Love for the Learning Community

Max Resnik
mr253506@ohio.edu

The Ohio University Board of Trustees and President Roderick McDavis are giving special attention to the use of Residential Learning Communities on campus. The program has been creating networks between students to make studying easier. The hope is that students can cooperate with each other to become successful. On Friday the Board of Trustees met to discuss a variety of issues concerning students, faculty and staff including the future of RLC's.


A History of the Residential Learning Community

What began as a simple concept of learning for first year college students has quickly expanded in the ten years since its creation. The learning communities began in the fall quarter of the 1999-2000 school year with two pilot communities and 40 students.

Since the fall of 1999 learning communities have expanded to 142 communities with nearly 2,200 students participating.

The learning communities have received a great deal of attention from the university in recent years as grants from the 1804 Club have helped to keep the program alive and growing each year. The 1804 Club is one of Ohio University's largest fund raisers and contributes millions of dollars each year to OU.

The learning communities have also been given high praise from Ohio University President Roderick McDavis, who is a huge supporter of the program. To show the success of the program, McDavis highlighted increases in both retention rates and GPA of students over the last ten years.


One student discusses his learning community experience


Residential Learning Community Objectives

The success and growth of the Residential Learning Communities at Ohio University is based on the following goals.
1. Create learning-based peer networks
2. Improve the academic success of first year students
3. Improve student retention from the freshman to sophomore year
4. Increase student satisfaction with Ohio University
5. Increase student factulty interaction outside the classroom

RLC Love


One student's comedic view of what the learning community can offer.

President McDavis wanted board and audience members to see first-hand success of the Residential Learning Communities or RLC's as they as are called, and the president also wanted to insure their place on campus for the next ten years. The Board of Trustees agreed with the success the learning community has given the students at Ohio University and guaranteed their place on campus in the future.

Additionally, prospective students are encouraged to check out the RLC's by going to the Ohio University website.

External Links

Ohio.edu/students
Residential Learning Communities
Peer Mentors within the RLC
OU Board of Trustees