[ WEST CAMPUS West Campus FAQs ]

Why did Cornell create a house system on West Campus?

The West Campus house system builds on a distinguished residential college tradition that began at Oxford University in medieval England and has also thrived at Cambridge. The concept for a West Campus house system at Cornell was initiated and developed by faculty and staff as the result of years of research and planning. Cornell faculty members believe, and research studies confirm, that a strong integration of living and learning experiences can improve the quality of the undergraduate experience. In addition, graduating students indicated that more opportunities for interactions with faculty members could strengthen the Cornell undergraduate experience.

Does the West Campus house system replace other living options?

Not at all. West Campus offers upper division students a new living option at Cornell. It adds to a menu of university housing choices for all undergraduates that includes traditional residence halls, program houses, cooperative residences, fraternity and sorority houses, and single-gender housing. Students may choose this living option for one year or more.

Can any Cornell student live at West Campus?

Any sophomore, upper-level, or transfer student can opt to live at West Campus. Unlike some other Ivy institutions, Cornell's West Campus houses are not affiliated with an undergraduate college. West Campus extends the University's mission to broadly educate students, and each house brings together students from across Cornell's seven undergraduate colleges.

What are some of the features that distinguish the new West Campus facilities?

• Each house accommodates 375 students and includes a dining room, community room, seminar room, music room, faculty offices, computer lab, and an outdoor shared green.
• Student residential suites accommodate five or seven students, with a mixture of doubles and singles, a living room and a bathroom. Non-suite singles are also available.
• A guest suite accommodates visiting Frank H.T. Rhodes Class of '56 faculty, guest artists, and speakers
• Cook House and Becker House incorporate sustainable materials, conserve energy, and minimize impact on the environment. Cook House is the first residence hall to receive this designation from the U.S. Green Building Council's (USGBC) Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED ) program in New York State. Certification has influenced the design of the other four houses.
• An all new Noyes Community Recreation Center will serve the West Campus neighborhood with a fitness center, large program rooms, gymnasium, bouldering wall, and cafe/convenience store, greatly enhancing Cornell's robust fitness and intramural sports programs.
• The houses replace the former "class halls", while the beloved gothic residence halls are programmatically incorporated into several of the new houses.

What types of programs occur in the houses?

• Live-in faculty, professional staff, graduate resident fellows, and student assistants mentor and support students.
• Thirty house fellows, primarily faculty members, affiliate with each house by spending time with student residents on a regular basis, often over meals at the house.
• Students enjoy personal interactions with prominent visiting guests and alumni. Visitors have included former attorney general Janet Reno '60, CNN's Aaron Brown, neurologist Oliver Sacks, New York Times journalists Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn '81, Nobel peace prize winner Shirin Ibadi, and poet laureate Ted Kooser.
• An in-house governance structure promotes student leadership and involvement.
• Diverse program offerings respond to student needs and interests.