A summer reading program is on the horizon for the Class of 2006, as administrators and students aim to put a more academic slant on the orientation process.
A committee of faculty, administrators and students has been discussing possible ideas for the project and its potential benefits. Assistant Vice President for Student Affairs Sue Wasiolek called the program "an opportunity to expose the students to the intellectual experience they will have while here at Duke."
Under the program, the entire class will read the same book, giving them a "shared experience," said Ryan Lombardi, assistant dean of student development. Texts will be sent home to the students during the summer, and at orientation, students will be split into smaller discussion groups.
Lombardi said he hopes the book or its theme will be integrated into students' lives throughout the year, perhaps through an author visit or a visiting play.
The University has yet to decide on the exact book.
"We put out a call to the Duke community for text suggestions for the first-year students," Lombardi said. Administrators will place announcements
Administrators are hoping to find a book that is of equal interest to engineers and Arts and Sciences students.
"We want to find something that resonates with all the students," Lombardi said. The selected book will focus on an issue of timely relevance that is designed to stimulate discussion among the students.
"Generally we've gotten a lot of real positive feedback," Lombardi said.
"[But] we do run the risk of the students not being as into it as we had hoped," he added.
He said he wants students to participate voluntarily, out of a desire for exposure to more intellectual stimulation. "How well it catches depends on how well we frame it," he said.
The committee that studied and recommended the program includes Gerald Wilson, senior associate dean of Trinity College, and representatives from the Division of Student Affairs, the Kenan Ethics Program, the Office of Institutional Equity and the Class of 2005.
Yet many students said the orientation process should be socially beneficial and that they do not see the need for such a program.
"I probably wouldn't read it unless I was interested in the book anyway," said freshman Roy Ben-Dor. "I don't think book reading would be something that would bring the students together."
Sophomore Wendy Ecker echoed that sentiment. "Students would feel pressured to do the reading," she said.
"There's other, more exciting ways to get kids to know each other."
Summer reading is not a new idea at Duke. A similar program was in place in the 1980s, but its focus was different. Then, the reading program was meant to highlight the work of various Duke faculty members which, Wasiolek said, "can take you down a different road than you intended."
Wasiolek added that the former program lacked student appeal.
"It was not quite as deliberate or comprehensive as the program we are putting in place now," she said. "We might have been a bit before our time."
The success of summer reading programs at other universities is encouraging, Wasiolek added. "We have looked at it as an introduction to the life of the mind," she said.
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