By Mikael Powell (© Mikael Powell 2012)
Political, social and cultural aspects of the environment – the personal truths experienced by each individual about the physical environment, are not voiced within conventional post-occupancy evaluations. This concern is especially cogent when one considers the evaluation of a subculture within the purview of a university and administration. As a result, a revised assessment document must be developed to evaluate the built environment as it influenced by the relationship between college culture and learning. While campus culture or “institutional culture”, as it is sometimes termed (Tierney, 1988), can be characterized in many ways, for this document it is defined as:
The collective, mutually shaping patterns of norms, values, practices, beliefs and assumptions that guide the behavior of individuals and groups in an institute of higher education and provide a framework of reference within which to interpret the meanings of event and actions on and off campus. (Kuh & Whitt, 1988, 13)
Analyzing a college through the lens of a cultural perspective provides a way to examine more fully the way of life of the students, faculty and administration and how the institution functions as a whole (Kuh & Whitt, 1988). Although there are various definitions of cultural properties, nonetheless, one can still observe the many manifestations of culture to provide insight into its impact and relevance within the web of institutional actions. Sociologists Kuh and Whitt (1988) cite post-secondary orientation events as key ceremonies and rituals that maintain the cultural properties of university subcultures.
In their four-year longitudinal study of college students, Hodkinson & Bloomer (2000) found that the overall campus culture plays a significant role in student learning. They noted:
Our interviewees consistently reported the positive contribution that being at college had made to their personal intellectual development. However it was seldom possible to attribute such successes to specific strategies or techniques employed within the college, or even to explicit institutional policies. They appeared to have no obvious connection with particular teaching styles, such as whole-class teaching, group work, student centered learning or experiential learning. Rather, they were often reported and best understood as the effect of a whole college culture. (196)
Therefore, campus culture plays an important role in the educational development of students. First I examine graduate orientation and the general campus environment as a vehicle to conduct a sub-cultural audit of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology to determine relevant cultural properties both imparted to and acknowledged by students. I interpret cultural properties of the university through my analysis of interviews, online surveys of staff and participants, literature, observation, video and campus tours. I triangulate my inquiries by interviewing (asking questions), then online surveying (soliciting responses from various players about same questions), then literature review (looking for evidence of validation or refute in orientation documents). Secondly, I evaluate the physical built spaces predominated by graduate students to explore how the environments relate in form, layout, accoutrements and human comfort to the significant cultural properties proclaimed.
Examination of MIT Graduate Orientation
Within a period of six weeks in the fall of 2011, I interviewed one graduate student co-chair of Graduate Orientation in person and the other by telephone. I created a qualitative on-line survey and offered it to the orientation co-chairs and a departmental secretary for distribution to administration, staff and students. There were seven respondents to the survey, with included three orientation staff members and four students who recently attended graduate orientation. I reviewed all the graduate orientation literature and PowerPoint presentations, toured the campus, observing graduate spaces, and collected and analyzed one campus tour video and one graduate orientation welcoming speech. I also examined the general campus tour information and an internet video of a campus tour.
The Massachusetts Institutive of Technology is primarily a school of science located in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in Boston in 1861, MIT has grown to a population of 10,566 students in the 2011- 2012 school year, with approximately forty percent undergraduates and nearly sixty percent graduate students (grad students first outnumbered undergrads in 1980). Forty-five percent of undergraduates are female, but only thirty-one percent of graduates are female. Ten percent of undergraduate students are international, while thirty-eight percent of graduates are from outside of the United States. Ninety percent of undergraduates live in student housing (it is normally required) compared to thirty-six percent of graduates housed on campus.
The Graduate Student Council organizes graduate orientation with about 25 student volunteers. This student-led series of events has grown from a one day six-event happening for 300 – 400 new students in 1975, to arguably the largest graduate orientation in the United States offering sixty events over a three-week duration with over 1000 students attending (MIT, 2011b)(German, 2011). Although it is produced by students, the university administration provides an office for the Graduate Student Organization, a paid administrator who does bookings, and a Fellow who is dedicated to the event. In addition, all the administrative university committee chairs cooperate with graduate orientation events. Additional funding comes from external sources like the COOP, and other retail businesses.
MIT’s Graduate orientation planning begins the previous year. In April and May they hold elections to select the committee chair, have initial meetings to determine the costs associated with each event and to develop a budget. Also, in May they book the Harbor Cruise event, recruit an orientation Fellow with support from the university administration and form a publicity team to develop event imagery. In June, efforts to create “the Graduate” orientation publication are initiated, including soliciting funding involvement from organizations and companies outside of MIT. The orientation planners also begin recruiting volunteers, develop a preliminary calendar, and secure speakers for the welcoming event. In July, they finalize the schedule and their publicity efforts and formulate the cost rationale for ticket pricing. In addition, they investigate catering companies, distribute seed money for aligned events in the dormitories and formally invite the Deans to the welcoming events. August is the month that they host their largest campaign to solicit student help for events. T-shirts and other supplies are ordered this month, and all reservations are confirmed, all waivers from injury liability are developed and lastly, coordination of all audiovisual technology is performed. The first publicity coordination meetings occur in August and welcome emails are sent out to all students. Most importantly, the staff assesses possible event conditions and contingency plans are formulated. Graduate Orientation occurs in September, and immediately afterwards, they book hotel rooms and schedule participation for the university President for the following year (German, 2011).
The theme for the 2011 Graduate Student Orientation was “Play, Live, Work”. Events were divided into three categories: “Know the Institute”, which highlighted two events- GS101 (general and support information) and GS102 (computer technology information), “Know the People” which consisted of dances, barbecues, and functions by social organizations and, “Know the City”, which included city touring events (Graduate Student Council, 2011a).
Graduate orientation staff-members solicited the involvement of many organizations on campus in the hopes that new students may find a shared interest (Zhang, 2011). One of the graduate student orientation leaders said that “There are many opportunities for graduate students to get involved outside of class through extra-curricular activities and the MIT experience is what you make of it!”(German, 2011). I identified the properties of the subculture at the university as expressed through the following “frequently mentioned cultural forms” (Kuh & Whitt, 1988, p. 17): traditions, rituals, symbols, norms, beliefs, legends, artifacts, myths, and sagas. All these forms together “describe many of the subtle aspects of experience subsumed under the concept of culture as a complex whole...” (Kuh & Whitt, 1988, p. 13). The information, compiled through interviews with the graduate student co-chairs, online surveys, literature analyses of graduate orientation material, the Graduate Student Orientation support group presentations and a video analysis of a graduate orientation welcoming speech, represent that which the graduate organization and university administration want new students to know.
Traditions
Campus traditions are expressed in the graduate orientation publication, which perpetuates the traditional view of the school environment in a maxim coined by former university President, Jerome Weisner that “Getting an Education from MIT is like taking a drink from a Fire Hose'' (Graduate Student Council, 2011a, p. 14). The actual fire hose is in the basement of building 26.
Symbols
Kuh & Whitt (1988) describe a cultural symbol as “Any object, act, event quality, or relation that serves as a vehicle for conveying meaning, usually by representing another thing” (p. 19). The co-chairs of graduate orientation say that the school mascot, the beaver, is used on all their publications. The welcoming pamphlet says of the mascot, “Tim the beaver has been the mascot of MIT since at least 1914” (Graduate Student Council, 2011a, p. 8). Another symbol used is a stylized elevation view of the “Great Dome” on building 10. It is utilized for the Graduate Student Organization logo as well as other support groups’ graphics. Indeed, the orientation organizers advertise “Dance under the Dome” as a social mixer for new graduate students during “Know the People” events (Graduate Student Council, 2011a, p. 7).
Norms
Normative behavior of graduate students in the MIT culture is expressed by the graduate student co-chairs in the following comments: “MIT is known as a savvy institute, therefore the graduate student organization had to create a quality website (German, 2011); “MIT students are notorious for being in lab all the time. The workload is horrendous, often 24 hours a day, seven days a week” (Zhang, 2011).
Graduate orientation 2011 literature proclaims that “MIT graduate students are known internationally due to their innovative research and remarkable work ethic. Yet many people are not aware that graduate students can play just as hard as they can work” (Graduate Student Council, 2011a, p. 8); “As an incoming graduate student you are uniquely prepared and equally ready to embark on a rewarding journey in the intense laboratory of academic rigor, technical excellence, and world-class research” (Graduate Student Council, 2011a, p. 23).
Beliefs
The graduate orientation organizers were adamant in their belief in the positive values of diversity, collaboration, community, sustainability, creativity and innovation. The orientation literature indicates this as well. The orientation co-chairs also stated their belief in the MIT maxim of “Mind and Hand”- that first one needs a strong intellectual foundation before one can begin the work, and that graduate school can be a transformative force in a student’s life. Also, an orientation co-chair stated she believed that new students will feel less apprehensive after they mix with their cohorts (German, 2011).
Legends
Cultural legends have not been as ubiquitous as other cultural properties. The graduate student orientation 2011 publication did allude to the 1960’s fraternity stunt to measure the Harvard Bridge using pledge Oliver Smoot as the unit of measurement. It said, “But what do you do when the 364.4 smoots ± 1 ear of the Harvard bridge are just too daunting?” (Graduate Student Council, 2011a, p. 10).
Artifacts
Artifacts can be defined as a meaning “‛stored’ in symbols” (Geertz 1973, p127). While the student co-chairs do distribute orientation, which are donated by a local retailer, another retail item, the graduate class ring, is an important cultural artifact. In cultural jargon, it is called the “Grad Rat” and it is usually purchased in the first year of graduate school (Zhang, 2011). This cultural artifact is wrought with symbolism (See Appendix M for bezel design). The official Balfour Graduate Student ring 2011 brochure says:
It embodies the collective, life-changing experiences and the
unique graduate culture that we encounter at MIT. The Bezel represents the journey the graduate student takes at MIT. Night time littered with coffee & books for the all-nighters we endure. Sunrise symbolizing graduation and bright careers. "Greater than 72" representing the 72 MIT Nobel prizes by MIT community. The "7" & "2" double helix structure & the tiny flames show MIT's growing involvement in biology related & energy-related research. Billboard blocking the path to graduation representing the last set of data before moving on. It outlines the word "MIT" & represents the ups and downs of the graduate experience. The tipped over hourglass under its tail represents the lack of free time and the unknown time to graduation. It also looks like an infinity symbol representing the Infinite Corridor. The Beaver is confidently holding its degree, sitting on a bed of branches forming the famous letters "IHTFP': The letter G represents the registrar's designation for graduate students.”( 36)
Another characteristic about The Grad Rat is the map of the MIT campus inscribed on interior part of the ring. It is a tradition for MIT Graduate students to wear it so that the beaver side shows on top, and after they graduate they turn it so that the degree side is on top (Zhang, 2011).
Myths
A myth is an unsupported belief (Kuh & Whitt, 1988). The graduate student co-chairs for Graduate Student Orientation state that many new graduate students think that “Peers always have the answer” and receive a lot of advice from fellow students that isn’t always right (German & Zhang, 2011). One co-chair said that she believed that it was commonly understood that MIT students are “very smart” (German, 2011). It is important to note, however that a MIT Global Education & Career Development officer presented statistics in their graduate orientation presentation that, when considering the percentage of the average graduate student rating their abilities in the top 10% nationwide, as compared to the average MIT student entering graduate school, MIT students rated their ability lower in almost every category (MIT, 2011b).
Sagas
Keeping within the definition of a saga as “an historic narrative of leaders, illustrated as heroes” (Kuh & Whitt, 1988, p.19), they are evidenced in graduate orientation events and its materials in two ways. Firstly, in a video analysis of a previous graduate orientation, the student leader of the group welcomed new students by saying:
My fellow students, I bid you welcome from the hallowed halls of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. In these halls once walked some of the greatest innovators, leaders and thinkers, scientists, entrepreneurs, and agents of political and social change of our times. This is a place where there are as many revolutionary ideas as there are people who think them. (Barunio, 2004).
The online survey solicited anonymous responses from graduate orientation staff and new graduate students who attended the event (See Appendix L). When orientation staff was asked “What does the orientation organization want students to know (by the time that orientation is complete) about important traditions, rituals, symbols?” the responses were as follows: “The orientation I assisted is a subsection and not for the larger university. thus we did not include MIT identity conveyances”; “As staff our main concern is to help the students navigate the campus and computer networks, and to be able to register, find housing and jobs. We don't concern ourselves or the students with clothing or gestures.”
When orientation staff was asked “What does the orientation organization want students to know (by the time that orientation is complete) about important norms, beliefs and legends?” they responded: “Hard work? Sometimes I note The Graduation Pledge of Social and Environmental Responsibility.”
When orientation staff was asked “What does the orientation organization want students to know (by the time that orientation is complete) about important artifacts, myths and sagas?” they responded, “We gave out a Tim the Beaver doll as a prize and some other insignia items.”
When orientation staff was asked whether they felt that these properties of culture are important for graduate orientation events, they responded that “they were not important”.
Alternately, when new graduate students were asked, “What did you learn (by the time that orientation is complete) about important traditions, rituals, symbols ?”, they responded, “ I learned to recognize some, but by no means all, of these things during orientation mostly from direct knowledge-sharing by staff and in some cases by induction or by encountering something within the physical space of the university (such as walking by a group of undergraduates preparing for a land yacht race as part of the effort to recruit new residents; it was a funny scene so I asked them what they were up to.)”
When new graduate students were asked, “What did you learn (by the time that orientation is complete) about important norms, beliefs, legends?” they responded, “I learned that most faculty and administrators stereotype MIT graduate students as science researchers working in a lab and plagued by p-sets. The concerns and activities of art, architecture and Media Lab students didn't come up at all in the general orientation.”; “Grad rat rings and mascot the beaver”; “Hacking”.
When new graduate students were asked, “What did you learn (by the time that orientation is complete) about important artifacts, myths and sagas?” they responded, “Just Tim, the beaver, who was offered as a prize for a correct answer to an MIT trivia question. I've gleaned sagas mostly from documentary evidence on campus (various exhibitions about hacking, for example).”
When new graduate students were asked whether they felt that these properties of culture are important for graduate orientation events, they responded that “they were somewhat important”.
The Campus Environment
New graduate students are indoctrinated into the greater MIT culture through their experiences on campus, both directed and in personal exploration. This information was compiled from a video analysis of a campus tour, literature examination of the university produced Self-Guided Walking Tour of the MIT Campus and my photographic review of campus.
Traditions
Cultural traditions are evident while walking the campus. One can note that buildings are numbered and many are contiguous. This tradition distinguishes MIT from other universities of its time, and previous, in America. Jarzombek (2004) wrote of the original design of MIT in the early 1900’s saying that on of the design collaborators of MIT rejected:
The "United States model of putting departments into separate buildings" in which the professor in charge of a department "reigns undisturbed, largely in a little kingdom of his own" whereas the students run "much risk of colds in our northern climate, in passing from one lecture to another…". In Europe, he argued, one finds departments "housed in a single connected group closely resembling the arrangement of the best modern factories." [He created a] plan for a single massive building oriented toward efficiency of space. (46)
Rituals
Young (1999) describes rituals as “behavioral patterns that are repeatable, have purpose, and have acquired a sense of rightness among the people who participate in them” (p.11). An analysis of the campus tour video highlights a student docent recounting the rivalry between MIT and another university punctuated by the theft of a 130 year-old, 1.7 ton cannon (Triusa, 2009). Likewise, the published self-guided tour recalls the bi-annual event of gathering to watch the sun shine down a 1/6 mile long hallway called “the Infinite Corridor” in building 7A (MIT, 2011a, p.2).
Symbols
An important cultural symbol is described in the self-guided walking tour publication which states “Seen from the courtyard, the Great dome, patterned after Rome’s Pantheon, provides the Institute’s architectural focus...” (MIT, 2011a, p. 1).
Norms
A video analysis of a student-led campus tour shows the guide outlining student norms by saying, “MIT has a strong emphasis on interdisciplinary research. Basically …you will have chemists, physicists, biomedical engineers, chemical engineers, all sorts of different stuff, all working towards finding a cure for cancer” (Triusa, 2009). Indeed, the self-guided tour literature remarks that of the almost 70 laboratories on campus, nearly all consists of undergraduates, graduates and professors in collaboration. The self- tour guide also states that three-quarters of all students are involved in school sports and over 500 students are in organized musical groups (MIT, 2011a, p.2).
Beliefs
My tour of campus confirms that MIT believes in the values of diversity and community because the corridors in most buildings were replete with organizational posters and event announcement. The wall adjacent to the admissions office had a large life-size painted mural of diverse ethnic and cultural communities of people. Both the belief in the transformative qualities of the institution, and the value of diversity and collaboration are evidenced in the words of the student tour guide:
This place will change your life …If you have an idea for change, you will find support here to see it through…the Media Lab works on ‘smart technologies, sort of future of the world type stuff [there is] an open atmosphere to you have all kinds of discussions between groups, disciplines. That’s the idea. (Triusa, 2009)
Sagas
Illustrations of cultural sagas are highlighted in the self-guided walking tour informational sheet (See Appendix N). It includes a review of Everett Morss hall, the campus dining room and location of the Graduate Student Organization offices. The main room has seven large life- sized painted wall murals from the last century, stylized with pertinent individuals and ideals of MIT. The tour literature states “The central panel represents the Alma Mater with the world at her feet; on her left, knowledge through experiment, one of the founding principles of M.I.T.” (MIT, 2011a, p.2).
Summation
Research has shown that campus culture is an important part of the educational
experience at college (Hodkinson & Bloomer, 2000), so it is fitting that I examine the cultural properties of the university, employing an examination of a subculture as a
way to inform about university environment. Graduate orientation serves as likely vehicle to conduct a sub-cultural audit of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology because it is a key program in which in-coming students are socialized into their new culture. The graduate orientation program acclimates students to community on a personal, university and city level. A review of the graduate orientation events shows that it is rich with cultural properties (See Table 4.). Van Maanen (1987), a sociologist and researcher, asked an MIT student to define the institutional culture at Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The student replied “It's everything we aren't tested on in the classroom” (p. 5). Keeping this in mind, and using the cultural properties as guideposts, I now evaluate the spaces predominated by graduate students to access how they respond to the cultural ambiance of MIT, within the framework of building form, layout, accoutrements and human comfort.
Evaluation of Graduate Resident Housing and the Graduate Student Lounge
-end
References (this portion)
Balfour (2011). Massachusetts Institute of Technology Graduate Student Ring. Austin, oooooooTX: Commemorative Brands, Inc.
Barunio (Producer). (2004) MIT welcome address to new grad students-2004 [video]. oooooooRetrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D808sgyW9T4
German, A. (2011, November 11). M. Powell. Culture audit interview., Boston, MA.
Graduate Student Council (2011a). The Graduate Orientation 2011. Cambridge, MA: oooooooMIT Press.
Graduate Student Council (2011b). The official MIT graduate ring gradrat home. MIT 0000000website. Retrieved December 5, 2011 from ooooooohttp://web.mit.edu/gsc/www/programs/ring/index.shtml
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MIT (2011a). Self-guided walking tour of the MIT campus. Cambridge, MA: MIT
MIT (2011b, December 15). Graduate Student Development & Career Launch at MIT
Retrieved from http://gsc.scripts.mit.edu/wptest/wp- content/uploads/gradschool101_careers.pdf
Triusa (Producer). (2009) MIT campus tour [video]. Retrieved from oooooohttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YqSeqeJCccU&feature=related
Young, R. (1999). Reexamining our rituals. About Campus, Sept.-Oct.,pp. 10-16.
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