As the Stevens community welcomes the new undergraduate class with the start of the Fall 2024 semester, the Stevens Office of Residential Education is also welcoming three new Living Learning Communities for returning students: Clark Scholars, Stevens Spotlight, and Connect4.
Living-Learning Communities, abbreviated as LLC, are an initiative by the Office of Residential Education which aims to “bring together students who share similar identities, passions, and interests”. “LLCs began in the fall of 2021 as one component of the university’s strategic plan to enhance the student experience,” says Assistant Director Ryan Nolen from the Office of Residential Education. “LLCs are one way to help students form connections with one another as well as with faculty and staff who are connected to each community, and they also make the residential experience more fun and interesting!”
President Nariman Farvardin welcomed the class of 2028 in an email outlining all initiatives and changes to Stevens at the beginning of the fall semester, in which he announced the addition of the three new LLCs for a total of ten LLCs for the 2024-2025 school year. The first-year communities are First Generation Scholars (1GS), Women in Math, Science, and Engineering (WiMSE), Arts and Theater, Service and Leadership, and Pinnacle Scholars House. Including the newest LLCs created through Ducks by Design, the returning student communities this year are The Lore-El Center for Women’s Leadership, Stevens Chefs, Clark Scholars, Stevens Spotlight, and Connect4.
This year, there are three Ducks by Design LLCs for upper class students: Stevens Chefs, Stevens Spotlight, and Connect4. After their first year, students can design their own residential communities through Ducks by Design, a residential program in the UCC Residential Towers that requires an application and review by the Office of Residential Education. The application, or community proposal, includes a faculty fellow and staff member who acts as a liaison by the students who support their goals for the development of the LLC. Stevens Chefs is a cooking LLC, bringing students, “through the joy of cooking,” as described by Nolen. Stevens Spotlight is an upper-class arts LLC similar to the Arts and Theater LLC. Connect4 is a gaming LLC for students who enjoy coming together through gaming.
Much is demanded of residential assistants, or RAs, during both the competitive selection process to become one and throughout the year they serve as an RA. While RAs already have to balance a myriad of responsibilities on top of supervising their respective floor, LLC RAs have the additional responsibility of maintaining a suitable environment for their LLC and the students within it. “Being an LLC RA requires much more coordination and time spent planning for relevant, interesting, and timely off-campus events,” says former Arts and Theater LLC RA Keenan Y. The Arts and Theater LLC would host trips to museums, theater shows, and various other events throughout the year, requiring coordination between faculty, staff advisors, the Office of Residential Education, associated Residential Directors, and other RAs. Despite the amount of work involved, Y found the work rewarding, saying, “It’s busy and requires lots of communication and chaperoning but if it’s something you’re passionate about it’s a lot of fun…The ability to give back to the community and guide other students to their own personal success is an exciting thing to be able to do.”
LLCs are continuously expanding and changing through student feedback. When asked about students’ interest in LLCs over the years, Nolen says, “We have had consistent interest over the past few years by first-year students, and we are always excited by the themes proposed by returning students through Ducks by Design.” To find out more about LLCs, students are encouraged to check out the Residential Education website for updated information about LLCs and other aspects of student life at Stevens. Students interested in proposing a Ducks by Design LLC for the 2025-2026 year, more information will be provided later in the Fall 2024 semester.
