special Summer Study Group. Essentially, the House assignment process consists of two elements, both of which will be studied: (a) the criteria used to determine the number of students to be assigned to each House, and (b) the mechanics of lotteries, pre-assignment, and such other methods as may be necessary to the successful implementation of the plan. The issues here are many, complex, and undoubtedly familiar to many. Our intention is to approach them in terms of their relevance to other parts of this plan; that is, to judge the alternatives in light of their contribution to the workability of the other aspects of the plan, detailed above, rather than as separate and independent issues.

Since the mechanism of choice can be, and has been, adjusted each year to meet the needs of the system and its participants, there is nothing irreversible in the selection of one assignment method over another in any given year. For the assignment to Houses of the present freshman class, I anticipate further adjustments to the current choice-based system. A limited choice system, wherein students would list perhaps three choices of Houses, is under consideration. Concurrently, various methods of preassignment will be carefully evaluated as a means of bringing about an earlier student identification with particular Houses. It would be possible, for example, to assign freshmen to Houses earlier in the academic year, so as to facilitate their inclusion in House educational advising programs.

The present assignment system takes into account House occupancy levels, class distribution, and sex ratio. Whether other factors should be introduced is a matter for further discussion. I should note that a goal in the past has been the maintenance of a 1:1 sex ratio in the Quad Houses. Currently the ratio there is about 1.6 to 1 and, since the ratio for the most recently admitted class is 1.9 to 1, this issue may well prove to be less significant than it has been in the past. Nevertheless, because this issue is important to some Quad residents, I favor maintaining a slightly lower ratio of men to women at the Quad until such time as the changing applicant pool renders this measure unnecessary.

To conclude: the foregoing plan is comprehensive and must be judged as a whole, since it probably cannot succeed if it is implemented only in part, or piece by piece. It is the product of lengthy discussions, reports, and deliberations pursued in numerous forums throughout Harvard-Radlciffe over the past several years. In developing the plan, the chairpersons of the Task Force on Advising and Counseling and the Task Force on College Life have been consulted, as well as students, faculty, masters, House support staff, and administrators.

This version of the College Dean's report on housing was circulated at a meeting of the Committee on Houses and Undergraduate Life earlier this week. The report, which has been revised several times already, is currently under revision once again; Ann B. Spence, assistant dean of the College who helped prepare the report, said yesterday she expects there will be changes in the report's discussion of freshman advising and the transition from freshman to sophomore year. The report's authors also expect further discussion about and possible changes in the timetable this version of the report outlines for instituting three-year Houses at the Quad.