Small Group Housing
Dear SGH applicants:
Here you will find important information and will be able to apply for small group housing for the 2012-13 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.
Round II Requirements for Howell, East Hall and Valesco:
- Descriptive information about group membership
- At least 2 years have passed since high school graduation (at the start of the Fall semester)
- Unit Capacity; maintain minimum of 9 residents each semester, co-ed options available
- Group GPA
- Commitment to community life
- Clarity of purpose for community living as demonstrated through the representation of the 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 (i.e. groups involved in developing goals together are more successful)
Please note critical due dates:
- Round II SGH group application is due by March 28, 2012
- Round II SGH groups will be announced by April 2, 2012
If you have any questions, please feel free to contact Chad Coleman, Director of Residence Life.
