Temple should continue to build an academically capable student body that can benefit from Temple's strengths and that can create a lively intellectual life among students. The University has been taking steps in that direction by gradually increasing admissions standards for incoming freshmen, and it should continue to do so. The University should also take satisfaction in its core-to-core programs with community colleges. Temple's dual admissions programs with community colleges have also proved effective, and approximately 2,000 students are enrolled in the dual admissions programs. Students entering through this program show considerable academic promise, as measured both by their Temple grades and their graduation rates. As resources allow, Temple should expand the core-to-core and dual admissions programs.

At the same time, one of Temple's most important educational strengths has been the diversity of the student body. In the mingling of men and women of many ages, nationalities, races, social and economic backgrounds, geographic origins, and personal characteristics, experiences, and lifestyles has come an extraordinary level of education, understanding, and preparation for life. Whatever policies Temple may adopt about enrollment or student life, it should yield not an inch in its commitment to this extraordinary diversity among its students.

The growth of Temple's residential undergraduate student body, which next year will exceed 4,000 and would reach 7,000 in the next five years, will create new demands on the University as well as present new opportunities. Residential students reasonably expect greater opportunities to seek out faculty for academic assistance, for individually tailored academic experiences, and for advice. The faculty, like the student body, has largely been a commuting faculty. A larger presence at the University will undoubtedly be expected as the residential undergraduate student body gradually increases. The Temple faculty have long shown a deep interest in students, and this new challenge will fall within that professional commitment.

The development of a residential student body has a momentum of its own. The more students live on campus, the more others will wish to do so. In addition to opening a new dormitory to house 1,000 students in fall, 2001, Temple must look beyond for additional residential capacity. Some additional space for freshmen and sophomores will be necessary. Residential facilities, especially apartments, for upperclassmen and for the students from the Tyler School of Art, if it relocates to main campus, will be required. The University should directly develop some of this housing, but it should also look to private developers and community organizations to develop housing suitable for students in the campus neighborhood. The challenge of expanding the University's residential facilities on and around the main campus is discussed more fully in the section of this report on facilities.

The expanding residential undergraduate student body also has substantial implications for student life on the campus. Expanded opportunities for entertainment, social life, the arts, and intellectual discourse will be expected, and Temple should take responsibility for stimulating these opportunities. Some will occur in the neighborhood around the University in the form of new restaurants and other entertainment venues. The University already provides very good sports facilities and an outstanding fitness center. The Liacouras Walk, now under construction, will provide additional amenities for students.

However, student entertainment opportunities formerly provided in the Student Activities Center (SAC) have been lost in the renovation and expansion of SAC to provide additional food service for the expanding residential student body. The next phase of student facilities expansion—and one that should come quickly—will be restoration of student entertainment spaces. These should include restoration of a game room, a television lounge, additional meeting rooms, a cinema, and a large space for lectures, dances, public meetings, and so forth. Until new facilities can be provided, the University should identify space in existing facilities that can be used for these purposes.

Programs for students will also require additional institutional effort. Temple already has an extraordinary array of extracurricular activities. Student involvement, however, is often modest. Further assistance to student organizations and the expansion of student programming should be undertaken as the residential student body expands. This should be done with the guidance and advice of students, and it will require a commitment of some additional resources.

No discussion of student life is complete without a discussion of student athletic programs. The University's intercollegiate and intramural athletic programs provide exceptional opportunities for many students to compete in sports, develop personal discipline, and interact with students from other institutions as well as from within Temple. Temple's well-known basketball program has been consistently competitive and has brought significant attention to the University. Over the past five years, the football program has had difficulty meeting the standards of the Big East Conference: attendance at an average of 25,000 per conference game, competitiveness on the field, and control over stadium scheduling. However, these issues are near resolution with the help of State and City officials, the management of the Philadelphia Eagles, the coaching staff and the team they have recruited and trained, and many trustees, friends, and alumni of Temple who, four months before the season opens, have already subscribed more season tickets than the required Conference attendance.

The importance of other intercollegiate sports is sometimes overshadowed by basketball and football, but should not be. Temple fields highly competitive teams in baseball, crew, fencing, golf, gymnastics, hockey, lacrosse, soccer, softball, tennis, track, and volleyball as well as supporting swimming and rugby as club sports. In all, about 425 students participate in eleven women's teams and nine men's teams. At least 2,350 students each year participate in intramural competition or club sports.

Temple subsidizes both intramural and intercollegiate athletics to a considerable extent. These subsidies support not only football, as is commonly believed, but all non-revenue sports, Title IX equity programs and, of course, intramurals and club sports. Temple remains committed to providing both intercollegiate and intramural sports opportunities as part of its larger campus life.

Beyond a richer extracurricular and entertainment life on the campus, a residential student body will expect a larger voice in the University's affairs. And considering the quality and maturity of Temple's students, there is no reason why their role in making campus decisions should not increase. Students already serve on committees to nominate officers and deans, and they have made solid contributions to these searches. This year, for the first time, students served on the committee that selected faculty for the Great Teacher Awards. In the future, we may expect students to take a larger role in all aspects of governance. My past experience was entirely positive with student participation in nominating department chairs, serving on committees to plan facilities, and giving advice in the appointment, promotion, and tenure process. It should be our purpose both to improve Temple and to prepare students for the full responsibilities of citizenship by including students integrally in all deliberative processes in the University.

The Pennsylvania Economy League report expressed concern about the retention of Philadelphia's college and university graduates in this region. Temple does not have a systematic program to connect its students to Philadelphia and the metropolitan area. The Honors Program includes an orientation to many aspects of Philadelphia's history, culture, politics, neighborhoods, and so forth. A broader program of this kind for incoming students would enrich their lives during their years at Temple and would heighten the prospects that they would remain in Philadelphia to strengthen its economic and civic life. A significant expansion of internship programs for students in their majors would serve similar purposes as well as providing students with practical experiences related to their respective academic fields. Students are, by all reports, enthusiastic about existing internship programs; and that would warrant expansion of those programs as resources allow.

The special status and responsibilities of graduate teaching assistants should not be overlooked in any discussion of student life. The responsibility of Temple and its colleges to provide training and mentoring for graduate teaching assistants as well as to prepare them for academic or other careers is discussed later in this report. Involving graduate students in the collegial life of the University is also important. They have experience and knowledge to contribute to that process because they are an important body among the teaching staff. They also should learn the responsibilities, rules, and norms of academic life, because many will enter the teaching profession and many others will serve from time to time as adjunct faculty at higher education institutions.

Finally, many Temple students already participate in community service in the University's neighborhood. Tutoring students in local schools and housing complexes is common. The University should consult with neighborhood organizations to determine what additional activities would serve the surrounding community, and students should be encouraged to give some portion of their time to service. Beyond the immediate benefits are the stimulation of commitment to community involvement and experience in how to do so effectively.