In July of 1996, MIT President Charles Vest appointed the Presidential Task Force on Student Life and Learning to undertake a comprehensive review of the Institute's educational mission and its implementation. The Task Force issued its full report in September of 1998 (see http://web.mit.edu/committees/sll/tf.html). In this report, the Task Fore wrote extensively about the value of "community" and its manifestation at MIT as well as the needs they perceived in regard to community. This includes eight specific recommendations in regard to fulfilling the vision they articulate with regard to community. To members of the undergraduate student body, housing issues are integrally linked to such issues. The Task Force therefore directly addressed such aspects.

Many have thought about and made specific recommendations concerning the undergraduate housing system and how MIT should move forward in redesigning this housing system in order to fulfill the recommendations of the Task Force and the general need of the student body. In ESD.02, we will take up the design of this overall housing system as our term project. Though motivated by the Task Force and their recommendations, this task is multi-dimensional and needs to take into account history, physical realities, fiscal constraints, relations with the broader communities around us (e.g. Boston and Cambridge), the current reality, and other such issues. We will explore available data, interview key people, look at the realities of the present situation, and consider key constraints in working towards and evaluation possible approaches for the future MIT undergraduate housing system.

The class will work as one team with the faculty(*) as advisors/consultants (not leaders). The output of the term-long work will be two-fold: one, an oral presentation on the findings, conclusions, and recommendations; and two, a written document containing the same material but with further explanation as well as description of background, approach and methodology.

P. A. Lagace

2/9/01 

(*) O. Robert Simha, special advisor to the Executive Vice President of MIT will also contribute. He was the Director of the MIT Planning Office for forty years.