The University has invested $154 million in renovation and new facilities. Nine of what will be ten ‘houses’ are currently occupied for this year by sophomores and juniors. The feedback on the facilities thus far is very positive.

The Commons Center is open this fall. The facility is open 24 hours, staffed by a security guard from midnight to 7 AM.

Part of the focus in the design of the facilities has been on identifying ways that space can promote and foster ‘accidental’ collaboration.

The 10 faculty ‘heads of house’ have just been appointed. They will join Frank Wcislo and others on the planning for the official Commons implementation for 2008/2009. The heads of house will provide the intellectual and community leadership for each house; this operationalizes the vision of faculty involvement in the students’ new living and learning environment.

The Commons hopes to stimulate intentional and proactive learning. Other values important to the development of the students are empowerment within the social network and creativity. The social network will consist of the student’s floor, their Vanderbilt Visions group, and their House. Happenings, rather than programming, will develop from these social networks.

Building the Digital Commons will make use of social networking approaches rather than a portal. Students will be signed up at the point of admission. Students are expected to use it much like they do Facebook and there will be links into Facebook; a potential way it might be used is for finding roommates since the students are pretty much obsessed with housing at the point of paying their fee to come. The links and the application will make it possible for students to find out things like immediate announcements, what’s on WRVU right now, what’s open at 3 AM, etc.

With the Digital Commons in place, the concept of orientation will change significantly and will expand to the entire time before they arrive, covering May 1 to Aug. 16.

Because they are currently living in the Commons spaces, next year’s juniors and seniors will have experienced some of the intended environment. This year’s first year students will have very limited experience with it, and so there’s an interest in identifying ways in which these students can encounter and experience the expected benefits.

Librarians should join the conversation about how the Commons will roll out and develop over time. We need to be thinking about what sorts of demands future students will or should be making of us.

Remote use of the library is not clear to students—awareness that it’s available

A burning issue for the University is how to manage the transition of these new students who have experienced the Commons into their remaining three years.

With the momentum that the program now has in place, it seems likely that other College Halls (Kissam, in particular) may be developing sooner rather than later. This places the ‘Library Commons’ smack dab into the middle of the migratory trail around and through campus.

What the ‘Library Commons’ is may grow out of the Future of the Library planning effort, and the need for that effort becomes more obvious and necessary with the development of the residential colleges.

Success depends on what we can bring to the educational experience.

The Commons will foster many projects and more personalized and tailored experiences where a ‘census count’ of how many are benefiting may be less important than somehow measuring the individual successes.