Dorms at the University of Colorado could turn into “residential colleges” where students with similar majors would live, socialize and study under a proposal announced Tuesday by chancellor Phil Di Stefano.
Each residential college would have a live-in faculty “principal” to provide leadership and guidance. Students could attend classes, seminars, study groups and computer labs all in the building, DiStefano said.
Students would be required to live in the halls for at least two years, increasing the influence of upperclassmen on freshman study habits and social lives, he said.
The Boulder campus has 17 residence halls housing about 7,000 students. DiStefano wants to add 2,500 beds on campus by building residence halls and remodeling others in the next 10 to 15 years.
Residential colleges would attract more serious students and would keep them on campus longer instead of in apartments and the Greek system, CU officials said.
“Right now, it’s more of a first-year experience,” said Ron Stump, vice chancellor for student affairs. “We want it to be much more enriched.”
DiStefano said it is difficult to propose new initiatives “in the face of such fiscal adversity,” but the university “cannot limit our horizons to mere maintenance.”
Also Tuesday, CU president Hank Brown said in a speech at the City Club of Denver that tuition could increase as much as $1,000 per student per year and that a community college and a four-year school in Colorado could close if Referendum C fails.
Funding for higher education has declined from 25 percent of the state budget in the 1970s to about 10 percent now, he said. Without Referendum C, he believes it will go to zero.
Referendum C is a November ballot measure that would allow the state to keep billions of dollars otherwise returned to residents under the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights.
Jon Caldara, an opponent of Referendum C, said the legislature has several options, such as cashing in tobacco-settlement assets or finding savings at the universities, that would avoid the dire scenario Brown has portrayed.
But Brown concedes that both sides are painting the worst-case scenarios.
“From my point of view, the debate over Referendum C will not set any record for accuracy on any side,” he added.
Staff writer Jennifer Brown can be reached 303-820-1593 or jenbrown@denverpost.com.
