Small Group Housing

Here you will find important information and will be able to apply for small group housing for the 2008-09 academic year. Each applicant must read all information provided on these pages.
For many years, the small group housing option has been a valuable part of the student life experience for Goshen College students. The report, “Experiment in Living” (1969-70), outlined a number of outcomes for students living together in small group housing. SGH offered a setting to foster closer and more caring relationships, to allow students to exercise more responsibility for their decisions…by taking seriously the implication of commitment to one another. Community standards and discipline would be developed in the context of the small group, calling for participation to ‘confront the ultimate issues’ of life together (p. 1).

We in Student Life value these goals today as much as when this program was initiated in the 1970’s. Community life allows students who are willing to work hard a chance to live out the core values with intentionality and purpose. The SGH setting affords a unique opportunity for students to wrestle with developmental issues during the college years. By the time students are applying for SGH, most have gained the confidence that comes from increased independence and have invested in significant interpersonal relationships. Students are ready to contribute to the greater good of a group and to seek ways they can leave a legacy they can be proud of at Goshen College.

Because SGH is a competitive process, selection criteria have been developed to determine which groups demonstrate the greatest chance of completing a year of community living as an educational and positive experience. The criteria identified below have been developed with student involvement and are grounded in over 30 years of offering SGH as a housing program at GC.

• Descriptive information about group membership
  - Age (20 years or older) or at least 2 years have passed since high school graduation (at the start of the Fall semester)
  - Unit Capacity; maintained throughout the academic year
  - Group GPA
  - Presence of group members at interview if studying on campus
  
  
• Commitment to community life
  - Clarity of purpose for community living in the written statement of group history, group goals and commitment to Community Standards
  - Past evidence of involvement in campus life (e.g. student leadership (senate, club, or community voluntary service, etc.), athletics, music, theater, Record, floor activities, etc.
  - Commitment to GC standards: how have your group members encouraged others to make healthy lifestyle choices?
  - Evidence of group involvement in application and interview (i.e. groups involved in developing goals together are more successful)

The purpose of the interview process will be to learn each group’s story and what is hoped for if given the opportunity to live together.

Please note critical due dates:

• Your completed group application is due by March 3, 2008
• Interviews will be conducted on the weeks of March 3 and March 10
• Selected groups will be announced by March 28, 2008

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact Launa Rohrer, Associate Dean of Students.

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