I agree completely-- a LARGE commuter campus is
very different than a small one, and having an active and mindful campus that operates to foster outside-of-classroom interactions is really the key. Personally, my feeling is that this is largely a matter of pedagogical culture on a campus, and not necessarily of residential/commuter status in a student population-- faculty who encourage students to use one another as supplemental course resources foster it, and those who are very rigid and rubric-driven tend to discourage the development of cooperative learning communities. <shrug>
Colleges moved
away from having large shared spaces in student unions, etc. during the 80's and 90's, in favor of moving those kinds of things into facilities for campus
residents (and frankly, into eliminating them entirely in a lot of cases, in favor of other kinds of facilities), and later found that this was a serious error in terms of alumni loyalty, for exactly the reason that Mac notes. The solution, though, of having a REQUIREMENT that everyone live on campus, is (IMO) a bit wrong-headed, and it ultimately demonstrates on some level a lack of respect for genuine diversity. Where are single parents and returning students supposed to attend college, then?
On the other hand, having spaces which are
inviting and welcoming in which to "hang out" in between classes is very helpful in that regard. Lounge areas and seating near snack bars and coffee shops, open study rooms in departments-- spaces all over campus where it is okay to occupy a spot for hours on end, spaces where a small discussion group can meet informally and TALK (not needing to worry about being quiet). Students won't go back to apartments and dorm rooms when those inviting spaces are close at hand within a campus core.
Newer construction in even large campuses is aimed at paying MUCH more attention to that kind of thing now.
Our plan to address the "life on your own" thing is a bit different than average, I know-- but the plan is that until DD is probably 16-17, it's just not on the table for more than overnight. After that, weekends, then long weekends, etc. But there
is a plan. Because we believe that it is very important, as well.
DH jokes that we're sending DD to college using the
"Eppes Model."One final note, though-- if universities are
serious about student experiences (and not just alumni $), then they'd be paying a LOT more heed to the perils of slashing regular faculty ranks in favor of a 'mostly-adjunct-teaching' model as a cost-saving measure. They aren't-- this trend has accelerated, in fact. This is like having a temp agency supply your hospital with physicians and hoping that this will improve patient outcomes while you save money.
I pay a LOT of attention to what percentage of faculty on a campus are fixed term, adjunct, or tenured/tenure-track, and to who is actually standing in lower-division classrooms day to day. If it's grad students and adjuncts, that isn't an institution that cares much about its undergraduate educational mission to start with. They might dress that up a variety of ways, but that's the bottom line for me personally, coming at this from an insider stance. I wish that there were a way to sort institutions that way-- but it is surprisingly difficult to ferret out that kind of information. It's why my shorthand way of getting to it is to look for places that are primarily undergraduate, and then look at how many tenured/tenure-track faculty there are relative to the number of undergrads. Anything higher than a 18-25:1 ratio is probably "too high." Poke into particular department webpages at random and look at faculty-- see who teaches what and look for people who ONLY teach three or four lab sections... or have next to NO office hours...or no office... they are likely to be adjunct (low-paid, temp workers, basically). Be wary of a place that doesn't list anyone for those teaching assignments... that, too, often indicates "we'll hire someone at the last minute."
I also ask for a lot of detail in terms of pedagogical philosophy-- Socratic is good, and other stuff can be less so.
I realize that's more of a general college scouting tip, and a bit OT for this thread. But it's pretty important.