East Stroudsburg University to Offer Two Residential College Options to Incoming Freshmen

East Stroudsburg University (ESU) will offer two Residential Colleges to incoming freshmen this fall.

The College of Education and the College of Business and Management will pilot Residential Colleges in Lenape Hall and Laurel Hall, respectively, which integrate in-class learning with out-of-class living and programming experiences.

“The Residential College model is a residence hall where we create somewhat of a home base for everyone in the college—faculty, staff, and students,” said Dr. Brooke Langan, acting dean of the College of Education. “This allows us to get to better know our students and their individualized needs.”

The goal of the “college within a college” model is to encourage success both in and out of the classroom by giving students the resources they need in a central location. The residence halls will include living facilities, classrooms, and shared space to be used for individual study, group projects, and co-curricular activities. Resident assistants will be available to assist students and answer any questions. Faculty will keep regular office hours within the building to be more accessible to students. Working in conjunction with Residential and Dining Services, college deans and faculty will coordinate all programming in the Residential Colleges throughout the academic year.

Dr. Sylvester Williams, dean of the College of Business and Management, said the idea behind the COBM Residential College is to “immerse these students in the business environment so they can really see what it takes to succeed in business. A lot of the things we’re doing in the first year will set students up for the last three years.” The Residential College of Business and Management at Laurel Hall will feature an Executive Lecture series sponsored by Crayola. “Each semester, we will bring in eight senior-level executives to talk about leadership, development, and how you put together a successful career path in business. Rich Wuerthele, the CEO of Crayola, is going to lead off the series. We have a lot of big-name people coming in to speak.”

Dr. Santiago Solis, Vice President of Campus Life and Inclusive Excellence, said “The goal is to improve access, communication, mentoring, and support. As far as the benefits to campus life and inclusive excellence, this partnership supports students outside of the classroom. It’s a good partnership between campus life and academic affairs. We are in constant communication with the deans of the colleges and students can communicate their experiences with their faculty. This is a solid partnership with a lot of relationship building. We get to support the student holistically.” With everything students need in one place, the Residential College eliminates much of the confusion and overwhelm students feel in their first year. “It’s a beautiful thing. They are in their living area. There is no confusion as to where they go,” Solis said.

“We’re excited about creating an experience for our first-year students that give them a great foundation for success. This is a successful model that many schools use that allow us at ESU to truly be partners,” said Curtis Dugar, director of residential and dining services. “We have facilities that are conducive to authentic engagement and learning. The residential college model empowers us to be authentically engaged in our community. We want these students to grow into upper-class learning. We want students to be in first-year traditional learning experiences, developing relationships, taking classes with their professors, and then being able to grow into that next experience successfully so they graduate in four years. That is our finish line—to get students to graduate on time. We want them to grow and be successful in their major and passion areas.”

First-year business management and education students are required to live in Laurel Hall and Lenape Hall respectively; they can select other housing for their remaining three years. ESU is already looking at a third Residential College for the College of Arts and Sciences for fall 2022.

For more information on ESU’s Residential Colleges, contact the Residential and Dining Services office at (570) 422-3460.

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