Students care deeply about study spaces. That's a good thing: Completing coursework is a Princeton student's primary responsibility, and easily accessible workspaces are one of the most important resources for students. Rather than explain why more spaces cannot or should not be open to students, the administration should utilize student interest in study spaces as an opportunity to build stronger academic communities.
When most juniors and seniors leave their residential colleges, they leave behind 24-hour community study spaces. College libraries, computer clusters and study rooms often help build community in the same way that college dining halls do. Students become familiar with each other, talk about their classes and build strong relationships. The University should seek to replicate this kind of interaction within each academic department.
In junior and senior year, the focal point of academic life shifts to the department. But students sometimes find it difficult to meet fellow students in their majors and to feel a part of the academic community in their new departments.
Some departments have excellent study spaces and other areas set aside for majors where they can interact. The new operations research and financial engineering building and Robertson Hall are open to department members after hours, and the Wilson School reserves access to some computer clusters for its students. Students majoring in other departments are not so lucky. The University should do more to alleviate the large disparity in the quality of facilities reserved for students affiliated with each department.
After the new chemistry building is built, and space in Frick Hall becomes available to overcrowded humanities and social science departments, the University will have a great opportunity to create study spaces, student lounges and computer clusters for each department. These spaces will allow students to build a tighter community and foster the kinds of informal interaction that will make each department stronger. Students might help each other pick courses or advisers, think through tough concepts or continue discussions they started in class. Creating 24-hour spaces for each department may eliminate the need to keep the larger libraries open later.
The University has long demonstrated the importance of building academic communities, in part through its requirement that students concentrate in only one discipline. As the University expands enrollment and departments get larger, the University needs to do more to foster the academic communities that it values so much. Creating departmental space for students would be a cost effective way for the University to build communities of learners who share academic interests.
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